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"oV." 



HISTORY 

OF 

CLAY AND PLATTE COUNTIES, 

MISSOURI, 



WRITTEN AND COMPILED 



FROM THE IMOST AUTHENTIC OFFICIAL AND PRIVATE SOURCES, 



INCLUDING A HISTORY OF THEIR 



TOWNSHIPS, TOWNS AND VILLAGES, 



TOGETHER WITH 



A CONDENSED HISTORY OF MISSOUKI ; A RELIABLE AND DETAILED HISTORY OF CLAY 
AND PLATTE COUNTIES - THEIR PIONEER RECORD, RESOURCES, BIOGRAPH- 
ICAL SKETCHES OF PROMINENT CITIZENS; GENERAL AND LOCAL 
STATISTICS OF GREAT VALUE; INCIDENTS AND REMINISCENCES. 



ST. LOUIS: 
NATIONAL HISTORICAL COMPANY. 

1885. 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1SS5, by 

O. P. WILLIAMS A CO., 
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 






St. Louis, Mo. : 
Press of Nixon- Jones Printing Co. 



St. Louis, Mo. : 
Becktold qf Co., Book-Under 



PREFACE. 

The deeds of the Anglo-Saxous who first came to the bottom lauds 
of the territory now embraced within the boundaries of Clay and 
Pi.atte counties, when the county was re-peopled and Virgin, and 
made for themselves homes and habitations, can not be Too' well 
remembered, and their history can not be too often told. The achieve- 
ments of those who came next after the first chasseurs voyarjeurs, and 
pioneers — the statesmen, the warriors, the planters, who have o-jven 
to the country, not only its notoriety, its fame and its glory, but its 
material prosperity as well — these ought never to be forgotton 
Their personal histories, what they have wrought — the schools they 
established, the churches they built, the towns and cities they built, 
the battles they fought, ought to be known and remembered. 

These things this history purports to record, imperfectly of course 
but after a form much better than none. If now in this year, 1885 ' 
the private diary for two years of a member of the Plymouth Puri- 
tan colony is valued at more than 300 ounces of fine ^old, as it is 
perhaps this volume may be appreciated in time if it is not by the 
present generation. 

This history is what the people of the counties of Clay and Platte 
have made it. But for their co-operation it never would or could 
have been written. It is they who dictated what should be printed in 
It, by furnishing chiefly the data, facts and details which it sets forth 
True, all previously published histories and other volumes containing 
anything of interest pertaining to the history of these counties have 
been drawn upon, and so have all written records, but everything, has 
been made to receive the corroboration of living witnesses, when at 
all practicable. No historical statement made herein ou<^ht to be 
questioned save for the bpst of reasons. '^ 

The numerous biographical sketches of the leading citizens of the * 
two counties constitute a prominent and one of the most vaUiable 
features of the book. Here are the personal histories of individuals 
not to be found elsewhere, and every biography will be sought after 

(ii?) 



PREFACE. 



and read with deep interest by hundreds. These sketches have been 
carefully written, and in most instances revised by the subjects them- 
selves, and an overlooked typographical imperfection will account for 
every error found therein. 

No pains have been spared to make, the volume what was promised. 
In truth, its publication has been long delayed in order that it might 
be as nearly as possible in all respects a valuable, complete and accur- 
ate history. On examination it will be found to contain much more 
than was promised — perhaps much more than was expected. 

The obligations of the historians, as well as of the publishers, to, 
the people°of the two counties for assistance rendered, and for mfor- 
mation furnished, are so numerous and so great that no attempt will 
be made to discharge them ; their acknowledgment must suffice. The 
early settlers, the county and municipal officials, editors of news- 
papers, secretaries and custodians of the records of societies and 
institutions, and hundreds of private citizens have given assistance and 
information. To mention each one by name would be a great task 

indeed. i ^ i • i 

Havincx so far as it was possible accomplished the work to which 
our time°ind labor have been given during the past nine months, and 
in the hope that a cordial welcome and generous approval may be 
accorded this volume, the same is respectfully submitted. 

THE PUBLISHERS. 




CONTENTS, 



HISTOEY OF MISSOURI. 



Brief Historical Sketch 



CHAPTER I. 

LOUISIANA PURCHASE. 

CHAPTER n. 



DESCRIPTIVE AND GEOGRAPHICAL. 

Name — Extent — Surface — Rivers — Timber — Climate — Prairie.s — Soils — Popula- 
tion by Counties 7-13 

CHAPTER III. 

GEOLOGY OF MISSOURI. 

Classification of RocIjs — Quatenar}' Formation — Tertiary — Cretacious — Carbonifer- 
ous — Devouiau — Silurian — Azoic — Economic Geology — Coal — Iron — Lead — 
Copper — Zinc — Building Stone — Marble — Gypsuqj — Lime — Clays — Paints — 
Springs — Water Power 13-21 

CHAPTER IV. 

TITLE AND EARLY SETTLEMENTS. 
Title to Missouri Lands — Right of Discovery — Title of France and Spain — Cession 
to the United States — Territorial Changes —Treaties with Indians — First Settle- 
ment— Ste. Genevieve and New Bourbon — St. Louis — When Incorporated — 
Potosl — St. Charles — Portage des Sioux — New Madrid —St. Francois County — 
Perry — Mississippi — Loutre Island- "Boone's Lick" — Cote Sans Dessein — 
Howard County — Some First Tilings — Counties —When Organized . 21-27 

CHAPTER V. 

TERRITORIAL ORGANIZATION. 

Organization 1812 — Council — House of Representatives — William Clark First Terri- 
torial Governor — Edward Hempstead First Delegate — Spanish Grants — First 
General Assembly — Proceedings — Second Assembly — Proceedings — Population 
of Territory — Vote of Territory — Ruf us Easton — Absent Members — Third 
Assembly — Proceedings — Application for Admission .... 27-31 

(V) 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Application of Missouri to be Admitted into the Union — Agitation of the Slavery 
Question — "Missouri Compromise" — Constitutional Convention of 1820— Con- 
stitution Presented to Congress — Further Resistance to Admission — ]Mr. Clay and 
his Committee make Report — Second Compromise — Missouri Admitted 31-37 

CHAPTER VII. 

MISSOURI AS A STATE. 

First Election for Governor and other State Officers — Senators and Representatives to 
General Assembly — Sheriffs and Coroners — U. S. Senators — Representatives In 
Congress — Supreme Court Judges — Counties Organized — Capital Moved to St. 
Charles — Official Record of Territorial and State Officers . . . 37-43 

CHAPTER VIII. 

CIVIL WAR IN MISSOURI. 

Fort Sumpter Fired Upon — Call for 75,000 Men — Gov. Jackson Refuses to Furnish a 
Man — U. S. Arsenal at Liberty, Mo., Seized — -Proclamation of Gov. Jackson — 
General Order No. 7 — Legislature Convenes — Camp Jackson Organized — Ster- 
ling Price Appointed Major-General — Frost's Letter to Lyon — Lyon's Letter to 
Frost — Surrender of Camp Jackson — Proclamation of Gen. Harney — Conference 
between Price and Harney — Harney Superseded by Lyon — Second Conference — 
Gov. Jackson Burns the Bridges behind Him — Proclamation of Gov. Jackson — 
Gen. Blair Takes Possession of Jefferson City — Proclamation of Lyon — Lyon at 
Springfield — State Offices Declared Vacant — Gen. Fremont Assumes Command — 
Proclamation of Lieut. -Gov. Reynolds — Proclamation of Jeff . Thompson and Gov. 
Jackson — Death of Gen. Lyon — Succeeded by Sturgis — Proclamation of McCul- 
loch and Gamble — Martial Law Declared — Second Proclamation of JefE. Thomp- 
son — President Modifies Fremon't Order — Fremont Relieved by Hunter — 
Proclamation of Price — Hunter's Order of Assessment — Hunter Declares Martial 
Law — Order Relating to Newspapers — Halleck Succeeds Hunter — Halleck's 
Order No. 18 — Similar Order by Halleck — Boone County Standard Confiscated — 
Execution of Prisoners at Macon and Palmyra — Gen. Evring's Order No. 11 — 
Gen. Rosecrans Takes Command — Massacre at Centralia — Death of Bill Ander- 
son — Gen. Dodge Succeeds Gen. Rosecrans — List of Battles . . 43-53 

CHAPTER IX. 

EARLY MILITARY RECORD. 
Black Hawk War — Mormon Difficulties — Florida War — Mexican War . 53-59 

CHAPTER X. 

AGRICULTURE AND MATERIAL WEALTH. 

Missouri as an Agricultural State — The Different Crops — Live Stock — Horses — 
Mules — Milch Cows — Oxen and Other Cattle — Sheep — Hogs — Comparisons — 
Missouri Adapted to Live Stock — Cotton — Broom Corn and Other Products — 
Fruits — Berries — Grapes — Railroads — First Neigh of the " IronHorse" in Mis- 
souri — Names of Railroads — Manufactures — Great Bridge at St. Louis 69-65 



CONTENTS. Vll 

CHAPTER XI. 

EDUCATION. 

Public School System — Public School System of Missouri — Lincoln Institute — Offi- 
cers of Public School System — Certificates of Teachers — University of Missouri — 
Schools — Colleges — Institutions of Learning — Location — Libraries — News- 
papers and Periodicals — No. of School Children — Amount Expended — Value of 
Grounds and Buildings — "The Press" 05-73 

CHAPTER XH. 

RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS. 

Baptist Church — Its History — Congregational — When Founded — Its History — 
Christian Church — Its History — Cumberland Presbyterian Church— Its His- 
tory—Methodist Episcopal Church — Its History — Presbyterian Church — Its 
History — Protestant Episcopal Church — Its History — United Presbyterian 
Church — Its History — Unitarian Church — Its History — Roman Catholic 
Church — Its History 73-79 

CHAPTER Xni. 

ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR CRITTENDEN. 

Nomination and Election of Thomas T. Crittenden — Personal Mention — M-arma- 
duke's Candidacy — Stirring Events — Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad — Death 
of Jesse James — The Fords — Pardon of the Gamblers .... 79-85 



HISTOEY OF CLAY COUNTY, MISSOUKI. 
CHAPTER I. 

EARLY HISTORY TO THE ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY. 

The Indians — The French and Spanish — First Exploration and Settlement by Amer- 
icans — The First American Settlers in Clay — An Indian Fight — Organization of 
Clay County 87-100 

CHAPTER II. 

HISTORY OF THE COUNTY FROM 1S22 TO 1830. 

General Historical Sljetch from 1822 to 1830 — First County Courts — First Circuit 
Courts — Three Indian Horse Thieves — First Murder Case — Execution of the 
Murderess — The County in 1822 as Described by Dr. Beck^Martin Palmer, the 
" Ring-Tailed Painter " — Miscellaneous Items — Liberty Township — Roads and 
Ferries — Important County Court Proceedings in 1826 — Miscellaneous — Valua- 
tion of Property in 1829 — Tlie Indian Alarm of 1828 — The Expedition into the 
Platte Country 100-118 



CHAPTER III. 

HISTORY OF THE COUNTY FROM 1830 TO 1840. 

General Sketch of the County from 1830 to 1840 — Early Days in Clay County — The 
Deep Snow of 1830 — Buildiug the First Court House — The First Jail — During the 
Black Hawlj War — Origin of the Platte Purchase — The "Hetherly War" — Clay 
County inl836 — The Mormon War 118-136 

CHAPTER IV. 

HISTORY OF THE COUNTY FROM 1840 TO 1850. 

The Political Canvass of 1840 and 1844 — Elections of 1846 — The Great Flood of 
1844 — Miscellaneous — Negro Killing — Tom Haggerty's Case — Clay County in 
the Mexican War — List of Capt. Moss's Company, and Sketch of its Services — 
The Political Canvass of 1848 — The Jackson Resolutions — Benton's Appeal — His 
Meeting at Liberty 13G-152 

CHAPTER V. 

FROM 1850 TO THE TROUBLES IN ICANSAS. 

The California Gold Fever — The Political Canvass of 1850 — The Attempted Murde 
of Mrs. Dinah AUen — Lynching of Her Would-be Assassins — The Cholera — Elec- 
tions of 1852, 1854, 1856 and 1858 — The Know Nothings — Tragedies — The Great 
Smithville Melee and Mob in 1854 — Murder of Wm. O. Russell, Esq., by "Pete" 
Lightburne — Lynching of "Pete." 152-168 

CHAPTER VI. 

DURING THE KANSAS TROUBLES UP TO 1861. 

The Kansas Trotibles — Clay County's Interest in Kansas Affairs — Sketch of the 
Situation in Kansas Texfitory Upon its Organization — The Election in 1854 — Clay 
Furnishes Her Quota of Voters — The "Sons of the South" — Election in the 
Spring of 1855 — Tlie Parkvilie Mob Indorsed — The " Wakarusa War" — Seizure 
of the Liberty Arsenal by the Clay County Volunteers — Maj. Leonard's Report — 
The Arms Returned Minus What Were Retained — County Seat Fight in Kansas — 
Emigrants to Kansas Turned Back — End of the Fight — The Free Soilers Win — 
Explanation of the Course of Clay County. Ui) to ISGl — Census — Miscellan- 
eous — The Present Court-House — The Kansas City and Cameron Railroad — The 
Presidential and Gubernatorial Campaigns of 1860 — After the Election — Trouble 
Brewing 168-100 

CHAPTER VII. 

HISTORY OF THE COUNTY DURING 1861. 

The Legislature of 18G1 — Election of Delegates to the State Convention — The Work 
of the Convention — After Fort Sumpter — Capture of the Liberty Arsenal — Maj. 
Grant's Reports — After the Arsenal's Seizure — Preparing for War in Earnest — 
Organization of Military Companies — Gen. Doniphan Declines a Military Appoint- 
ment — Departure of the Secession Companies for the War — The First Federal 
Troops — Events of the Summer and Early Fall of 1861 -Proclamation of Gen. 



CONTENTS. IX 

Stein — Rallying to His Standard — The Battle of Blue Mills — The Killed and 
Wounded — Reports of the Leaders — Col. Saunders, Hon. D.R.Atchison, Col. 
Scott — List of Killed and Wounded in the Third Iowa — War Incidents of the Fall 
and Winter of 1861— The Neosho Secession Ordinance .... 100-222 

CHAPTER VIII. 

DURING THE YEAR 1802. 

The " Gamble Oath"— It is Taken by a Majority of the County Officials- Miscel- 
laneous — Parker's Raid on Liberty — The Reign of Penick — Organization of the 
Enrolled Militia — Miscellaneous Military Matters —Nov. Election, 1862 224-234 

CHAPTER IX. 

DURING THE YEAR 1863. 

Miscellaneous War Items of the Early Spring — The Raid on Missouri City and Killing 
of Capt. Sessions — Other War Incidents — After the Lawrence Raid — Threatened 
Invasion from Kansas Prevented — The "Paw Paw Militia," and Certain Military 
Incidents in This County During 1862 and 1863 — Interesting Testimony of Col. J. 
H. Moss — November Election — Sons of Malta — Military Murders. . 234-246 

CHAPTER X. 

DURING THE YEAR 1864. 

Jayhawker raid on Missouri City — The Federal Draft — Bushwhacker's Raid — Fletch 
Taylors' First Raid, and Murder of Bond and Daily — He Kills the Bigelows — His 
Letter to Capt. Garth — His Skirmish on Fishing River with Capt. Kemper — Mis- 
cellaneous War Items — Ford's and Jennison's Visit which They were not Invited 
to Repeat — Bill Anderson — Other War Incidents — Census — Presidential Elec- 
tion 246-256 

CHAPTER XI. 

SOME LEADING INCIDENTS FROM 1865 TO 1885. 

Miscellaneous Military Incidents in 1865 — The Last of the Bushwhackers — Surren- 
der of Oil. Shepherd's Band — The Drake Coustitution — Robbing of the Clay 
County Savings Bank — Political Canvasses — The Railroads of Clay County — 
Hanging of Sam Walker — Census Statistics — The James Brothers. . 256-271 

CHAPTER XII. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

Clay County Schools — County Teachers' Institute — William Jewell College, 
etc. 271-279 

CHAPTER XIII. 

LIBERTY TOWNSHIP. 

Position and Description — Early Settlers — Liberty Landing — Country Churches — 
City of Liberty — First lacorporatiou — Liberty in 1846 — Churches of Liberty — 
Secret Societies — Biographical 279-374 



CHAPTEE XIV. 

FISHING RIVER TOWNSHIP. 

Position aud Description — Early History, First Settlers, etc. — Voters at First Elec- 
tion in Township — Country Churches — Missouri City — Its ler and 
Subsequent Career — Known formerly as Richfield — Murder d \ „.ndon — 
Killing of two men named Titus by G. S. Elgin — Churches and Lodges in Missouri 
City — History of Excelsior Springs — When Surveyed and Started — Buildings 
Erected — Its Prosperity during 1881 — Incorporation — The Springs — The Medi- 
cinal and HealingProperties which They Possess — Churches at Excelsior Springs — 
G. A. R. Lodge — Prathersville — Location, etc. — Fishing River Baptist Church — 
Biographical '. 374-420 

CHAPTEE XV. 

PLATTE TOWNSHIP. 

Position and Description — Early Settlements — Organization — First Justices — First 
Post-office — Tragedies of the Civil War — Churches in the County — Town of 
Smithville — " Yankee " Smith and his Eccentric Characteristics — His Death and 
the Epitaph on his Tombstone — Incorporation — Churches at Smithville — Odd 
Fellows' Lodge — Gosneyville — Churches — Biographical . . . 420-448 

CHAPTEE XVI. 

KEARNEY TOWNSHIP. 

Boundaries, General Surface, etc. — Early Settlements — Tragedies of the Civil 
War — County Churches — Town of Kearney — Centreville — Location of Kearney 
and for Whom Named — Incorporation — Ke- ey's Churches — Holt — Location of 
this Village — Church and Lodge Records — graphical .... 448-498 

CHAPTEE XVII. 

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP. 

Location and Physical Features — Hamlets of Greenville and Claysville — Early His- 
tory — Organization — Mount Vernon Missionary Baptist Church — Biograph- 
ical 498-507 

CHAPTEE XVIII. 

GALLATIN TOWNSHIP. 

Boundary and Physical Features — Villages in this Township — Barry — Harlem — 
Moscow — Arnold's Station — Minaville — Churches — Biographical . 507-530 



CONTENTS. 



HISTOKY OF PLATTE COUNTY, MISSOURI. 



CHAPTER I. 

ABORIGINES. 

Pi-e-Historic luhibitaats — The ludiaus — Sioux and Algouquius — The Missouris — 
The Osages, the Sac and Foxes,' and the lowas — Battle of the Little Platte — Pot- 
tawatomles — Kickapoos — The Issue House — Reminiscences. . . 531-588 

CHAPTER n. 

EXPLORATIONS AND PIONEERS. 

French and Spanish — First American Visitors — Steamboat Expedition — Rialto — 
First White Settlement — The Natural Advantages of Platte County becoming Rec- 
ognized — Second Creek Settlers — Expelled in 1836 — Other Pioneers — The Lib- 
erty— Ft. Leavenworth Trail 538-545 



CHAPTER ni. 

THE PLATTE PURCHASE — INDIAN TITLE EXTINGUISHED — 1835-1836. 

Preliminary Steps — The Platte Country Correspondence in Reference Thereto — 
Meeting at Liberty, Mo. — Its Object — Memorial — Efforts of Benton and Llnu — 
Treaty with the lowas, Sacs a;' 'ox Indians 545-553 



CHAPTER IV. 

EARLIER PERMANENT SETTLEMENTS AND IMPROVEMENTS— 1837-1840. 

The Rush of Immigrants — Causes, Etc. — Appearance and Condition of the Country — 
The Work of the Early Settlers — Their Diversions — House-Raisings — The Class 
of People — Early Private Surveys — The Pre-emption Law — Pioneer Mills — Early 
Towns — Rialto, Platte City, Newmarket, Weston, Ridgely, Parkville, Farley, Barry, 
latan — List of Early Settlers 553-5G7 



CHAPTER V. 

ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY, EARLY OFFICIALS, COURTS, PROCEED- 
INGS AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS — 1837-1840. 

Platte a Part of Clay — Officials of the Annexed Territory — Election of 1838 — Platte 
County Organized — Act of Organization — The New County^First County Court — 
Municipal Townships Established — Regular and Adjourned Terms — County 
Boundary Report — First Term of the Circuit Court — First Grand Jury — First 
Attorneys — First Instruments Recorded — Early Marriages . . . 567-583 



CHAPTEE VI. 

MATERIAL PROGRESS OF TWENTY YEARS — 1841-1860. 

Government Surveys — Work and Improvements — Land Entries — Hard Times Among 
the Settlers — Great Flood of 1844, Followed by Much Sickness — Hemp Growing — 
Other Leading Products — Emigration to Oregon — Effect of the Mexican War 
upon the People — California Gold Excitement — Argonauts ' from Platte County — 
Salt Lake and Indian Trade — The Four Years Preceding the Kansas Troubles, and 
Drawbacks During that Period — Drought of 1854 — Four Years Preceding 1801 — 
Population and Property Valuation from 1840 to 1860 — State Roads, Bridges, Rail- 
roads, Etc 583-606 

CHAPTER VII. 

EARLY MILITIA ORGANIZATIONS — THE MORMON WAR. 

Two Regiments — Officers — Drills — Martial Spirit — Social Features — The Mormon 
War — Militia Called Out and War Begun — Platte County Battalion of "Gen- 
tiles" — Surrender of the Mormons — Return of the Troops . . . 606-611 

CHAPTER VIII. 

THE MEXICAN WAR. 

Army of the West — Platte and Cole Infantry Battalion — Departure of the Expedi- 
tion — Arrival of Kearney in Santa Fe — Col. Sterling Price — Capt. Morin's Platte 
County Company — Names of Members — The Ortiz Insurrection — Murder of Gov. 
Bent and Others — Battle of La Canada — Ambuscade at El Embudo — Storming 
and Capture of Fort Pueblo de Taos — Other Battles — Massacre and Subsequent 
Battle at Moro — Engagement at Cienega — The Return Home — Capt. Denver's 
Company — Names of Volunteers From This County — Society of Veterans of the 
Mexican War 611-626 

CHAPTER IX. 

THE KANSAS TROUBLES. 

Slavery Under the Constitution — Anti-Slavery Agitation — Beginning of the Fight in 
Congress — "The Wilmot Proviso " — The California Bill — Slavery in Kansas Ter- 
ritory — Settling Kansas — Anti-Slavery Colonization — Anti-Slavery Emigrant Aid 
Societies — Excitement in Western Missouri — Insecurity of Slave Property — Fear 
of Insurrection — The Platte County Self-Defensive Association — Anti-Self-Defen- 
sive Protest — Citizens' Meeting — Platte County Emigration — Platte City Meet- 
ing — First Elections — Feeling Preceding the Parkville Luminary Affair — Destruc- 
tion of the Office — Anti-Slavery Ministers Expelled — Outrage Upon Wm. Phillips — 
Anti-Slavery Rebellion — Wakarusa War — Taking of Lawrence — Rout of Brown at 
Ossawatomie — Robbery of Hickory Point — "Heroine of the Kansas War" — 
Close of the Troubles 626-654 

CHAPTER X. 

THE CIVIL WAR. 

Causes of the War — Secession Efforts to Compromise — Beginning of Hostilities — 
Affairs in Missouri in 1860-Gl — Attitude in Platte County — Enlistments for the 



CONTENTS. Xlll 

Southern Army — Wallace Jackson's Company — Campaigns and Battles — Capt. 
Stewart's and Capt. Thompson's Companies — "The Extra Battalion" — Col. 
Winston's Regiment — Capts. Mitchell's, Rogers', and Kuykendall's Companies — 
Companies of Capts. Spratt, Crisman, Miller and Morton — Formation of Winston's 
Regiment — Campaigns and Battles — Second Re-organization — Other Companies — 
Col. Barnes', Capts. Dowuing's and Robertson's Companies — Col. Childs' Convoy 
of Volunteers — Companies of Capts. Lanter and McGee — Of Capt. Carr — Gates' 
Regiment and Hughes' Battalion — Services — Casualties — Last of the Southern 
Companies — Capt. Wood.small's Company — Col. Thornton's Recruits — Total 
Number from this County — Union Enlistments — Capt. Phelp's Company — Col. 
Price's Company — The Pavr-paw Militia — The Sixteenth Kansas — Capt. Fitzger- 
ald's Regiment— Occupation of the County by the Federals — Fight, Etc. — Maj. 
Joseph's Campaign — The Bee Creek Fight — Capture of Col. Moonlight and Maj. 
Ralph — Maj. Huff comes to Weston — Gordon's Departure South — Morgan's Ad- 
vent — Clough's Raid of Robbers — Wisconsin and Ohio Troops — Other Troops in 
18C2 — Skirmishes and Robberies in 1862 — Parkville Skirmish — Goose Neck 
Fight — Raid of Thieves and Negroes — 1803 — A Reign of Terror — Robbing an old 
Colored Man — Raid on Stump Cockrill — Murder of Toney Tinsley — Kansas Red 
Legs — Hangings and Robberies — Destruction of the Sentinel Office — Paw-paw 
Militia Excitement — Threatened Trouble at Platte City — Other Events in 1863 — 
Events of 1864 — Thornton's Recruiting Expedition — Raid of the Bashi-bazouks — 
Other Tragedies — Fights and Robberies — Capture of Parkville — Fight at Ridge- 
ly — Murder of Geo. Fielding— Killing of Phineas Wood, Throckmorton and 
Andy Smith — Slash Valley and Buena Vista Fights — Murder of Dr. Joseph 
Walker — Exodus to Montana and the West — Affairs in 1805. — The Close of the 
War 654-73(; 

CHAPTER XI. 

HOMICIDES, TRIALS, ETC. 

Murder of Hall L. Wilkerson — An Election Row — Affray in Platte County — Killing 
of Wm. Callahan — Ducote Killed by White • — G. S. Elgin Assassinated — Nathaniel 
Daniels Killed by Houston — Capt. Dan Jenkins Assassinated — Killing of Burge 
by Johnson — Thomas Morgan Killed by Israel Health and Benj. Fulcher- — .\lvis 
Homicide — Killing of Dr. Spencer — George Burgess Kills his Cousin — John Jones 
kills John Bone — Tipton Kills Woodson 73G-745 

CHAPTER Xn. 

BENCH AND BAR. 

Introduction — Prominent Members of the Bar Originally from Missouri — Circuit 
Court — Prominent Attorneys — Personal Sketches — Members of the Bar of 
Platte County, Mo. — County Court Judges — Probate Court — Court of Common 
Pleas, Weston 745-760 

CHAPTER Xin. 

POLITICS AND PUBLIC MEN. 

First Election, 1838 — Succeeding Elections — Votes of the County Since I85G — 
Public Officials 760-768 



XIV CONTENTS. 

CHAPTEE XIV. 

SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES AND LITEBAEY CULTURE. 

Public School System of Missouri — Pablic Schools in Platte County — County Com- 
missioner's Report for Year ending June 30, 1884 — Private Schools and Colleges — 
Camden Point Female Academy — Historical Sketch — The Institution at Present 
— Female Orphan School — Conditions of Admission — Male Academy at Camden 
Point — Platte City Male College — Pleasant Ridge Academy — Platte City Female 
College — Weston High School — Mental Culture and Literature . . 768-782 

CHAPTER XV. 

MATERIAL PROGRESS SINCE THE WAR — 1865-1885. 

Assessed Valuation in 1865 — Platte County Fair Association — Its Officers — Bridges — 
Weston and Platte City Turnpilse — Valuation and Tax for 1885 — Description of 
Platte county 782-793 

CHAPTER XVI. 

RAILROADS AND BONDED DEBT. 

Early Railroads — Kansas City, St. Joseph and Council Bluffs Railroad — Southern 
Branch Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad — Atchison Branch Chicago, 
Rock Island and Pacific Railroad — Parkville and Grand River Railroad — Indebted- 
ness of the County — Parkville and Grand River Railroad Company — Platte County 
Railroad Company — Weston Railroad Bonds — Court-Hou«e Indebtedness — Green 
Township Strip Bonds — Recapitulation 793-803 

CHAPTER XVII. 

CHURCHES AND LODGES. 

Churches in Carroll Township — In Fair Township — In Green Township — In Lee 
Township — In Marshall Township — In May Township — In Pettis Township — In 
Preston Township — In Waldron Township — In Weston Township — Lodges in 
the County— A. F. &. A. M. — I. O. O. F. — Legion of Honor, Etc. . . 803-829 

CHAPTER XVHI. 

NEWSPAPERS AND JOURNALISTS. 

The Hagle a,TiA the Argus — The Atlas — The Tenth Legion — The Sentinel--The Bor- 
der Times — The Chronicle — Parkville Papers — The Luminary — The Courier — The 
Independent — Later Platte City Papers — The Reveille — The Landmark — The Demo- 
crat — The Advocate — The Argus — Edgerton Coumr .... 829-838 

CHAPTER XIX. 

PETTIS TOWNSHIP. 

Boundary and Physical Features — Population — Early Settlers, and Names of Those 
First Associated with the Township — Present Condition — Hampton — Location 
Etc. — Parkville, the Principal City in the Township — Reminiscences — First Mer- 
chants, Etc. — History of the Town — Its Outlook Now — Business in the Place — 
Biographical 838-872 



CHAPTER XX. 

MAY TOWNSHIP. 

Boundary — Physical Features — Early Settlers — Barry — Pioneer Preachers and 

Church Members — Linkville — Principal Business Houses of the Place — Its Con- 

■ dition as a Business Center — Bioscraphical 872-885 

CHAPTER XXI. 

WALDRON TOWNSHIP. 

Formation, Boundary, etc. — Physical Features — Early Settlers — Waldrou — Where 
Located — By Whom Laid Out — Present Business — Biographical. . S85-S94 

CHAPTER XXH. 

PRESTON TOWNSHIP. 

Boundary — Physical Features — Early Settlers — Ridgely — Early Merchants in the 
Town — Business Outlook — Edgerton — One of the Most Important Towns in the 
County — Present Business Interests — Early Churches — Union Mills and Dis- 
tillery — Biographical 894-910 



CHAPTER XXHI. 

CARROLL TOWNSHIP. 

Location, Area and Boundary — Physical Features — Early Settlers — Who They Were 
and Where From — Platte City — Its Situsition — Known as the Falls of Platte 
River — Originally called Martinsville, after Zadoc Martin — A Sketch of Him — 
First Court Held in Tavern of Mike Faylor' — First Sale of Lots After Town 
Was Laid Out — Charter Obtained — Sketches of a few Pioneers — Early Build- 
ings — Churches, Etc. — Schools Established — Chronological Aunals from 1862 
to 1878 — Postmasters of Platte City — Other Items — Public Schools — Business 
of the City — Exchange Bank of Wells & Co. — Biographical . . . 910-977 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

LEE TOWNSHIP. 

Territory and Boundary — Water Courses — Pioneers in the Township — Farley — 
Population, Etc. — East Leavenworth, also called City Point — Biographical 977-990 

CHAPTER XXV. 

FAIR TOWNSHIP. 

Territory and Boundary — Physical Features — Early Settlers — Tracy — By Whom 
Surveyed — For Whom Named — Early Merchants — Present Business in the 
Town — Beverly — Settle Station— Biographical 990-1011 



XVI CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

GREEN TOWNSHIP. 

Boundary and Area — Nature of the Soil — Its Adaptability for Agricultural Pur- 
poses — Timber — Stock-raising Industry — Early Settlers — New Market — When 
and by Whom Laid Out — Originally Called Jacksonville — Buena Vista — Camden 
Point — Location, Etc. — Atchison Junction — Dearborn — Sketch of Singleton 
Woods — Biographical 1011-1037 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

WESTON TOWNSHIP. 

Boundary — Peculiarities of the Soil — Location of the Most Highly Improved 
Lands — Early Settlers — City of Weston — Situation — When Platted — First 
Female in the Place — Early Business Men — Her Foreign Trade — Hemp Growing — 
Present Outlook — Commercial and Industrial Interests — Apple Shipments — 
Weston's Great Men — Pony Express and Overland Mail — Lodges — Miscel- 
laneous 1037-1086 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

MARSHALL TOWNSHIP. 

Boundary — Stock and Fruit Interests — Pioneers — latan — Present Business Men — 
Sugar Lake and Bean's Lake — Biographical 1086-1121 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 



CHAPTER I. 

LOUISIANA PURCHASE. 

BRIEF HISTORICAL SKETCH. 

The purchase in 1803 of the vast territory west of the Mississippi 
River, by the United States, extending through Oregon to the Pacific 
coast and south to the Dominions of Mexico, constitutes the most im- 
portant event that ever occurred in the history of the nation. 

It gave to our Republic additional room for that expansion and 
stupendous growth, to which it has since attained, in all that makes it 
strong and enduring, and forms the seat of an empire, from which 
will radiate an influence for good unequaled in the annals of time. In 
1763, the immense region of country, known at that time as Louisiana, 
was ceded to Spain by France. By a secret article, in the treaty of 
St. Ildefonso, concluded in 1800, Spain ceded it back to France. 
Napoleon, at that time, coveted the island of St. Domingo, not only 
because of the value of its products, but more especially because its 
location in the Gulf of Mexico would, in a military point of view, 
aflbrd him a fine field whence he could the more efiectively guard his 
newly-acquired possessions. Hence he desired this cession by Spain 
should be kept a profound secret until he succeeded in reducing St. 
Domingo to submission. In this undertaking, however, his hopes 
were blasted, and so great was his disappointment that he apparently 
became indiiferent to the advantages to be secured to France from his 
purchase of Louisiana, 

Iq 1803 he sent out Laussat as prefect of the colony, who gave the 

(1) 



2 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 

people of Louisiana the first intimation they had that they had once 
more become the subjects of France. This was the occasion of great 
rejoicing among the inhabitants, who were Frenchmen in their origin, 
habits, manners, and customs. 

Mr. Jefferson, then President of the United States, on being in- 
formed of the retrocession, immediately dispatched instructions to 
Robert Livingston, the American Minister at Paris, to make known 
to Napoleon that the occupancy of New Orleans, by his government, 
would not only endanger the friendly relations existing between the 
two nations, but, perhaps, oblige the United States to make common 
cause with England, his bitterest and most dreaded enemy ; as the^ 
possession of the city by France would give her command of the 
Mississippi, which was the only outlet for the produce of the West- 
ern States, and give her also control oi the Gulf of Mexico, so neces- 
sary to the protection of American commerce. Mr. Jefferson was so 
fully impressed with the idea that the occupancy of New Orleans, by 
France, would bring about a conflict of interests between the two 
nations, which would finally culminate in an open rupture, that he 
urged Mr. Livingston, to not only insist upon the free navigation of 
the Mississippi, but to negotiate for the puichase of the city and the 
surrounding country. 

The question of this negotiation was of so grave a character to the 
United States that the President appointed Mr. Monroe, with full 
power to act in conjunction with Mr. Livingston. Ever equal to all 
emergencies, and prompt in the cabinet, as well as in the field. Na- 
poleon came to the conclusion that, as he could not well defend his 
occupancy of New Orleans, he would dispose of it, on the best terms 
possible. Before, however, taking final action in the matter, he sum- 
moned two of his Ministers, and addressed them follows : — 

" I am fully sensible of the value of Louisiana, and it was my wish 
to repair the error of the French diplomatists who abandoned it in 
1763. I have scarcely recovered it before I run the risk of losing it; 
but if I am obliged to give it up, it shall hereafter cost more to those 
who force me to part with it, than to those to whom I shall 
yield it. The English have despoiled France of all her northern pos- 
sessions in America, and now they covet those of the South. I am 
determined that they shall not have the Mississippi. Although 
Louisiana is but a trifle compared to their vast possessions in other 
parts of the globe, yet, judging from the vexation they have mani- 
fested on seeing it return to the power of France, I auj •--•fcuin that 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 3 

tHeir first object will be to gain possession of it. They will proba- 
bly commence the war in that quarter. They have twenty vessels in 
the Gulf of Mexico, and our affairs in St. Domingo are daily getting 
worse since the death of LeClerc. The conquest of Louisiana might 
be easily made, and I have not a moment to lose in getting out of 
their reach. I am not sure but that they have already begun an at- 
tack upon it. Such a measure would be in accordance with their 
habits ; and in their place I should not wait. I am inclined, in order 
to deprive them of all prospect of ever possessing it, to cede it to the 
United States. Indeed, I can hardly say that I cede it, for I do not 
yet possess it; and if I wait but a short time my enemies may leave 
me nothing but an empty title to grant to the Republic I wish to con- 
ciliate. I consider the whole colony as lost, and I believe that in the 
hands of this rising power it will be more useful to the political and 
even commercial interests of France than if I should attempt to retain 
it. Let me have both your opinions on the subject." 

One of his Ministers approved of the contemplated cession, but 
the other opposed it. The matter was long and earnestly discussed 
by them, before the conference was ended. The next day. Napoleon 
sent for the Minister who had agreed with him, and said to him : — 

"The season for deliberation is over. I have determined to re- 
nounce Louisiana. I shall give up not only New Orleans, but the 
whole colony, without reservation. That I do not undervalue Louis- 
iana, I have sufficiently proved, as the object of my first treaty with 
Spain was to recover it. But though I regret parting with it, I am 
convinced it would be folly to persist in trying to keep it. I commis- 
sion you, therefore, to negotiate this affair with the envoys of the 
United States. Do not wait the arrival of Mr. Monroe, but go this 
very day and confer with Mr. Livingston. Remember, however, that 
I need ample funds for carrying on the war, and I do not wish to com- 
mence it by levying new taxes. For the last century France and Spain 
have incurred great expense in the improvement of Louisiana, for 
which her trade has never indemnified them. Large sums have been 
advanced to different companies, which have never been returned to 
the treasury. It is fair that I should require repayment for these. 
Were I to regulate my demands by the importance of this territory 
to the United States, they would be unbounded ; but, being obliged to 
part with ii, I shall be moderate in my terms. Still, remember, I 
must have fifty millions of francs, and I will not consent to take less. 



4 HISTOET OF MISSOURI. 

I would rather make some desperate effort to preserve this fine 
country." 

That day the negotiations commenced. Mr. Monroe reached Paris 
on the 12th of April, 1803, and the two representatives of the United 
States, after holding a private interview, announced that they were 
ready to treat for the entire territory. On the 30th of April, the 
treaty was signed, and on the 21st of October, of the same year. Con- 
gress ratified the treaty. The United States were to pay $11,250,000, 
and her citizens were to be compensated for some illegal captures, 
to the amount of $3,750,000, making in the aggregate the sum of 
$15,000,000, while it was agreed that the vessels and merchandise of 
France and Spain should be admitted into all the ports ot Louisiana 
free of duty for twelve years. Bonaparte stipulated in favor of 
Louisiana, that it should be, as soon as possible, incorporated into 
the Union, and that its inhabitants should enjoy the same rights, 
privileges and immunities as other citizens of the United States, and 
the clause giving to them these benefits was drawn up by Bonaparte, 
who presented it to the plenipotentiaries with these words : — 

" Make it known to the people of Louisiana, that we regret to part 
with them ; that we have stipulated for all the advantages they could 
desire ; and that France, in giving them up, has insured to them the 
greatest of all. They could never have prospered under any Euro- 
pean government as they will when they become independent. But 
while they enjoy the privileges of liberty let tTiem remember that they 
are French, and preserve for their mother country that affection which 
a common origin inspires." 

Complete satisfaction was given to both parties in the terms of the 
treaty. Mr. Livingston said : — 

«• I consider that from this day the United States takes rank with 
the first powers of Europe, and now she has entirely escaped from the 
power of England," and Bonaparte expressed a similar sentiment when 
he said : " By this cession of territory I have secured the power of the 
United States, and given to England a maritime rival, who, at some 
future time, will humble her pride." 

These were prophetic words, for within a few years afterward the 
British met with a signal defeat, on the plains of the very territory of 
which the great Corsican had been speaking. 

From 1800, the date of the cession made by Spain, to 1803, when 
it was purchased by the Uuitud Status, no chauge had been made by 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. T 

the French authorities in the jarisprudence of the Upper and Lower 
Louisiana, and during this period the Spanish laws remained in full 
force, as the laws of the entire province ; a fact which is of interest to 
those who would understand the legal history and some of the present 
laws of Missouri. 

On December 20th, 1803, Gens. Wilkinson and Claiborne, who 
were jointly commissioned to take possession of the territory for the 
United States, arrived in the city of New Orleans at the head of the 
American forces. Laussat, who had taken possession but twenty days 
previously as the prefect of the colony, gave up his command, and the 
star-spangled banner supplanted the tri-colored flag of France. The 
agent of France, to take possession of Upper Louisiana from the 
Spanish authorities, was Amos Stoddard, captain of artillery in the 
United States service. He was placed in possession of St. Louis on 
the 9th of March, 1804, by Charles Dehault Delassus, the Spanish 
commandant, and on the following day he transferred it to the United 
States. The authority of the United States in Missouri dates from 
this day. 

From that moment the interests of the people of the Mississippi 
Valley became identified. They were troubled no more with uncer- 
tainties in regard to free navigation. The great river, along whose 
banks they had planted their towns and villages, now afforded them 
a safe and easy outlet to the markets of the world. Under the pro- 
tecting segis of a government, republican in form, and having free 
access to an almost boundless domain, embracing in its broad area the 
diversified climates of the globe, and possessing a soil unsurpassed for 
fertility, beauty of scenery and wealth of minerals, they had every 
incentive to push on their enterprises and build up the land wherein 
their lot had been cast. 

In the purchase of Louisiana, it was known that a great empire had 
been secured as a heritage to the people of our country, for all time to 
come, but its grandeur, its possibilities, its inexhaustible resources 
and the important relations it would sustain to the nation and the 
world were never dreamed of by even Mr. Jefferson and his adroit and 
accomplished diplomatists. 

The most ardent imagination never conceived of the progress which 
would mark the history of the '• Great West." The adventurous 
pioneer, who fifty years ago pitched his tent upon its broad prairies, 
or threaded the dark labyrinths of its lonely forests, little thought .that 
a mighty tide of physical and intellectual strength, would so rapidly 



O HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 

flow on in his footsteps, to populate, build up and enrich the domain 
which he had conquered. 

Year after year, civilization has advanced further and further, until 
at length the mountains, the hills and the valleys, and even the rocks 
and the caverns, resound with the noise and din of busy millioua. 

" I beheld the westward inarches 
Of the unknown crowded nations. 
All the land was full of people, 
Restless, struggling, toiling, stri%-ing, 
Speaking many tongues, yet feeling 
But one heart-beat in their bosoms. 

In the woodlands rang their axes ; - 

Smoked their towns in all the valleys; 
Over all the lakes and rivers 
Rushed their great canoes of thunder." 

In 1804, Congress, by an act passed in April of the same year, 
divided Louisiana into two parts, the ♦* Territory of Orleans," and 
the " District of Louisiana," known as ''Upper Louisiana." This 
district included all that portion of the old province, north of " Hope 
Encampment," on the Lower Mississippi, and embraced the present 
State of Missouri, and all the western region of country to the Pacific 
Ocean, and all below the forty-ninth degree of north latitude not 
claimed by Spain. 

As a matter of convenience, on March 26th, 1804, Missouri was 
placed within the jurisdiction of the government of the Territory of 
Indiana, and its government put in motion by Gen. William H. Har- 
rison, then governor of Indiana. In this he was assisted by Judges 
Griffin, Vanderburg and Davis, who established in St. Louis what were 
called Courts of Common Pleas. The District of Louisiana was regu- 
larly organized into the Territory of Louisiana by Congress, March 3, 
1805, and President Jefferson appointed Gen. James Wilkinson, Gov- 
ernor, and Frederick Bates, Secretary. The Legislature of the ter- 
ritory was formed by Governor Wilkinson and Judges R. J. Meigs 
and John B. C. Lucas. In 1807, Governor Wilkinson was succeeded 
by Captain Meriwether Lewis, who had become famous by reason of 
his having made the expedition up the Missouri with Clark. Governor 
Lewis committed suicide in 1809 and President Madison appointed 
Gen. Benjamin Howard of Lexington, Kentucky, to fill his place. 
Gen. Howard resigned October 25, 1810, to enter the war of 1812, 
and died in St. Louis, in 1814. Captain William Clark, of Lewis and 
Clark's expedition, was appointed Governor in 1810, to succeed Gen. 



HISTORY or MISSODKI. 7 

Howard, and remained in office until the admission of the State into 
the Union, in 1821. 

The portions of Missouri which were settled, for the purposes of 
local government were divided into four districts. Cape Girardeau 
was the first, and embraced the territory between Tywappity Bottom 
and Apple Creek. Ste. Genevieve, the second, embraced the terri- 
tory from Apple Creek to the Meramec River. St. Louis, the third, 
embraced the territory between the Meramec and Missouri Rivers. 
St. Charles, the fourth, included the settled territory, between the 
Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. The total population of these dis- 
tricts at that time, was 8,670, including slaves. The population of 
the district of Louisiana, when ceded to the United States was 10.120. 



CHAPTER n. 

DESCRIPTIVE AND GEOGRAPHICAL. 

Kame — Extent — Surface — Elvers — Timber — Climate — Prairies — Soils — Popala> 
tion by Counties. 



The name Missouri is derived from the Indian tongue and signifies 
muddy. 

EXTENT. 

Missouri is bounded on the north by Iowa ( from which it is sep- 
arated for about thirty miles on the northeast, by the Des Moines 
River), and on the east by the Mississippi River, which divides it from 
Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee, and on the west by the Indian Ter- 
ritory, and the States of Kansas and Nebraska. The State lies (with 
the exception of a small projection between the St. Francis and the 
Mississippi Rivers, which extends to 36°), between 36° 30' and 40° 36' 
north latitude, and between 12° 2' and 18° 51' west longitude from 
Washington. 

The extreme width of the State east and west, is about 348 miles ; 
its width on its northern boundary, measured from its northeast cor- 
ner along the Iowa line, to its intersection with the Des Moines 



8 HISTORY OF MISSOURI, 

River, is about 210 miles ; its width on its soiitbiern boundary is aboufc 
288 miles. Its average width is about 235 miles. 

The length of the State north and south, not including the narrow strip 
between the St. Francis and Mississippi Rivers, is about 282 miles. It 
is about 450 miles from its extreme northwest comer to its southeast 
corner, and from the northeast corner to the southwest comer, it ia 
about 230 miles. These limits embrace an area of 65,350 square 
miles, or 41,824,000 acres, being nearly as large as England, and the 
States of Vermont and New Hampshire. 



North of the Missouri, the State is level or undulating, while the 
portion south of that river (the larger portion of the State) exhibits a 
greater variety of surface. In the southeastern part is an extensive 
marsh, reaching beyond the State into Arkansas. The remainder of 
this portion between the Mississippi and Osage Rivers is rolling, and 
gradually rising into a hilly and mountainous district, forming the out- 
skirts of the Ozark Mountains. 

Beyond the Osage River, at some distance, commences a vast ex- 
panse of prairie laud which stretches away towards the Rocky Moun- 
tains. The ridges forming the Ozark chain extend in a northeast and 
southwest direction, separating the waters that flow northeast into the 
Missouri from those that flow southeast into the Mississippi River. 



No State in the Union enjoys better facilities for navigation than 
Missouri. By means of the Mississippi River, which stretches along 
her entire eastern boundary, she can hold commercial intercourse with 
the most northern territory and State in the Union ; with the whole 
valley of the Ohio ; with many of the Atlantic States, aud with the 
Gulf of Mexico. 

•'Ay, gather Europe's royal rivers all — 
The snow-swelled Neva, with an Empire's weight 
On her broad breast, she yet may overwhelm; 
Dark Danube, hurrying, as by foe pursued, 
Through shag'j;y forests and by palace walls, 
To hide its terror in a sea of gloom ; 
The castled Rliine, whose vine-crowned waters flow. 
The fount of fable and the source of song; 
The rushing Rhone, in whose cerulean depths 
The loving sljy seems wedded with the wave; 
The yellow Tiber, chok'd with Roman spoils. 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. • 9 

A dying miser shrinking 'neath his gold ; 

The Seine, where fashion glasses the fairest forms; 

The Thames that bears the riches of the world ; 

Gather their waters in one ocean mass, 

Our Mississippi rolling proudly on, 

Wonld sweep them from its path, or swallow up, 

Like Aaron's rod, these streams of fame and song." 

By the Missouri River she can extend her commerce to the Rocky 
Mountains, and receive in return the jjroducts which will come in the 
course of time, by its multitude of tributaries. 

The Missouri River coasts the northwest line of the State for about 
'250 miles, following its windings, and then flows through the State, a 
little south of east, to its junction with the Mississippi. The Mis- 
souri River receives a number of triljutaries within the limits of the 
State, the principal of which are the Nodaway, Platte, Grand and 
Chariton from the north, and the Blue, Siiiabar, Lamine, Osage and 
Gasconade from the south. The principal tributaries of the Missis- 
sijjpi within the State, are the Salt River, north, and the Meramec 
River south of the Missouri. 

The St. Francis and White Rivers, with their branches, drain 
the southeastern part of the State, and pass into Arkansas. The 
Osage is navigable for steamboats for more than 175 miles. There 
are a vast number of smaller streams, such as creeks, branches and 
rivers, which water the State in all directions. 

Timber. — Not more towering in their sublimity were the cedars of 
ancient Lelianon, nor more precious in their utility were the almug- 
trees of Ophir, than the native forests of Missouri. The river bottoms 
are covered with a luxuriant growth of oak, ash, elm, hickory, cotton- 
wood, linn, white and black walnut, and in fact, all the varieties found 
in the Atlantic and Eastern States. In the more barren districts may 
be seen the white and pin oak, and in many places a dense growth of 
pine. The crab apple, papaw and persimmon are abundant, as also 
the hazel and pecan. 

Climate. — The climate of Missouri is, in general, pleasant and 
salubrious. Like that of North America, it is changeable, and sub- 
iect to sudden and sometimes extreme changes of heat and cold ; but 
it is decidedly milder, taking the whole year through, than that of the 
same latitudes east of the mountains. While the summers are not 
more oppressive than they are in the corresponding latitudes on and 
near the Atlantic coast, the winters are shorter, and very much milder, 



10 HISTORY OF MISSOUKI. 

except during the month of February, which has many days of pleas- 
ant sunshine. 

Prairies. — Missouri is a prairie State, especially that pori;ion of it 
north and northwest of the Missouri River. These prairies, along the 
water courses, abound with the thickest and most luxurious belts of 
timber, while the •'rolling" prairies occupy the higher portions of 
the country, the descent generally to the forests or bottom lands being 
over only declivities. Many of these prairies, however, exhibit a grace- 
fully waving surface, swelling and sinking with an easy slope, and a 
full, rounded outline, equally avoiding the unmeaning horizontal sur- 
face and the interruption of abrupt or angular elevations. 

These prairies often embrace extensive tracts of land, and in one or 
two instances they cover an area of fifty thousand acres. During the 
spring and summer they are carpeted with a velvet of green, and 
gaily bedecked with flowers of various forms and hues, making a 
most fascinating panorama of ever-changing color and loveliness. To 
fully appreciate their great beauty and magnitude, they must be 
seen. 

Soil. — The soil of Missouri is good, and of great agricultural capa- 
bilities, but the most fertile portions of the State are the river bot- 
toms, which are a rich alluvium, mixed in many cases with sand, the 
producing qualities of which are not excelled by the prolific valley of 
the famous Nile. 

South of the Missouri River there is a greater variety of soil, but 
much of it is fertile, and even in the mountains and mineral districts 
there are rich valleys, and about the sources of the White, Eleven 
Points, Current and Big Black Rivers, the soil, though unproductive, 
furnishes a valuable growth of j'ellow pine. 

The marshy lands in the southeastern part of the State will, by a 
■ystem of drainage, be one of the most fertile districts in the State. 



HISTOET or MISSOtJBI. 
POPULATION BT COXJNTIES IN 1870, 1876, AND 1880. 



11 



Conntiei. 



Adair . 

Andrew 

Atchison . 

Audrain 

Barry . 

Barton 

Bates . 

Benton 

Bollinger . 

Boone 

Buchanan . 

Butler 

CaldweU . 

Callaway . 

Camden 

Cape Girardeau 

Carroll 

Carter 

Cass . . , 

Cedar . 

Chariton 

Christian . 

Clark . 

Clay . 

Clinton 

Cole . 

Cooper 

Crawford . 

Dade . 

Dallaa 

Dariess 

DeKalb 

Dent . 

Douglas . 

Dunklin 

Franklin . 

Gasconade . 

Gentry 

Greene 

Grundy 

Harrison . 

Henry 

Hickory 

Holt . 

Howard 

Howell 

Iron . 

Jackson 

Jasper 

Jefferson , 

Johnson 

Knox . , 

Laclede 

Lafayette . , 

Lawrence . 

Lewis . 

Lincoln 

Linn . , 

Livingston . 



1870. 



11,449 
15,137 
8,440 
12,307 
10,373 
6,087 
15,9C0 
11,322 
8,162 
20,765 
35,109 
4,298 
11,390 
19,202 
6,108 
17,558 
17,440 
1,440 
19,299 
9,471 
19,136 
6,707 
13,667 
16,564 
14,063 
10,292 
20,692 
7,982 
8,683 
8,383 
14,410 
9,858 
6,357 
3,915 
6,982 
30,098 
10,093 
11,607 
21,549 
10,567 
14,635 
17,401 
6,452 
11,652 
17,233 
4,218 
6,278 
65,041 
14,928 
15,380 
24,648 
10,974 
9,380 
22,624 
13,067 
15,114 
15,960 
15,906 
16,730 



1876. 



13,774 

14,992 

10,925 

15,157 

11,146 

6,900 

17,484 

11,027 

8,884 

81,923 

38,165 

4,363 

12,200 

25,257 

7,027 

17,891 

21,498 

1,549 

18,069 

9,897 

23,294 

7,936 

14,549 

15,320 

13,698 

14,122 

21,356 

9,391 

11,089 

8,073 

16,557 

11,159 

7,401 

6,461 

6,255 

26,924 

11,160 

12,673 

24,693 

13,071 

18,530 

18,465 

5,870 

13,245 

17,816 

6,756 

6,623 

64,045 

29,384 

16,186 

23,646 

12,678 

9,845 

22,204 

13,054 

16,360 

16,858 

18,110 

18,074 



1880. 

16,190 

16,318 

14,505 

19,739 

14,434 

10,332 

25,382 

12,398 

11,132 

25,424 

49,824 

6,011 

13,654 

23,670 

7,269 

20,998 

23,300 

2,168 

22,431 

10,747 

25,224 

9,633 

15,631 

15,579 

16,073 

15,519 

21,623 

10,763 

12,557 

9,272 

19,174 

13,343 

10,647 

7,753 

9,604 

26,536 

11,153 

17,188 

28,817 

15,201 

20,318 

23,914 

7,388 

15,510 

18,423 

8,814 

8,183 

82,328 

32,021 

18,736 

28,177 

13,047 

11,524 

25,761 

17,585 

15,925 

17,443 

20,016 

20,203 



12 



HISTOBT OP MISSOOBI. 
POPULATION BY COmniES — Continued. 



OoanUea. 


1876. 


1876. 


1880. 


McDonald 


6,226 


6,072 


7,816 


Macon 


23,230 


25,028 


26,223 


Madison 


5,849 


8,750 


8,866 


Maries 


6,916 


6,481 


7,304 


Marion 


23,780 


22,704 


24,837 


Mercer 


11,557 


13,393 


14,674 


Miller 


6,616 


8,529 


9,807 


Mississippi 


4,982 


7,498 


9,270 


Moniteau 


13,375 


13,084 


14,349 


Monroe 


17,U9 


17,751 


19,075 


Montgomery ........ 


10,405 


14,418 


16,250 


Morgan 


8,434 


9,529 


10,134 


New Madrid 


6,357 


6,673 


7,694 


Newton , 


12,821 


16,875 


18,948 


Nodaway 


14,751 


23,196 


29,560 




3,287 


4,469 


5,791 


Osage 


10,793 


11,200 


11,824 




3,363 


4,579 


6,618 


Pemiscot 


2,059 


2,573 


4,299 




9,877 


11,189 


11,895 


Pettis 


18,706 


23,167 


27,285 




10,506 


9,919 


12,565 


Pilie 


23,076 


22,828 


26,716 




17,352 


15,948 


17,372 


Polk . 


14,445 


13,467 


15,745 




4,714 


6,157 


7,250 


Putnam 


11,217 


12,641 


13,556 




10,510 


9,997 


11,838 


Randolph 


15,908 


19,173 


22,761 




18,700 


18,394 


20,196 


Reynolds 


8,756 


4,716 


5,723 




3,175 


8,913 


6,377 


St. Charles 


21,304 


21,821 


23,060 




6,742 


11,242 


14,126 


St. Francois 


9,742 


11,621 


13,822 




8,384 


9,409 


10,309 


St. Louis" 


851,189 


. . . 


31,888 




21,672 


27,087 


29,913 


Schuyler 


8,820 


9,831 


10,470 




10,670 


12,030 


12,507 


Scott ■. , 


7,317 


7,312 


8,587 




2,339 


3,236 


8,441 


Shelby 


10,119 


13,243 


14,024 




8,535 


10,888 


13,433 


Stone 


3,253 


3,544 


4,405 




11,907 


14,039 


16,569 


Taney 


4,407 


6,124 


6,605 




9,618 


10,287 


12,207 


Vernon 


11,247 


14,413 


19,370 




9,673 


10,321 


10,806 


Wasbington , , 


11,719 


13,100 


12,895 




6,0G8 


7,006 


9,097 


Webster 


10,434 


10,684 


12,175 




5,004 


7,164 


8,208 


Wright 


6,684 


6,124 


9,733 






. . . 


850,522 




1,721,295 


1,547,030 


2,168,804 



> 8t. Louis City and Count; aeparated In 1877. Population (or 1876 not given 



HISTORY OF MI8S0UKI. 



13 



Males 

Females 

Native 

Foreign 

White 

Colored ' 



1,126,424 
1,041,380 
1,957,564 

211,210 
2,023,568 

145,236 



CHAPTER ni. 
GEOLOGY OF MISSOURI. 

Classification of Rocks —Quatenary Formation — Tertiary — Cretaceons — Carbonifer- 
ous — Devonian — Silurian — Azoic — Economic Geology — Coal — Iron — Lead — 
Copper— Zinc — Building Stone — Marble — Gypsum — Lime — Clays — Paints — 
Springs — Water Power. 

The stratified rocks of Missouri, as classified and treated of by Prof. 
G. C. Swallow, belong to the following divisions : I. Quatenary ; 
II. Tertiary ; III. Cretaceous ; IV. Carboniferous ; V. Devonian ; 
VI. Silurian ; VII. Azoic. 

•• The Quatenary formations, are the most recent, and the most 
valuable to man: valuable, because they can be more readily utilized. 

The Quatenary formation in Missouri, embraces the Alluvium, 30 
feet thick ; Bottom Prairie, 30 feet thick ; Bluff, 200 feet thick ; and 
Drift, 155 feet thick. The latest deposits are those which constitute 
the Alluvium, and includes the soils, pebbles and sand, clays, vegeta- 
ble mould, bog, iron ore, marls, etc. 

The Alluvium deposits, cover an area, within the limits of Mis- 
souri, of more than four millions acres of land, which are not sur- 
passed for fertility by any region of country on the globe. 

The Bluff Prairie formation is confined to the low lands, which are 
washed by the two great rivers which course our eastern and western 
boundaries, and while it is only about half as extensive as the Allu- 
vial, it is equally as rich and productive." 

"The Bluff formation," says Prof. Swallow, "rests upon the 
ridges and river bluffs, and descends along their slopes to the lowest 
valleys, the formation capping all the Bluffs of the Missouri from 
Fort Union to its mouth, and those of the Mississippi from Dubuque 



' Including 92 Chinese, 2 half Chinese, and 96 Indiana and half-breeds. 



14 HISTORY OP MISSOUEI. 

to the mouth of the Ohio. It forms the upper stratum beneath the 
soil of all the high lands, both timber and prairies, of all the counties 
north of the Osage and Missouri, and also St. Louis, and the IVIissis- 
sippi counties on the south. 

Its greatest development is in the counties on the Missouri River 
from the Iowa line to Boonville. In some localities it is 200 feet 
thick. At St. Joseph it is 140 ; at Boonville 100 ; and at St. Louis, 
in St. George's quarry, and the Big Mound, it is about 50 feet ; 
while its greatest observed thickness in Marion county was only 30 
feet." 

The Drift formation is that which lies beneath the Bluff formation, 
having, as Prof. Swallow informs us, three distinct deposits, to wit: 
"Altered Drift, which are strata of sand and pebbles, seen in the 
banks of the Missouri, in the northwestern portion of the State. 

The Boulder formation is a heterogeneous stratum of sand, gravel 
and boulder, and water-worn fragments of the older rocks. 

Boulder Clay is a bed of bluish or brown sandy clay, through which 
pebbles are scattered in greater or less abundance. In some locali- 
ties in northern Missouri, this formation assumes a pure white, pipe- 
clay color." 

The Tertiary formation is made up of clays, shales, iron ores, sand- 
stone, and sands, scattered along the bluff's, and edges of the bottoms, 
reaching from Commei'ce, Scott County, to Stoddard, and south to 
the Chalk Bluffs in Arkansas. 

The Cretaceous formation lies beneath the Tertiary, and is com- 
posed of variegated sandstone, bluish-brown sandy slate, whitish- 
brown impure sandstone, fine white clay mingled with spotted flint, 
purple, red and blue clays, all being in the aggregate, 158 feet in 
thickness. There are no fossils in these rocks, and nothing by which 
their age may be told. 

The Carboniferous system includes the Upper Carboniferous or 
coal-measures, and the Lower Carboniferous or Mountain limestone. 
The coal-measures are made up of numerous strata of sandstones, 
limestones, shales, clays, marls, spathic iron ores, and coals. 

The Carboniferous formation, including coal-measures and the beds 
of iron, embrace an area in Missouri of 27,000 square miles. The 
vai'ieties of coal found in the State are the common bituminous and 
cannel coals, and they exist in quantities inexhaustible. The fact 
that these coal-measures are full of fossils, which are always confined 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 15 

to the coal measures, enables the geologist to point them out, and the 
coal beds contained in them. 

The rocks of the Lower Carboniferous lormation are varied in color, 
and are quarried in many different parts of the State, being exten- 
sively utilized for building and other purposes. 

Among the Lower Cai'l)oniferou3 rocks is found the Upper Archi- 
medes Limestone, 200 feet ; Ferruginous Sandstone, 195 feet ; Mid- 
dle Archimedes, 50 feet; St. Louis Limestone, 250 feet; Oolitic 
Limestone, 25 feet; Lower Archimedes Limestone, 350 feet; and 
Encrinital Limestone, 500 feet. These limestones generally contain 
fossils. 

The Ferruginous limestone is soft when quarried, but becomes hard 
and durable after exposure. It contains large quantities of iron, and 
is found skirting the eastern coal measures from the mouth of the 
Des Moines to McDonald county. 

The St. Louis limestone is of various hues and tints, and very hard. 
It is found in Clark, Lewis and St. Louis counties. 

The Lower Archimedes limestone includes partly the lead bearing 
rocks of Southwestern Missouri. 

The Encrinital limestone is the most extensive of the divisions of 
Carboniferous limestone, and is made up of brown, buff, gray and 
white. In these strata are found the remains of corals and mollusks. 
This formation extends from Marion county to Greene county. The 
Devonian system contains : Chemung Group, Hamilton Group, 
Onondaga limestone and Oriskany sandstone. The rocks of the 
Devonian system are found in Marion, Ealls, Pike, Callaway, Saline 
and Ste. Genevieve counties. 

The Chemung Group has three formations, Chouteau limestone, 85 
feet ; Vermicular sandstone and shales, 75 feet ; Lithographic lime- 
stone, 125 feet. 

The Chouteau limestone is in two divisions, when fully developed, 
and when first quarried is soft. It is not only good for building pur- 
poses but makes an excellent cement. 

The Vermicular sandstone and shales are usually buff or yellowish 
brown, and perforated with pores. 

The Lithographic limestone is a pure, fine, compact, evenly-tex- 
tured limestone. Its color varies from light drab to buff and blue. 
It is called "pot metal," because under the hammer it gives a sharp, 
riufnng sound. It has but few fossils. 



16 HISTORT OF MISSOURI. 

The Hamilton Group is made up of some 40 feet of blue shales, and 
170 feet of crystalline limestone. 

Onondaga limestone is usually a coarse, gray or buff crystalline, 
thick-bedded and cherty limestone. No formation in Missouri pre- 
sents such variable and widely different lithological characters as the 
Onondaga. 

The Oriskany sandstone is a light, gi'ay limestone. 

Of the Upper Silurian series there are the following formations : 
Lower Helderberg, 350 feet ; Niagara Group, 200 feet ; Cape Girar- 
deau limestone, 60 feet. 

The Lower Helderberg is made up of buff, gray, and reddish cherty, 
and argillaceous limestone. 

Niagara Group. The Upper part of this group consists of red, 
yellow and ash-colored shales, with compact limestones, variegated 
with bands and nodules of chert. 

The Cape Girardeau limestone, on the Mississippi River near Cape 
Girardeau, is a compact, bluish-gray, brittle limestone, with smooth 
fractui'cs in layers from two to six inches in thickness, with argilla- 
ceous partings. These strata contain a great many fossils. 

The Lower Silurian has the following ten formations, to wit : Hud- 
son River Group, 220 feet ; Trenton limestone, 360 feet ; Black River 
and Bird's Eye limestone, 175 feet; first Magnesian limestone, 200 
feet; Saccharoidal sandstone, 125 feet; second Magnesian limestone, 
250 feet; second sandstone, 115 feet; third Magnesian limestone, 
350 feet; third sandstone, 60 feet; fourth Magnesian limestone, 350 
feet. 

Hudson River Group : — There are three formations which Prof. 
Swallow refers to in this group. These formations are found in the 
bluff above and below Louisiana ; on the Grassy a few miles north- 
west of Louisiana, and in Ralls, Pike, Cape Girardeau and Ste. Gene- 
vieve Counties. 

Trenton limestone : The upper part of this formation is made up 
of thick beds of hard, compact, bluish gray and drab limestone, varie- 
gated with irregular cavities, filled with greenish materials. 

The beds are exposed between Hannibal and New London, north of 
Salt River, near Glencoo, St. Louis County, and are seventy-five feet 
thick. 

Black River and Bird's Eye limestone the same color as the Trenton 
limestone. 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 17 

The first Magnesian limestone cap the picturesque oluffs of the Osage 
in Benton and neighboring counties. 

The Saccharojdal sandstone has a wide range in the State. In a 
bluff about two miles from Warsaw, is a very striking change of thick- 
ness of this formation. 

Second Magnesian limestone, in lithological character, is like the 
first. 

The second sandstone, usually of yellowish brown, sometimes 
becomes a pure white, fine-grained, soft sandstone as on Cedar Creek, 
in Washington and Franklin Counties. 

The third Magnesian limestone is exposed in the high and picturesque 
bluffs of the Niangua, in the neighborhood of Bryce's Spring. 

The third sandstone is white and has a formation in moving water. 

The fourth Magnesian limestone is seen on the Niangua and Osage 
Rivers. 

The Azoic rocks lie below the Silurian and form a series of silicious 
and other slates which contain no remains of organic life. 

ECONOMIC GEOLOGY. 

Coal. — Missouri is particularly rich in minerals. Indeed, no State 
in the Union, surpasses her in this respect. In some unknown age of 
the past — long before the existence of man — Nature, by a wise process, 
made a bountiful provision for the time, when in the order of things, 
it should be necessary for civilized man to take possession of these 
broad, rich prairies. As an equivalent for lack of forests, she quietly 
stored away beneath the soil those wonderful carboniferous treasures 
for the use of man. 

Geological surveys have developed the fact that the coal deposits in 
the State are almost unnumbered, embracing all varieties of the best 
bituminous coal. A large portion of the State, has been ascer- 
tained to be one continuous coal field, stretching from the mouth 
of the Des Moines River through Clark, Lewis, Scotland, Adair, 
Macon, Shelby, Monroe, Audrain, Callaway, Boone, Cooper, Pettis, 
Benton, Henry, St. Clair, Bates, Vernon, Cedar, Dade, Barton and 
Jasper, into the Indian Territory, and the counties on the northwest of 
this line contain more or less coal. Coal rocks exist in Ralls, Mont- 
gomery, Warren, St. Charles, Moniteau, Cole, Morgan, Crawford and 
Lincoln, and during the past few years, all along the lines of all the 
railroads in North Missouri, and along the western end of the Missouri 
Pacific, and on the Missouri River, between Kansas City and Sioux 



18 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 

City, has systematic mining, opened up hundreds of mines in different 
localities. The area of our coal beds, on the line of the southwestern 
boundary of the State alone, embraces more than 26,000 square miles 
of regular coal measures. This will give of workable coal, if the 
average be one foot, 26,800,000,000 tons. The estimates from the 
developments already made, in the different portions of the State, will 
give 134,000,000,000 tons. 

The economical value of this coal to the State, its influence in 
domestic life, in navigation, commerce and manufactures, is beyond 
the imagination of man to conceive. Suffice it to say, that in the pos- 
session of her developed and undeveloped coal mines, jVIissouri has.a 
motive power, which in its influences for good, in the civilization of 
man, is more potent than the gold of California. 

Iron. — Prominent among the minerals, which increase the power 
and prosperity of a nation, is iron. Of this ore, Missouri has an inex- 
haustible quantity, and like her coal fields, it has been developed in 
many portions of the State, and of the best and purest quality. It is 
found in great abundance in the counties of Cooper, St. Clair, Greene, 
Henry, Franklin, Benton, Dallas, Camden, Stone, Madison, Iron, 
Washington, Perry, St. Francois, Reynolds, Stoddard, Scott, Dent 
and others. The greatest deposit of iron is found in the Iron Moun- 
tain, which is two hundred feet high, and covers an ai"ea of five hun- 
dred acres, and produces a metal, which is shown by analysis, to con- 
tain from 65 to 69 per cent of metallic iron. 

The ore of Shepherd Mountain contains from 64 to 67 per cent of 
metallic iron. The ore of Pilot Knob contains from 53 to 60 per cent. 
Rich beds of iron are also found at the Big Bogy Mountain, and at 
Russell Mountain. This ore has, in its nude state, a variety of colors, 
from the red, dark red, black, brown, to a light bluish gi'ay. The 
red (ires are found in twenty-one or more counties of the State, and 
are of great commercial value. The brown hematite iron ores extend 
over a greater range of country than all the others combined, embrac- 
ing about one hundred counties, and have been ascertained to exist in 
these in large quantities. 

Lead. — Long before any permanent settlements were made in Mis- 
souri by the whites, lead was mined within the limits of the State at 
two or three points on the Mississippi. At this time more than five 
hundred mines are opened, and many 8f them are being successfully 
worked. These deposits of lead cover an area, so fur as developed, 
of more than seven thousand square miles. Mines have been opened 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 19 

in Jefferson, Washington, St. Francois, Madison, Wayne, Carter, Rey- 
nolds, Crawford, Ste. Genevieve, Perry, Colo, Cape Girardeau, Cam- 
den, Morgan, and many other counties. 

Copper and Zinc. — Several varieties of copper ore are found in 
Missouri. The copper mines of Shannon, Madison and Franklin 
Counties have been known for years, and some of these have been 
successfully worked and are now yielding good results. 

Deposits of copper have been discovered in Dent, Crawford, Ben- 
ton, Maries, Green, Lawrence, Dade, Taney, Dallas, Phelps, Reynolds 
and Wright Counties. 

Zinc is abundant in nearly all the lead mines in the southwestern 
part of the State, and since the completion of the A. & P. R. R. a 
market has been furnished for this ore, which will be converted into 
valuable merchandise. 

Building Stone and Marble. — There is no scarcity of good building 
stone in Missouri. Limestone, sandstone and granite exist in all 
shades of buff, blue, red and brown, and are of great beauty as build- 
ing material. 

There are many marble beds in the State, some of which furnish 
very beautiful and excellent marble. It is found in Marion, Cooper, 
St. Louis, and other counties. 

One of the most desirable of the Missouri marbles is in the 3rd 
Magnesian limestone, on the Niangua. It is fine-grained, crystalline, 
silico-magnesian limestone, light-drab, slightly tinged with peach blos- 
som, and clouded by deep flesh-colored shades. In ornamental archi- 
tecture it is rarely surpassed. 

Gypsum and Lime. — Though no extensive beds of gypsum have 
been discovered in Missouri, there are vast beds of the pure white 
crystalline variety on the line of the Kansas Pacific Railroad, on Kan- 
sas River, and on Gypsum Creek. It exists also in severar other 
localities accessible by both rail and boat. 

All of the limestone formations in the State, from the coal measures 
to fourth Magnesian, have more or less strata of very nearly pure car- 
bonate of pure lime. 

Clays and Paints. — Clays are found in nearly all parts of the State 
suitable for making bricks. Potters' clay and tire-clay are worked in 
many localities. 

There are several beds of purple shades in the coal measures which 
possess the properties requisite for paints used in outside work. Yel- 
low and red ochres are found in considerable quantities on the Missouri 



20 HISTORY OF MISSOUKI. 

River. Some of these paints have been thoroughly tested and found 
fire-proof and durable. 

SPRINGS AND WATER POWER. 

No State is, perhaps, better supplied with cold springs of pure water 
than Missouri. Out of the bottoms, there is scarcely a section of 
land but has one or more perennial springs of good water. Even 
where there are no springs, good water can be obtained by digging 
from twenty to forty feet. Salt springs are abundant in the central 
part of the State, and discharge their brine in Cooper, Saline, Howard, 
and adjoining counties. Considerable salt was made in Cooper and 
Howard Counties at an early day. 

Sulphur springs are also numerous throughout the State. The 
Chouteau Springs in Cooper, the Monagaw Springs in St. Clair, the 
Elk Springs in Pike, and the Cheltenham Springs in St. Louis County 
have acquired considerable reputation as salubrious waters, and have 
become popular places of resort. Many other counties have good 
sulphur springs. 

Among the Chalybeate springs the Sweei Springs on the Black- 
water, and the Chalybeate spring in the University campus are, perhaps, 
the most popular of the kind in the State. There are, however, other 
springs impregnated with some of the salts of iron. 

Petroleum springs are found in Carroll, Ray, Randolph, Cass, 
Lafayette, Bates, Vernon, and other counties. The variety called 
lubricating oil is the more common. 

The water power of the State is excellent. Large springs are 
particularly abundant on the waters of the Meramec, Gasconade, 
Bourbeuse, Osage, Niangua, Spring, White, Sugar, and other streams. 
Besides these, there are hundreds of springs sufficiently large to drive 
mills and factories, and the day is not far distant when these crystal 
fountains will be utilized, and a thousand saws will buzz to their 
dashing music. 



HISTOET OF MISSOtTEI. 21 

CHAPTER lY. 

TITLE AND EARLY SETTLEMENTS. 

Title to Missouri Lands — Eight of Discovery — Title of France and Spain — Cession 
to the United States — Territorial Changes — Treaties with Indians — First Settle- 
ment — Ste. Genevieve and New Bourbon — St. Louis — When Incorporated — 
Potosl — St. Charles — Portage des Sioux — New Madrid — St. Francois County — 
Perry — Mississippi — Loutre Island — "Boone's Licit" — Cote Sans Dessein — 
Howard County — Some First Things — Counties — When Organized. 

The title to the soil of Missouri was, of course, primarily vested in 
the original occupants who inhabited the country prior to its discovery 
by the whites. But the Indians, being savages, possessed but few 
rights that civilized nations considered themselves bound to respect ; 
so, therefore, when they found this country in the possession of such 
a people they claimed it in the name of the King of France, by the 
right of discovery. It remained under the jurisdiction of France 
until 1763. 

Prior to the year 1763, the entire continent of North America was 
divided between France, England, Spain and Russia. France held all 
that portion that now constitutes our national domain west of the 
Mississippi Eiver, except Texas, and the territory which we have 
obtained from Mexico and Russia. The vast region, while under the 
jurisdiction of France, was known as the " Province of Louisiana," 
and embraced the present State of Missouri. At the close of the 
••Old French War," in 1763, France gave up her share of the con- 
tinent, and Spain came into the jiossession of the territory west of the 
Mississippi River, while Great Britain retained Canada and the regions 
northward, having obtained that territory by conquest, in the war 
with France. For thirty-seven years the territory now embraced 
within the limits of Missouri, remained as a part of the possession of 
Spain, and then went back to France by the treaty of St. Ildefonso, 
October 1, 1800. On the 30th of April, 1803, France ceded it to the 
United States, in consideration of receiving $11,250,000, and the 
liquidation of certain claims, held by citizens of the United States 
against France, which amounted to the further sum of $3,750,000, 
making a total of $15,000,000. It will thus be seen that France has 
twice, and Spain once, held sovereignty over the territory embracing 



22 HTSTORT OF MISSOURI. 

Missouri, "but the financial needs of Napoleon afforded our Govern- 
ment an opportunity to add another empire to its domain. 

On the 31st of October, 1803, an act of Congress was approved, 
authorizing the President to take possession of the newly acquired 
territory, and provided for it a temporary government, and another 
act, approved March 26, 1804, authorized the division of the " Louis- 
iana Purchase," as it was then called, into two separate territories. 
All that portion south of the 33d parallel of north latitude was called 
the " Territory of Orleans," and that north of the said parallel was 
known as the '* District of Louisiana," and was placed under the 
jurisdiction of what was then known as " Indian Territory." 

By virtue of an act of Congress, approved March 3, 1805, the 
"District of Louisiana" was organized as the "Territory of Louis- 
iana," with a territorial government of its own, which went into 
operation July 4th of the same year, and it so remained till 1812. In 
this year the " Territory of Orleans " became the State of Louisiana, 
and the " Territory of Louisiana" was organized as the " Territory 
of Missouri." 

This change took place under an act of Congress, approved June 4, 
1812. In 1819, a portion of this territory was organized as " Arkan- 
sas Territory," and on August 10, 1821, the State of Missouri was 
admitted, being a part of the former " Territory of Missouri." 

In 1836, the " Platte Purchase," then being a part of the Indian 
Territory, and now composing the counties of Atchison, Andrew, 
Buchanan, Holt, Nodaway and Platte, was made by treaty with the 
Indians, and added to the State. It will be seen, then, that the soil 
of Missouri belonged : — 

1. To France, with other territory. 

2. In 1763, with other territory, it was ceded to Spain. 

3. October 1, 1800, it was ceded, with other territory from Spain, 
back to France. 

4. April 30, 1803, it was ceded, with other territory, by France to 
the United States. 

5. October 31, 1803, a temporary government was authorized by 
Congress for the newly acquired territory. 

6. October 1, 1804, it was included in the " District of Louisiana " 
and placed under the territorial government of Indiana. 

7. July 4, 1805, it was included as a part of the " Territory of 
Louisiana," then organized with a separate territorial government. 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 23 

8. June 4, 1812, it was embraced in what was then made the " Ter- 
ritory of Missouri." 

9. August 10, 1821, it was admitted into the Union as a State. 

10. In 1836, the "Platte Purchase" was made, adding more ter- 
ritory to the State. 

The cession by France, April 30, 1803, vested the title in the United 
States, subject to the claims of the Indians, which it was very justly 
the policy of the Government to recognize. Before the Government 
of the United States could vest clear title to the soil in the grantee it 
was necessary to extinguish the Indian title by purchase. This was 
done accordingly by treaties made with the Indians at different times. 

EARLY SETTLEMENTS. 

The name of the first white man who set foot on the territory now 
embraced in the State of Missouri, is not known, nor is it known at 
what precise period the first settlements were made. It is, however, 
generally agreed that they were made at Ste. Genevieve and New 
Bourbon, tradition fixing the date of the settlements in the autumn of 
1735. These towns were settled by the French from Kaskaskia and 
St. Philip in Illinois. 

St. Louis was founded by Pierre Laclede Liguest, on the 15th of 
February, 1764. He was a native of France, and was one of the 
members of the company of Laclede Liguest, Antonio Maxant & Co., 
to whom a royal charter had been granted, confirming the privilege 
of an exclusive trade with the Indians of Missouri as far north as St. 
Peter's River. 

While in search of a trading post he ascended the Mississippi as far 
as the mouth of the Missouri, and finally returned to the present town 
site of St. Louis. After the village had been laid off he named it St. 
Louis in honor of Louis XV., of France. 

The colony thrived rapidly by accessions from Kaskaskia and other 
towns on the east side of the Mississippi, and its trade was lai-gely in_ 
creased by many of the Indian tribes, who removed a portion of their 
peltry trade from the same towns to St. Louis. It was incorporated 
as a town on the ninth day of November, 1809, by the Court of Com- 
mon Pleas of the district of St. Louis ; the town trustees being 
Auguste Chouteau, Edward Hempstead, Jean F. Cabanne, Wm. C 
Carr and William Christy, and incorporated as a city December 9, 
1822. The selection of the town site on which St. Louis stands was 
highly judicious, the spot not only being healthful and having the ad- 



24 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 

yantages of water transportation unsurpassed, but surrounded by a 
beautiful region of country, rich in soil and mineral resources. St. 
Louis has grown to be the fifth city in population in the Union, and 
is to-day the great center of internal commerce of the Missouri, the 
Mississippi and their tributaries, and, with its railroad facilities, it is 
destined to be the greatest inland city of the American continent. 

The next settlement was made at Potosi, in Washington County, in 
1765, by Francis Breton, who, while chasing a bear, discovered the 
mine near the present town of Potosi, where he afterward located. 

One of the most prominent pioneers who settled at Potosi was 
Moses Austin, of Virginia, who, in 1795, received by grant from the 
Spanish government a league of land, now known as the "Austin Sur- 
vey." The grant was made on condition that Mr. Austin would es- 
tablish a lead mine at Potosi and work it. He built a palatial 
residence, for that day, on the brow of the hill in the little village, 
which was for many years known as " Durham Hall." At this point 
the first shot-tower and sheet-lead manufactory were erected. 

Five years after the founding of St. Louis the first settlement made 
in Northern Missouri was made near St. Charles, in St. Charles 
County, in 1769. The name given to it, and which it retained till 
1784, was Les Petites Cotes, signifying. Little Hills. The town site 
was located by Blanchette, a Frenchman, surnamed LeChasseur, who 
built the first fort in the town and established there a military post. 

Soon after the establishment of the military post at St. Charles, the 
old French village of Portage des Sioux, was located on the Missis- 
sippi, just below the mouth ot the Illinois River, and at about the 
eame time a Kickapoo village was commenced at Clear Weather Lake. 
The present town site of New Madrid, in New Madrid county, was 
settled in 1781, by French Canadians, it then being occupied by Del- 
aware Indians. The place now known as Big River Mills, St. Fran- 
cois county, was settled in 1796, Andrew Baker, John Alley, Francis 
Starnater and John Andrews, each locating claims. The following 
year, a settlement was made in the same county, just below the pres- 
ent town of Farmington, by the Rev. William Murphy, a Baptist min- 
ister from East Tennessee. In 1796, settlements were made in Perry 
county by emigrants from Kentucky and Pennsylvania ; the latter lo- 
cating in the rich bottom lands of Bois Brule, the former generally 
settling in the " Barrens," and along the waters of Saline Creek. 

Bird's Point, in Mississippi county, opposite Cairo, Illinois, was 
settled August 6, 1800, by John Johnson, by virtue of a land-grant 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 25 

from the commandant under the Spanish Government. Norfolk and 
Charleston, in the same county? were settled respectively in 1800 and 
1801. Warren county was settled in 1801. Loutre Island, below 
the present town of Hermann, in the Missouri Kiver, was settled by a 
few American families in 1807. This little company of pioneers suf- 
fered greatly from the floods, as well as from the incursions of thieving 
and blood-thirsty Indians, and many incidents of a thrilling character 
could be related of trials and struggles, had we the time and space. 

In 1807, Nathan and Daniel M. Boone, sons of the great hunter and 
pioneer, in company with three others, went from St. Louis to 
" Boone's Lick," in Howard county, where they manufactured salt 
and formed the nucleus of a small settlement. 

Cote Sans Dessein, now called Bakersville, on the Missouri Eiver, 
in Callaway county, was settled by the French in 1801. This little 
town was considered at that time, as the " Far West" of the new 
world. During the war of 1812, at this place many hard-fought 
battles occurred between the whites and Indians, wherein woman's 
fortitude and courage greatly assisted in the defence of the settle- 
ment. 

In 1810, a colony of Kentuckians numbering one hundred and fifty 
families immigrated to Howai'd county, and settled on the Missouri 
River in Cooper's Bottom near the present town of Franklin, and 
opposite Arrow Rock. 

Such, in brief, is the history of some of the early settlements of 
Missouri, covering a period of more than half a century. 

These settlements were made on the water courses ; usually along 
the banks of the two great streams, whoso navigation aflbrded them 
transportation for their marketable commodities, and communication 
with the civilized portion of the country. 

They not only encountered the gloomy forests, settling as they did 
by the river's brink, but the hostile incursion of savage Indians, by 
whom they were for many years surrounded. 

The expedients of these brave men who first broke ground in the 
territory, have been succeeded by the permanent and tasteful improve- 
ments of their descendants. Upon the spots where they toiled, dared 
and died, are seen the comfortable farm, the beautiful village, and 
thrifty city. Churches and school houses greet the eye on every 
hand; railroads diverge in every direction, and, indeed, all the appli- 
ances of a higher civilization are profusely strewn over the smiling 
surface of the State. 



26 HISTOEY OF MISSOURI. ' 

Culture's hand 
Has scattered verdure o'er the land; 
And smiles and fragrance rule serenOi 
Where barren wild usurped the scene. 

SOME FIRST THINGS. 

The first marriage that took place in Missouri was April 20, 1766, 
in St. Louis. 

The first baptism was performed in May, 1766, in St. Louis. 

The first house of worship, (Catholic) was erected in 1775, at St, 
Louis. 

The first ferry established in 1805, on the Mississippi River, at St. 
Louis. 

The first newspaper established in St. Louis (Missouri Gazette), in 
1808. 

The first postoffice was established in 1804, in St. Louis — Rufus 
Easton, post-master. 

The first Protestant church erected at Ste. Genevieve, in 1806 — 
Baptist. 

The first bank established (Bank of St. Louis), in 1814. 

The first market house opened in 1811, in St. Louis. 

The first steamboat on the Upper Mississippi was the General Pike, 
Capt. Jacob Reid ; landed at St. Louis 1817. 

The first board of trustees for public schools appointed in 1817, St. 
Louis. 

The first college built (St. Louis College), in 1817. 

The first steamboat that came up the Missouri River as high as 
Franklin was the Independence, in May, 1819 ; Capt. Nelson, mas- 
ter. 

The first court house erected in 1823, in St. Louis. 

The first cholera appeared in St. Louis in 1832. 

The first railroad convention held in St. Louis, April 20, 1836. 

The first telegraph lines reached East St. Louis, December 20, 
1847. 

The first great fire occurred in St. Louis, 1649. 



HIbTOEY OF MISSOUEI. 27 

CHAPTER V. 

TERRITORIAL ORGANIZATION. 

Organization 1812— Council — House of Representatives — William Clark first Terri- 
torial Governor— Edward Hempstead first Delegate — Spanish Grants — First 
General Assembly — Proceedings — Second Assembly — Proceedings — Population 
of Territory — Vote of Territory — Euf us Easton — Absent Members — Third Assem- 
bly — Proceedings — Application for Admission. 

Congress organized Missouri as a Territory, July 4, 1812, witli a 
Governor and General Assembly. The Governor, Legislative Coun- 
cil, and House of Representatives exercised the Legislative power of 
the Territory, the Governor's vetoing power being absolute. 

.he Legislative Council was composed of nine members, whose ten- 
ure of office lasted five years. Eighteen citizens were nominated by 
the House of Representatives to the President of the United States, 
from whom he selected, with the approval of the Senate, nine Coun- 
cillors, to compose the Legislative Council. 

The House of Representatives consisted of members chosen every 
two years by the people, the basis of representation being one mem- 
ber for every five hundred white males. The first House of Repre- 
sentatives consisted of thirteen members, and, by Act of Congress, the 
whole number of Representatives could not exceed twenty-five. 

The judicial power of the Territory, was vested in the Superior and 
Inferior Courts, and in the Justices of the Peace ; the Superior Court 
having three judges, whose term of office continued four years, hav- 
ing original and appellate jurisdiction in civil and criminal cases. 

The Territory could send one delegate to Congress. Governor 
Clark issued a proclamation, October 1st, 1812, required by Congress, 
reorganizing the districts of St. Charles, St. Louis, Ste. Genevieve, 
Cape Girardeau, and New Madrid, into five counties, and fixed the 
second Monday in November following, for the election of a delegate 
to Congress, and the members of the Territorial House of Represen- 
tatives. 

William Clark, of the expedition of Lewis and Clark, was the first 
Territorial Governor, appointed by the President, who began his duties 
1813. 

Edward Hempstead, Rufus Easton, Samuel Hammond, and Matthew 
Lyon were candidates in November for delegates to Congress. 



28 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 

Edward Hempstead was elected, being the first Territorial Dele- 
gate to Congress from Missouri. He sei"ved one term, declining a 
second, and was instrumental in having Congress to pass the act of 
June 13, 1812, which he introduced, confirming the title to lands 
which were claimed by the people by virtue of Spanish grants. The 
same act confirmed to the people " for the support of schools," the 
title to village lots, out-lots or common field lots, which were held 
and enjoyed by them, at the time of the session in 1803. 

Under the act of June 4, 1812, the first General Assembly held its 
session in the house of Joseph Robidoux, in St. Louis, on the 7th of 
December, 1812. The names of the members of the House were: — 

St. Charles. — John Pitman and Robert Spencer. 

St. Louis. — David Music, Bernard G. Farrar, William C. Can*, 
and Richard Clark. 

Ste. Genevieve. — George Bullet, Richard S. Thomas, and Isaac 
McGready. 

Cape Girardeau. — George F. Bollinger, and Spencer Byrd. 

New Madrid. — John Shraderand Samuel Phillips. 

John B. C. Lucas, one of the Territorial Judges, administered the 
oath of office. William C. Carr was elected speaker, and Andrew 
Scott, Clerk. 

The House of Representatives proceeded to nominate eighteen per- 
sons from whom the President of the United States, with the Senate, 
was to select nine for the Council. From this number the President 
chose the following : 

St. Charles. — James Flaugherty and Benjamin Emmons. 

St. Louis. — Auguste Chouteau, Sr., and Samuel Hammond. 

Ste. Genevieve. — John Scott and James Maxwell. 

Cape Girardeau. — William Neeley and Joseph Cavenor. 

New Madrid. — Joseph Hunter, 

The Legislative Council, thus chosen by the President and Senate, 
was announced by Frederick Bates, Secretary and Acting-Governor of 
the Territory, by proclamation, June 3, 1813, and fixing the first 
Monday in July following, as the time for the meeting of the Legis- 
lature. 

In the meantime the duties of the executive office were assumed ^by 
William Clark. The Legislature accordingly met, as required by the 
Acting-Governor's proclamation, in July, but its proceedings were 
never officially published. Consequently but little is known in refer- 
ence to the workings of the first Territorial Legislature in Missouri. 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 



29 



From the imperfect account, published in the Missouri Gazette, of 
that day ; a paper which had been in existence since 1808, it is found 
that laws were passed regulating and establishing weights and meas- 
ures ; creating the office of Sheriff; providing the manner for taking 
the census ; permanently fixing the seats of Justices, and an act to 
compensate its own members. At this session, laws were also passed 
defining crimes and penalties ; laws in reference to forcible entry and 
detainer ; establishing Courts of Common Pleas ; incorporating the 
Bank of St. Louis ; and organizing a part of Ste. Genevieve county 
into the county of Washington. 

The next session of the Legislature convened in St. Louis, Decem- 
ber 6, 1813. George Bullet of Ste. Genevieve county, was speaker 
elect, and Andrew Scott, clerk, and William Sullivan, doorkeeper. 
Since the adjournment of the former Legislature, several vacancies 
had occurred, and new members had been elected to fill their places. 
Among these was Israel McCready, from the county of Washington. 

The president of the legislative council was Samuel Hammond. 
No journal of the council was officially published, but the proceedings 
of the house are found in the Gazette. 

At this session of the Legislature many wise and useful laws were 
passed, having reference to the temporal as well as the moral and 
spiritual welfare of the jjeople. Laws were enacted for the suppres- 
sion of vice and immoi'ality on the Sabbath day ; for the improve- 
ment of public roads and highways ; creating the offices of auditor, 
treasurer and county surveyor ; regulating the fiscal afiiiirs of the 
Territory and fixing the boundary lines of New Madi'id, Cape Girar- 
deau, Washington and St. Charles counties. The Legislature ad- 
journed on the 19th of January, 1814, sine die. 

The population of the Territory as shown by the United States 
census in 1810, was 20,845. The census taken by the Legislature in 
1814 gave the Territory a population of 25,000. This enumeration 
shows the county of St. Louis contained the greatest number of in- 
habitants, and the new county of Arkansas the least — the latter hav- 
ing 827, and the former 3,149. 

The candidates for delegate to Congress were Rufus Easton, Samuel 
Hammond, Alexander McNair and Thomas F. Riddick. Rufus 
Easton and Samuel Hammond had been candidates at the preceding 
election. In all the counties, excepting Arkansas, the votes aggi'e- 
gated 2,599, of which number Mr. Easton received 965, IVIr. Ham- 



80 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 

moud 746, Mr. McNair 853, and Mr. Riddick (who had withdrawn 
previously to the election) 35. Mr. Easton was elected. 

The census of 1814 showing a large increase in the population cf 
the Territory, an appointment was made increasing the number of 
Representatives in the Territorial Legislature to twenty -two. The 
General Assembly began its session in St. Louis, December 5, 1814. 
There were present on the first day twenty Representatives. James 
Caldwell of Ste. Genevieve county was elected speaker, and Andrew 
Scott who had been clerk of the preceding assembly, was chosen 
clerk. The President of the Council was William Neeley, of Cape 
Girardeau county. 

It appeared that James Maxwell, the absent member of the Council, 
and Seth Emmons, member elect of the House of Representatives, 
were dead. The county of Lawrence was organized at this session, 
from the western part of New Madrid county, and the corporate 
powers of St. Louis were enlarged. In 1815 the Territorial Legisla- 
ture again began its session. Only a partial report of its proceedings 
are given in the Gazette. The county of Howard was then organized 
from St. Louis and St. Charles counties, and included all that part of 
the State lying north of the Osage and south of the dividing ridge 
between the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. (For precise bounda- 
ries, see Chapter I. of the History of Boone County.) 

The next session of the Territorial Legislatui'e commenced its ses- 
sion in December, 1816. During the sitting of this Legislature many 
important acts were passed. It was then that the " Bank of Mis- 
souri " was chartered and went into operation. In the fall of 1817 the 
"Bank of St. Louis" and the "Bank of Missouri" were issuing 
bills. An act was passed chartering lottery companies, chartering 
the academy at Potosi, and incorporating a board of trustees for 
superintending the schools in the town of St. Louis. Laws were also 
passed to encourage the " killing of wolves, panthers and wild-cats." 

The Territorial Legislature met agaiu in December, 1818, and, 
among other things, organized the counties of Pike, Cooper, Jeffer- 
son, Franklin, Wayne, Lincoln, Madison, Montgomery, and three 
counties in the Southern part of Arkansas. In 1819 the Territory of 
Arkansas was formed into a separate government of its own. 

The people of the Territory of Missouri had been, for some time, 
anxious that their Territory should assume the duties and responsibilities 
of a sovereign State. Since 1812, the date of the organization of the 
Territory, the population had rapidly increased, many counties had 



HISTORY OF MISSOUKI. 31 

been established, its commerce had grown into importance, its agri- 
cultural and mineral resources were being developed, and believing 
that its admission into the Union as a State would give fresh impetus 
to all these interests, and hasten its settlement, the Territorial Legis- 
lature of 1818-19 accordingly made application to Congress for the 
passage of an act authorizing the people of Missouri to organize a State 
goverameut. 



CHAPTEK VI. 



Application of Missouri to be admitted into the Union — Agitation of the Slavery 
Question — " Missouri Compromise " — Constitutional Convention of 1820 — Con- 
stitution presented to Congress — Further Resistance to Admission — Mr. Clay and 
his Committee make Report — Second Compromise — Missouri Admitted. 

With the application of the Territorial Legislature of Missouri for 
her admission into the Union, commenced the real agitation of the 
slavery question in the United States. 

Not only was our National Legislature the theater of angry discus- 
sions, but everywhere throughout the length and breadth of the Re- 
public the "Missouri Question" was the all-absorbing theme. The 
political skies threatened, 

" In forked flashes, a commanding tempest," 

Which was-liable to burst upon the nation at any moment. Through 
such a crisis our country seemed destined to pass. ThequestioH as to 
the admission of Missouri was to be the beginning of this crisis, which 
distracted the public counsels of the nation for more than forty years 
afterward. 

Missouri asked to be admitted into the great family of States. 
" Lower Louisiana," her twin sister Territory, had knocked at the 
door of the Union eight years previously, and was admitted as stipu- 
lated by Napoleon, to all the rights, privileges and immunities of a 
State, and in accordance with the stipulations of the same treaty, 
Missouri now sought to be clothed with the same rights, privileges 
and immunities. 

As what is known in the history of the United States as the " Mis- 
souri Compromise," of 1820, takes rank among the most prominent 



32 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 

measures that had up to that day engaged the attention of our 
National Legislature, we shall enter somewhat into its details, being 
connected as they are with the annals of the State. 

February 15th, 1819. — After the House had resolved itself into a 
Committee of the Whole on the bill to authorize the admission of Mis- 
souri into the Union, and after the question of her admission had been 
discussed for some time, Mr. Tallmadge, of New York, moved to 
amend the bill, by adding to it the following proviso : — 

^'And Provided, That the fui'ther introduction of slavery or involun- 
tary servitude be prohibited, except for the punishment of crime, 
whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, and that all chil- 
dren born within the said State, after the admission thereof into the 
Union, shall be free at the age of twenty-five years." 

As might have been expected, this proviso precipitated the angry 
discussions which lasted nearly thi-ee A^ears, finally culminating in the 
Missoui'i Compromise. All j^hases of the slavery question were pre- 
sented, not in its moral and social aspects, but as a great constitu- 
tional question, affecting Missouri and the admission of future States. 
The proviso, when submitted to a vote, was adopted — 79 to 67, and 
so reported to the House. 

Hon. John Scott, who was at that time a delegate from the Terri- 
tory of Missouri, was not permitted to vote, but as such delegate he 
had the privilege of participating in the debates which followed. On 
the 16th day of February the proviso was taken up and discussed. 
After several speeches had been made, among them one by Mr. Scott 
and one by the author of the proviso, Mr. Tallmadge, the amendment, 
or proviso, was divided into two parts, and voted upon. The first 
part of it, which included all to the word *' convicted," was adopted — 
87 to 76. The remaining part was then voted upon, and also 
adopted, by 82 to 78. By a vote of 97 to 56 the bill was ordered to 
be engrossed for a third reading. 

The Senate Committee, to whom the bill was referred, reported the 
same to the Senate on the 19th of February, when that body voted 
first upon a motion to strike out of the proviso all after the word 
" convicted," which was carried by a vote of 32 to 7. It then voted 
to strike out the first entire clause, which prevailed — 22 to 16, 
thereb}' defeating the proviso. 

The House declined to concur in the action of the Senate, and the 
bill was again returned to that body, which in turn refused to recede 
from its position. The bill was lost and Congress adjourned. This 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 83 

was most unfortunate for the country. The people having already 
been wrought up to fever heat over the agitation of the question in 
the National Councils, now became intensely excited. The press 
added fuel to the flame, and the progress of events seemed rapidly 
tending to the downfall of our nationality. 

A long interval of nine months was to ensue before the meeting of 
Congress. The body indicated by its vote upon the " Missouri Ques- 
tion," that the two great sections of the country were politically 
divided upon the subject of slavery. The restrictive clause, which it 
was sought to impose upon Missouri as a condition of her admission, 
would in all probability, be one of the conditions of the admission of 
the Territory of Arkansas. The public mind was in a state of great 
doubt and uncertainty up to the meeting of Congress, which took 
place on the 6th of December, 1819. The memorial of the Legisla- 
tive Council and House of Representatives of the Missouri Territory, 
praying for admission into the Union, was presented to the Senate 
by Mr. Smith, of South Carolina. It was referred to the Judiciary 
Committee. 

Some three weeks having passed without any action thereon by the 
Senate, the bill was taken up and discussed by the House until the 
19th of February, when the bill from the Senate for the admission of 
Maine was considered. The bill for the admission of Maine included 
the " Missouri Question," by an amendment which read as follows : 

"And be it further enacted, That in all that territory ceded by 
France to the United States, under the name of Louisiana, which lies 
north of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes, north latitude (except- 
ing such part thereof as is) included within the limits of the State, 
contemplated by this act, slavery and involuntary servitude, other- 
wise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have 
been convicted, shall be and is hereby forever prohibited ; Provided, 
always, That any person escaping into the same from whom labor or 
service is lawfully claimed, in any State or Territory of the United 
States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the 
person claiming his or her labor or services as aforesaid." 

The Senate adopted this amendment, which formed the basis of the 
«♦ Missouri Compromise," modified afterward by striking out the 
words, " excepting only such part (hei-eof." 

The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 24 to 20. On the 2d day of 
March the House took up the bill and amendments for consideration, 
and by a vote of 134 to 42 concurred in the Senate amendment, and 



34 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 

the bill being passed by the two Houses, constituted section 8, of 
"An Act to authorize the people of the Missouri Territory to form a 
Constitution and State Government, and for the admission of such 
State into the Union on an equal footing with the original States, and 
to prohibit slavery in certain territory." 

This act was approved March 6, 1820. Missouri then contained fif- 
teen organized counties. By act of Congress the people of said State 
were authorized to hold an election on the first Monday, and two suc- 
ceeding days thereafter in May, 1820, to select representatives to a 
State convention. This convention met in St. Louis on the 12th of 
June, following the election in May, and concluded its labors on the 
19th of July, 1820. David Barton was its President, and ■\Vm..G. 
Pettis, Secretaiy. There were forty-one members of this convention, 
men of ability and statesmanship, as the admirable constitution which 
they framed amply testifies. Their names and the counties repre- 
sented by them are as follows : — 

Cape Girardeau. — Stephen Bjrd, James Evans, Richard S. 
Thomas, Alexander Buckner and Joseph McFerron. 

Cooper. — Eobert P. Clark, Robert \Yallace, Wm. Lillard. 

Franklin. — John G. Heath. 

Howard. — Nicholas S. Burkhart, Dull" Green, John Ray, Jonathan 
S. Findley, Benj. H. Reeves. 

Jefferson. — Daniel Hammond. 

Lincoln. — Malcom Henry. 

Montgomery. — Jonathan Ramsey, James Talbott. 

Madison. — Nathaniel Cook. 

ITew Madrid. — Robert S. Dawson, Christopher G. Houts. 

Pike. — Stephen Cleaver. 

St. Charles. — Benjamin Emmons, Nathan Boone, Hiram H. Baber. 

Ste. Genevieve. — John D. Cook, Henry Dodge, John Scott, R. T. 
Brown. 

St. Louis. — David Barton, Edward Bates, Alexander McNair, 
Wm. Rector, John C. Sullivan, Pierre Chouteau, Jr., Bernard Prattc, 
Thomas F. Riddick. 

Washington. — John Rice Jones, Samuel Perry, John Ilutchings. 
WaT/ne. — Elijah Bettis. 

On the 13th of November, 1820, Congress met again, and on the 
sixth of the same month Mr. Scott, the delegate from Missouri, pre- 
sented to the House the Constitution as framed by the convention. 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 35 

The same was referred to a select committee, who made thereon a 
favorable report. 

The admission of the State, however, was resisted, because it was 
claimed that its constitution sanctioned slavery, and authorized the 
Legislature to pass laws preventing free negroes and mulattoes from 
settling in the State. The report of the committee to whom was 
referred the Constitution of Missouri was accompanied by a preamble 
and resolutions, offered by Mr. Lowndes, of South Carolina. The 
preamble and resolutions were stricken out. 

The application of the State for admission shared the same fate in 
the Senate. The question was referred to a select committee, who, 
on the 2yth of November, reported in favor of admitting the State. 
The debate, which followed, continued for two weeks, and finally Mr. 
Eaton, of Tennessee, offered an amendment to the resolution as fol- 
lows : — 

«' Provided, That nothing herein contained shall be so construed as 
to give the assent of Congress to any provision in the Constitution of 
Missouri, if any such there be, which contravenes that clause in the 
Constitution of tlie United States, which declares that the citizens of 
each State shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of 
citizens in the several States." 

The resolution, as amended, was adopted. The resolution and 
proviso were again taken up and discussed at great length, when the 
committee agreed to report the resolution to the House. 

The question on agreeing to the amendment, as reported from the 
committee of the whole, was lost in the House. A similar resolution 
afterward passed the Senate, but was again rejected in the House. 
Then it was that that great statesman and pure patriot, Henry Clay, 
of Kentucky, feeling that the hour had come when angry discussions 
should cease, 

" With grave 

Aspect he rose, and in his rising seem'd 

A pillar of state; deep on his front engraver 

Deliberation sat and public care; 

And princely counsel in his face yet shone 

Majestic" •»••»• 

proposed that the question of Missouri's admission be referred to a 
committee consisting of twenty-three persons (a number equal to the 
number of States then composing the Union), be appointed to act in 
conjunction with a committee of the Senate to consider and report 
whether Missouri should be admitted, etc. 



36 HISTORY OP MISSOURI. 

The motion prevailed ; the committee was appointed and Mr. Clay 
made its chairman. The Senate selected seven of its members to act 
with the committee of twenty-three, and on the 26th of February the 
following report was made by that committee : — 

*' Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled : That Missouri shall 
be admitted into the Union, on an equal footing with the original 
States, in all respects whatever, upon the fundamental condition that 
the fourth clause, of the twenty-sixth section of the third article pf 
the Constitution submitted on the part of said State to Congress, shall 
never be construed to authorize the passage of any law, and that no 
law shall be passed in conformity thereto, by which any citizen of 
either of the States in this Union shall be excluded from the enjoy- 
ment of any of the privileges and immunities to which such citizen is 
entitled, under the Constitution of the United States ; provided. That 
the Legislature of said State, by a Solemn Public Act, shall declare 
the assent of the said State, to the said fundamental condition, and 
shall transmit to the President of the United States, on or before the 
fourth Monday in November next, an authentic copy of the said act ; 
upon the receipt whereof, the President, by proclamation, shall an- 
nounce the fact; whereupon, and without any further proceeding on 
the part of Congress, the admission of the said State into the Union 
shall be considered complete." 

This resolution, after a brief debate, was adopted in the House, and 
passed the Senate on the 28th of February, 1821. 

At a special session of the Legislature held in St. Charles, in June 
following, a Solemn Public Act was adopted, giving its assent to the 
conditions of admission, as expressed in the resolution of Mr. Clay. 
August 10th, 1821, President Monroe announced by proclamation the 
admission of Missouri into the Union to be complete. 



J 



HISTORY OF MISSOUBI. 87 

CHAPTER YII. 

MISSOURI AS A STATE. 

First Election for Governor and other State Officers — Senators and Representatives to 
General Assembly — Sheriffs and Coroners — U. S. Senators — Representatives In 
Cojgress — Supreme Court Judges — Counties Organized — Capital Moved to St. 
Charles — Official Record of Territorial and State Officers. 

Bj the Constitution adopted by the Convention on the 19th of July, 
1820, the General Assembly was required to meet in St. Louis on the 
third Monday in September of that year, and an election was ordered 
to be held on the 28th of August for the election of a Governor and 
other State officers, Senators and Representatives to the General 
Assembly, Sheriffs and Coroners, United States Senators and Repre- 
sentatives in Congress. 

It will be seen that Missouri had not as yet been admitted as a 
State, but in anticipation of that event, and according to the provi- 
sions of the constitution, the election was held, and the General As- 
sembly convened. 

William Clark (who had been Governor of the Territory) and 
Alexander McNair were the candidates for Governor. McNair re- 
ceived 6,576 votes, Clark 2,556, total vote of the State 9,132. There 
were three candidates for Lieutenant-Governor, to wit : William H. 
Ashley, Nutlianiel Cook and Henry Elliot. Ashley received 3,907 
votes. Cook 3,212, Elliot 931. A Representative was to be elected 
for the residue of the Sixteenth Congress and one for the Seventeenth. 
John Scott who was at the time Territorial delegate, was elected to 
both Congresses without opposition. 

The General Assembly elected in August met on the 19th of Sep- 
tember, 1820, and organized by electing James Caldwell, of Ste. 
Genevieve, speaker, and John McArthur clerk; William H. Ashley, 
Lieutenant-Governor, President of the Senate ; Silas Bent, President, 
p7'0 tem. 

Mathias McGirk, John D. Cook, and John R. Jones were appointed 
Supreme Judges, each to hold office until sixty-five years of age. 

Joshua Barton was appointed Secretary of State ; Peter Didier, 
State Treasurer; Edward Bates, Attorney-General, and William 
Christie, Auditor of Public Accounts. 



38 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 



David Barton and Thomas H. Bentou were elected by the General 
Assembly to the United States Senate. 

At this session of the Legislature the counties of Boone, Callaway, 
Chariton, Cole, Gasconade, Lillard, Perry, Ralls, Ray and Saline 
were organized. 

We should liiie to give in details the meetings and proceedings of 
the different Legislatures which followed ; the elections for Govern- 
ors and other State officers ; the elections for Congressmen and United 
States Senators, but for want of space we can only present in a con- 
densed form the official record of the Territorial and State officers. 



BTICIAL RECORD — TERRITORIAL OFFICERS. 
Oovemors. 
Frederick Bates, Secretary and William Clark . . 

Acting-Oovernor .... 1812-13 

OFFICERS OF STATE QOVERNMENT. 



1813-20 



Oovemors. 

Alexander McN air 1820-24 

Frederick Bates 1824-25 

Abraham J. Williams, vice 

Bates 1825 

John Miller, vice Bates . . . 182G-28 

John Miller 1828-32 

Daniel Dunklin, (1832-36) re- 
Bigned; appointed Surveyor 
General of the U. S. Lilburn 

W. Boggs, vice Dunklin . . 1836 

Lilburn W. Bogga 1836-40 

Thomas Reynolds (died 1844), . 1840-14 
M. M. Marmaduke vice Key- 

nolds — John C. Edwards . 1844-48 

Austin A King . ... 1848-62 

Sterling Price 1852-56 

Trusten Polk (resigned) . . . 1856-67 

Hancock Jackson, vice Polk . 1857 

Bobert M. Stewart, vice Polk . 1867-60 
C. F. Jackson (1860), office va- 
cated by ordinance; Hamil- 
ton I?. Gamble, vice Jackson ; 
Gov. Gamble died 1864. 

Willard P. Hall, vice Gamble . 1864 

Thomas C. Fletcher .... 1864-68 

Joseph W. McClurg .... 1868-70 

B. Gratz Brown 1870-72 

Silas Woodson 1872-74 

Charles H. Hardin 1874-76 

John S. Phelps 1876-80 

Thomas T. Crittsnden (now 

Governor) 1880 



Lieittenani-Oovemora. 

William H. Ashley .... 1820-24 

Benjamin H. Reeves .... 1824-28 

Daniel Dunklin 1828-32 

Lilburn W. Boggs 1832-36 

Franklin Cannon 1836-40 

M. M. Marmaduke 1840-44 

James Young 1844-48 

Thomas L Kice 1848-52 

Wilson Brown 1852-65 

Hancock Jackson 1855-56 

Thomas C. Reynolds .... 18G0-*1 

Willard P. Hall 1861-64 

George Smith 1864-68 

Edwin O. Stanard . . . 1868-70 

Joseph J. Gravelly 1870-72 

Charles P. Johnson .... 1872-74 

Norman J. Coleman .... 1874-76 

Henry 0. Brockmeyer . . . 1876-80 
Robert A. Campbell (present 

incumbent) 1880 

Secretaries of State. 

Joshua Barton 1820-21 

William G. Pettis 1821-24 

Hamilton B. Gamble .... 1824-26 

Spencer Pettis 1826-28 

P. Hi McBride 1829-30 

John C. Edwards (term expired 
1835, reappointed 1837, re- 
signed 1837) 1830-37 

Peter G. Glover 1837-39 

James L. Minor 1839-45 



HISTORY OP MISSOURI. 



89 



OFFICERS OF 

F. H. Martin 

Ephraim B. Ewing . . .. 
John M. Richardson .... 
Bpiijiimin F. Massey (re-electi-d 

1860, for four years) .... 

Moidecai Oliver 

Francis Rodman (re-elected 1808 

for two years) 

Eu^jene P. Weigel, (re-elected 

1872, for two years) .... 
Michael K. McGrath (present 

incumbent) 

State Treasurers. 



STATE GoyERNMENT — Continued, 



1845-49 
1849-62 
1852-66 

1856-60 
1861-64 



Peter Didier 

Nathaniel Sinionds . . . . 

James Earickson 

John Walker 

Abraham McClellan . . . . 

Peter G. Glover 

A. W. Morrison 

George C. Bingham . . . . 

William Bishop 

William Q. Dallmeyer . . . 

Samuel Hays 

Harvey W. Salmon . . . . 

Joseph W. Mercer 

Elijah Gates 

Phillip E. Chappell (present in- 
cumbent) 



A tiomey- Qenera Is. 



Edward Bates. ...... 

Riifus Easton 

Robt. W. Wells 

William B. Napton . . . . 

8. M. Bay 

B. F. Stringfellow 

William A. Robards . . . . 
James B. Gardenhire . . . . 
Ephraim W. Ewing . . . . 

James P. Knott 

Aikman Welch 

Thomas T. Crittenden . . . 

Robert P. Wingato 

Horace P. Johnson 

A. J. Baker 

Henry Clay Ewing 

John A. Ilockaday 

Jackson L. Smith 

D. H. Mclntire (present in- 
cumbent) 



1820-21 

1821-28 

1829-33 

18:!3-.38 

183S-13 

1843-51 

1851-60 

1862-64 

1864-68 

1868-70 

1872 

1872-74 

1874-76 

1876-80 

1880 



1820-21 

1821-26 

1826-36 

1836-39 

1839-45 

1845-49 

1849-51 

1851-56 

1836-59 

1859-61 

1861-(;4 

1864 

1864-68 

18(i8-70 

1870-72 

1872-74 

1874-76 

1876-80 



1880 



Auditors of Public Accounts. 

William Christie 1820-21 

William V. Rector .... 1821-23 

Elias Barcroft 1823-33 

Henry Shurlds 1833-35 

Peter G. Glover 1835-37 

Hiram H. Baber 1837-45 

William Monroe 1845 

J. R. JlcDermon 1845-43 

George W. Miller 1848-49 

Wilson Brown 1849-52 

William H. Buffington . . . 1852-60 

William S. Moseley .... 1860-64 

Alonzo Thompson 1864-68 

Daniel M. Draper 1868-72 

George B. Clark 1872-74 

Thomas Holladay 187-80 

John Walker (present incum- 
bent) 1880 

Judges of Supreme Court. 

Matthias McGirk 18l'2-41 

John D. Cooke 1822-23 

John R. Jones 1822-24 

Rufus Pettibone 1823-25 

Geo. Tompkins 1824-45 

Robert Wash 1826-37 

John C. Edwards 1837-39 

Wm. Scott, (appointed 1841 till 
meeting of General Assem- 
bly in place of McGirk, re- 
signed; reappointed . . . 1843 

P. H. McBride 1845 

Wm. B. Napton 1849-52 

John P. Ryland 1849-51 

John H. Birch 1849-61 

Wm. Scott, .John P. Ryland, 
and Hamilton R. Gamble 
(elected by the people, for six 

years) 1851 

Gamble (resigned) 1854 

Abiel Leonard elected to fill va- 
cancy of Gamble. 
Wm. B. Napton (vacated by 

failure to file oath). 
Wm. Scott and John C. Rich- 
ardson (resigned, elected Au- 
gust, for six years) .... 1857 
E. B. Ewing, (to fill Richard- 
son's resignation) .... 1859 
Barton Bates (appointed) . . 1862 
W. V. N. Bay (appointed) . . 1862 



40 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 



OFFICERS OF STATB QOTBRNMENT — Continued, 



John D. S. Dn-den (appointed) 1862 

Barton Bates 1863-65 

W. V. N. Bay (elected) . . . 1863 
John D. S. Dryden (elected) . 1863 
David Wagner (appointed) . . 1865 
"Wallace L. Lovelace (appoint- 
ed) 1865 

Nathaniel Holmes (appointed) 1865 

Thomas J. C. Fagg (appointed) 1866 

James Baker (appointed) , . 1868 

David Wagner (elected) . . . 1808-70 

Philemon Bliss 1868-70 

Warren Currier 1868-71 

Washington Adams (appointed 
to fill Currier's place, who re- 
signed) 1871 

Ephraim B. Ewing (elected) . 1872 

Thomas A. Sherwood (elected) 1872 
W. B. Napton (appointed in 

place of Ewing, deceased) . 1873 
Edward A. Lewis (appointed, 

in place of Adams, resigned) 1874 

Warwick Hough (elected) . . 1874 

William B. Napton (elected) . 1874-80 

John W. Henry 1876-86 

Robert D. Ray succeeded Wni. 

B. Napton in 1880 

Elijah H. Norton (appointed in 

1876), elected 1878 

T. A. Sherwood (re-elected) 1882 
United States Senators. 

T. H. Benton 1820-50 

D. Barton 1820-30 

Alex. Buckner 1830-33 

L. F.Linn 1833-13 

D. R. Atchison 1843-55 

H. S. Geyer 1851-57 

James S. Green 1857-61 

T. Polk 1857-63 

Waldo P. Johnson 1861 

Robert Wilson 1861 

B. Gratz Brown (for unexpired 

term of Johnson) .... 1863 

J.B.Henderson 1863-69 

Charles D. Drake 1867-70 

Curl Schurz 1869-75 

D. F. Jewett (in place of Drake, 

resigned) 1870 

F. P. Blair 1871-77 

L. V. Bogy 1873 

James Sliields (elected for unex- 
pired term of Bogy) . . . 1879 



D. H. Armstrong appointed for 

unexpired term of Bogy. 
F. M. Cockrell (re-elected 1881) 1876-81 

George G. Vest 1879 

Representatives to Congress. 
John Scott 
Ed. Bates . . 
Spencer Pettis 
William H. Ashley 
John Bull . . 
Albert G. Harrison . 
John Miller . 
John Jameson fre-elected 1846 

for two years) 
John C. Edwards 
James M. Hughes 
James H. Relfe . 
James B. Bowlin 
Gustavus M. Bower 
Sterling Price 
William McDaniel . 
Leonard H. Sims 
John S. Phelps . 
James S. Green (re-elected 

1856, resigned) 
WillardP. Hall. 
William V. N. Bay 
John F. Darby . 
Gilchrist Porter. 
John G. Miller . 
Alfred W. Lamb 
Thomas H. Benton . 
Mordecai Oliver 
James J. Lindley 
Samuel Caruthers 
Thomas P. Akers (to fill unex- 
pired term of J. G. Miller, 

deceased) . 
Francis P. Blair, Jr. (re-elected 

1800, resigned) 
Thomas L. Anderson 
James Craig . 
Samuel H. Woodson 
John B. Clark, Sr. 
J. Richard Barrett . 
John W. Noel . 
James S. Rollins 
Elijah H. Norton 
John W. Reid . 
William A. Hall 
Thomas L. Price (in place of 

Reid, expelled) 1862 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 55 

Leaving Jackson county, they crossed the Missouri and located ia 
Clay, Carroll, Caldwell and other counties, and selected in Caldwell 
county a town site, which they called " Far West," and where they 
entered more land for their future homes. 

Through the influence of their missionaries, who were exerting 
themselves in the East and in different portions of Europe, converts 
had constantly flocked to their standard, and " Far West," and other 
Mormon settlements, rapidly prospered. 

In 1837 they commenced the erection ot a magnificent temple, but 
never finished it. As their settlements increased in numbers, they 
became bolder in their practices and deeds of lawlessness. 

During the summer of 1838 two of their leaders settled in the town 
of De Witt, on the Missouri River, having purchased the land from 
an Illinois merchant. De Witt was in Carroll county, and a good 
point from which to forward goods and immigrants to their town — 
Far West. 

Upon its being ascertained that these parties were Mormon leaders, 
the Gentiles called a public meeting, which was addressed by some of 
the prominent citizens of the county. Nothing, however, was done at 
this meeting, but at a subsequent meeting, which was held a few days 
afterward, a committee of citizens was appointed to notify Col. Hia- 
kle (one of the Mormon leaders at De Witt), what they intended to 
, do. 

Col. Hinkle upon being notified by this committee became indig- 
nant, and threatened extermination to ail who should attempt to molest 
him or the Saints. 

In anticipation of trouble, and believing that the Gentiles would 
attempt to force them from De Witt, Mormon recruits flocked to the 
town from every direction, and pitched their tents in and around the 
town in great numbers. 

The Gentiles, nothing daunted, planned an attack upon this en- 
campment, to take place on the 21st day of September, 1838, and, 
accordingly, one hundred and fifty men bivouacked near the town on 
that day. A conflict ensued, but nothing serious occurred. 

The Mormons evacuated their works and fled to some log houses, 
where they could the more successfully resist the Gentiles, who had 
in the meantime returned to their camp to await reinforcements. 
Troops from Saline, Ray and otlier counties came to their assist- 
ance, and increased their number to five liundred men. 

Congreve Jackson was chosen Brigadier- General ; Ebenezer Price, 



56 HISTOKT OF MISSOUKl. 

Colonel ; Singleton Vaughan, Lieutenant-Colonel, and Sarshel Woods, 
Major. After some days of discipline, this brigade prepared for an 
assault, but before the attack was commenced Judge James Earickson 
and William F. Dunnica, influential citizens of Howard county, asked 
permission of General Jackson to let them try and adjust the difficul- 
ties without any bloodshed. 

It was finally agreed that Judge Earickson should propose to the 
Mormons, that if they would pay for all the cattle they had killed be- 
longing to the citizens, and load their wagons during the night and be 
ready to move by ten o'clock next morning, and make no further 
attempt to settle in Carroll county, the citizens would purchase at 
first cost their lots in De Witt and one or two adjoining tracts of 
land. 

Col. Hinkle, the leader of the Mormons, at first refused all attempts 
to settle the difficulties in this way, but finally agreed to the proposi- 
tion. 

In accordance therewith, the Mormons without further delay, 
loaded up their wagons for the town of Far West, in Caldwell county. . 
Whether the terms of the agreement were ever carried out, on the 
part of the citizens, is not known. 

The Mormons had doubtless snffei-ed much and in many ways — the 
result of their own acts — but their trials and sufferings were not at 
an end. 

In 1838 the discord between the citizens and Mormons became so 
great that Governor Boggs issued a proclamation ordering Major- 
General David R. Atchison to call the militia of his division to enforce 
the laws. He called out a part of the first brigade of the Missouri 
State Militia, under command of Gen. A. W. Doniphan, who pro- 
ceeded to the seat of war. Gen. John B. Clark, of Howard county, 
was placed in command of the militia. 

The Mormon forces numbered about 1,000 men, and were led by 
G. W. Hinkle. The first engagement occurred at Crooked river, 
where one Mormon was killed. The principal fight took place at 
Haughn's Mills, where eighteen Mormons were killed and the balance 
captured, some of them being killed after they had surrendered. 
Only one militiaman was wounded. 

In the month of October, 1838, Joe Smith surrendered the town of 
Far West to Gen. Doniphan, agreeing to his conditions, viz. : That 
they should deliver up their arms, surrender their prominent leaders 
for trial, and the remainder of the Mormons should, with their 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 



57 



families, leave the State, Indictments were found against a number 
of these leaders, inchxling Joe Smith, who, while being taken to 
Boone county for trial, made his escape, and was afterwuvd, iu 1844, 
killed at Carthage, Illinois, with his brother Hirum. 

FLORIDA WAR. 

In September, 1S37, the Secretary of War issued a requisition on 
Governor Boggs, of Missouri, for six hundred volunteers for service 
in Florida against the Seminole Indians, with whom the Creek nation 
had made conunon cause under Osceola. 

The first regiment was chiefly raised in Boone county by Colonel 
Richard Gentry, of which he was elected Colonel ; John W. Price, of 
Howard county, Lieutenant-Colonel ; Harrison H. Hughes, also of 
Howard, Major. Four companies of the second regiment were raised 
and attached to the first. Two of these companies were composed of 
Delaware and Osage Indians. 

October 6, 1837, Col. Gentry's regiment left Columbia for the seat 
of war, stop|)ing cm the way at Jefferson barracks, where they were 
mustered into service. 

Arriving at Jackson barracks. New Orleans, they were from thence 
transported in brigs across the Gulf to Tampa Bay, Florida. Gen- 
eral Zachary Taylor, who then commanded in Florida, ordered Col. 
Gentry to march to Okee-cho-bee Lake, one hundred and thirty-five 
miles inland by the route traveled. Having reached the Kissemmee 
river, seventy miles distant, a bloody battle ensued, in which Col. 
Gentry was killed. The Missourians, though losing their gallant 
leader, continued the fight until the Indians were totally routed, leav- 
ing many of their dead and wounded on the field. There being no 
further service required of the Missourians, they returned to their 
homes in 1838. 

MEXICAN WAR, 

Soon after Mexico declared war, against the United St.ates, on the 
Sth and 9th of May, 1846, the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la 
Palma were fought. Great excitement prevailed throughout the 
country. In none of her sister States, however, did the tires of 
patriotism burn more intensely than in Missouri. Not waiting for the 
call for volunteers, the " St. Louis Legion " hastened to the field of 
conflict. The " Legion" was commanded by Colonel A. R. Easton. 
During the mouth of May, 184(3, Governor Edwards, of Missouri, 



48 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 



called for volunteers to join the "Army of the West," an expedition 
to Sante Fe — under command of General Stephen W. Kearney. 

Fort Leavenworth was the appointed rendezvous for the volunteers. 
By the 18th of June, the full complement of companies to compose 
the first regiment had arrived from Jackson, Lafayette, Clay, Sa- 
line, Franklin, Cole, Howard and Callaway counties. Of this regi- 
ment, A. W. Doniphan was made Colonel ; C. F. Ruff, Lieutenant- 
Colonel, and Wm. Gilpin, Major. The battalion of light artillery 
from St. Louis was commanded by Captains R. A. Weightman and 
A. W. Fischer, with Major M. L. Clark as field officer ; battalions of 
infantry from Platte and Cole counties commanded by Captains 
Murphy and W. Z. Augney respectively, and the " Laclede Rangers," 
from St. Louis, by Captain Thomas B. Hudson, aggregating all told, 
from Missouri, 1,658 men. In the summer of 1846 Hon. Sterling 
Price resigned his seat in Congress and raised one mounted regiment, 
one mounted extrti battalion, and one extra battalion of Mormon in- 
fantry to reinforce the "Army of the West." Mr. Price was made 
Colonel, and D. D. Mitchell Lieutenant-Colonel. 

In August, 184:7, Governor Edwards made another requisition for 
one thousand men, to consist of infantry. The regiment was raised 
at once. John Dougherty, of Clay county, was chosen Colonel, but 
before the regiment marched the President countermanded the order. 

A company of mounted volunteers was raised in Ralls county, com- 
manded by Captain Wm. T. Lafland. Conspicuous among the en- 
gagements in which the Missouri volunteers participated in Mexico 
were the battles of Bnicito, Sacramento, Canada, El Embudo, Taos 
and Santa Cruz de Rosales. The forces from Missouri were mustered 
out in 1848, and will ever be remembered in the history of the Mexi- 
oaa war, for 

"A thonsand glorious actions that might claim 
Triumphant laurels and immortal lame. 



HISTORY OF MISSOUKI. 59 

CHAPTER X. 

AGRICULTURE AND MATERIAL WEALTH. 

Missouri as an Agricultural State — The Different Crops— Live Stock — Horses — 
Mules — Milch Cows — Oxen and other Cattle— Sheep — Hogs— Comparisons — 
Missouri adapted to Live Stock — Cotton — Broom-Corn and other Products — 
Fruits — Berries — Grapes — Railroads — First Neigh of the " Iron Horse " in Mis- 
souri — Names of Railroads — Manufactures — Great Bridge at St. Louis. 

Agriculture is the greatest among all the arts of man, as it is the 
first in supplying his necessities. It favors and strengthens popula- 
tion ; it creates and maintains manufactures ; gives employment to 
navigation and furnishes materials to commerce. It animates every 
species of industry, and opens to nations the safest channels of 
wealth. It is the strongest bond of well regulated society, the surest 
basis of internal peace, and the natural associate of correct morals. 
Among all the occupations and professions of life, there is none more 
honorable, none more independent, and none more couducive to health 
and happiness. 

" In ancient times the sacred plow employ'd 
The kings, and awful fathers of mankind ; 
And some, with whom compared your insect tribes 
Are but the beings of a summer's day. 

Have held the scale of empire, rulod the storm 

Of mighty war with unwearied hand. 

Disdaining little delicacies, seized 

The plow and greatly independent lived." 

As an agricultural region, Missouri is not surpassed by any State in 
the Union. It is indeed the farmer's kingdom, where he always reaps 
an abundant harvest. The soil, in many portions of the State, has 
an open, flexible structure, quickly absorbs the most excessive rains, 
and retains moisture with great tenacity. This being the case, it is 
not so easily afl"ected by drouth. The prairies are covered with sweet, 
luxuriant grass, equally good for grazing and hay ; grass not sur- 
passed by the Kentucky blue grass — the best of clover and timothy 
in srrowinn; and fattening cattle. This jjrass is now as full of life-wiv- 
ing nutriment as it was when cropped by the buffalo, the elk, the an- 
telope, and the deer, and costs the herdsman nothing. 



60 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 

No State or territory has a more complete and rapid system of nat- 
ural drainage, or a more abundant supply of pure, fresh water than 
Missouri. Both man and beast may slake their thirst from a thousand 
perennial fountains, which gush in limpid streams from the hill-sides, 
and wend their way through verdant valleys and along smiling prai- 
ries, varying in size^as they onward flow, from the diminutive brooklet 
to the giant river. 

Here, nature has generously bestowed her attractions of climate, 
soil and scenery to please and gratify man while earning his bread in 
the sweat of his brow. Being thus munificently endowed, Missouri 
offers superior inducements to the farmer, and bids him enter her 
broad domain and avail himself of her varied resources. 

We present here a table showiug the product of each principal crop 
In Missouri for 1878: — 

Indian Corn 93,062,000 bushel*. 

Wheat 20,196,000 

Eje 732,000 

Oats 19,584,000 

Buckwheat 46,400 

Potatoes 5,415,000 

Tobacco 23,023,000 poundg. 

Hay 1,620,000 tons. 

There were 3,552,000 acres in corn; wheat, 1,83(5,000; rye, 
48,800; oats, 640,000; buckwheat, 2,900; potatoes, 72,200; to- 
bacco, 29,900; hay, 850,000. Value of each crop: corn, $24,196,- 
224; wheat, $13,531,320; rye, $300,120; oats, $3,325,120; buck- 
wheat, $24,128; potatoes, $2,057,700; tobacco, $1,151,150; hay, 
$10,416,600. 

Average cash value of crops per acre, $7.69 ; average yield of corn 
per acre, 26 bushels; wheat, 11 bushels. 

Next in importance to the corn crop in value is live stock. The fol- 
lowing table shows the number of horses, mules, and milch cows in 
the different States for 1879 : — 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 



61 



states. 


Horees. 


Moles. 


MUch 
Cows. 


M:iine 


81,700 

57,100 

77,400 

131,000 

16,200 

53,«00 

898,900 

114,500 

614,600 

19,900 

108,1100 

208,700 

144,200 

59,r,00 

119,200 

22,400 

112,800 

97,200 

79,300 

618,000 

180,500 

323,700 

122,200 

386,900 

772,700 

833,800 

688,800 

1,100,000 

384,400 

247,300 

770,700 

627,300 

275,000 

157,200 

273,000 

109,700 

260,000 


11,800 
14,400 
24,900 
4,000 
11,300 
80,600 
74,000 
51,.500 
97,200 
11,900 

111,700 

100,000 
80,700 

180,200 
89,300 
99,700 
2,400 

117,800 

26,700 

4,:;00 

61,200 

138,000 

8,700 

7,000 

43,400 

191,900 
50,000 
13,600 
26,700 
8,500 
26,700 


196,100 




98,100 




217,800 




160,700 




22.000 




116,500 


New York 


1,446,200 




162,200 




,^28.400 




23,200 




100,600 




236,200 




232,300 




131,300 




27.3,100 


Florida 


70,000 




215,200 




188,000 




110,900 


Texas 


544,600 




187,700 




245,700 




130,500 




267,200 




714,100 




416,900 




439,200 




702,400 




477,300 




278,900 




676,200 




516,200 




821,900 




127,600 




495,600 




112,400 




423,600 



It will be seen from the above table, that Missouri is the fifth State 
iu the number of horses ; Jifth in number of milch cows, and the 
leading State in number of mules, having 11,700 more than Texas, 
which produces the next largest number. Of oxen and other cattle, 
Missouri produced iu 1879, 1,632,000, which was more than any other 
State produced excepting Texas, which had 4,800,00. In 1879 Mis- 
souri raised 2,817,600 hogs, which was more than any other State 
produced, excepting Iowa. The number of slieep was 1,296,400. 
The number of hogs packed in 1879, by the different States, is as 
follows : — 



States. 


No. 


States. 


No. 


Ohio 


932,878 

622,321 

3,214,896 

669,763 


Missouri 


965,889 




Wiscunsin 


472,108 




212,412 


Iowa, 







62 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 



ATKRAOK Wl 


lOHT PER 


BEAD FOB EACH STATE. 




States. 


Pounds. 


States. 


Ponnds, 


Ohio 


210.47 
193.80 
225.71 
211.98 




211 32 


Indiana 




220.81 


Illinois 




210.11 


Iowa 







From the above it will be seen that Missouri annually packs more 
hogs than any other State excepting Illinois, and that she ranks third 
in the average weight. 

We see no reason why Missouri should not be the foremost stock- 
raising State of the Union. In addition to the enormous yield of 
corn and oats upon which the stock is largely dependent, the climate 
is well adapted to their growth and health. Water is not only inex- 
haustible, but everywhere convenient. The ranges of stock are 
boundless, affording for nine months of the year, excellent pasturage 
of nutritious wild grasses, which grow in great luxuriance upon the 
thousand prairies. 

Cotton is grown successfully in many counties of the southeastern 
portions of the State, especially in Stoddard, Scott, Pemiscot, Butler, 
New Madrid, Lawrence and Mississippi. 

Sweet potatoes are produced in abundance and are not only sure 
but profitable. 

Broom corn, sorghum, castor beans, white beans, peas, hops, thrive 
well, and all kinds of garden vegetables, are produced in great abun- 
dance and are found in the markets during all seasons of the year. 
Fruits of every variety, including the apple, pear, peach, cherries, 
apricots and nectarines, are cultivated with great success, as are also, 
the strawberry, gooseberry, currant, raspberry and blackberry. 

The grape has not been produced with that success that was at first 
anticipated, yet the yield of wine for the year 1879, was nearly half a 
million gallons. Grapes do well in Kansas, and we see no reason 
why they should not bo as surely and profitably grown in a similar 
climate and soil in Missouri, and particularly in many of the counties 
north and east of the Missouri River. 



RAILROADS. 



Twenty-nine years ago, the neigh of the «* iron horse " was heard 
for the first time, within the broad domain of Missouri. His coming 
presaged the dawn of a brighter and grander era in the history of the 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 68 

State. Her fertile prairies, and more prolific vaflcys would soon be 
of easy access to the oiiconiing tide of immigration, and the ores and 
minerals of her hills and mountains would be developed, and utilized 
in her manufacturing and industrial enterprises. 

Additional facilities would be opened to the marts of trade and 
commerce ; transportation from the interior of the State would be se- 
cured ; a fresh impetus would be given to the growth of her towns 
and cities, and new hopes and inspirations would be imparted to all 
her people. 

Since 1852, the initial period of railroad building in Missouri, be- 
tween four and five thousand miles of track have been laid ; addi- 
tional roads are now being constructed, and many others in contem- 
plation. The State is already well supplied with railroads which 
thread her surface in all directions, bringing her remotest districts 
into close connection with St. Louis, that great center of western 
railroads and inland commerce. These roads have a capital stock ag- 
gregating more than one hundred millions of dollars, and a funded 
debt of about the same amount. 

The lines of roads which are operated in the State are the follow- 
ing:— 

Missouri Pacific — chartered May 10th, 1850; The St. Louis, Iron 
Mountain & Southern Railroad, which is a consolidation of the Arkan- 
sas Branch ; The Cairo, Arkansas & Texas Railroad ; The Cairo & 
Fulton Railroad; The Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railway; St. 
Louis & San Francisco Railway ; The Chicago, Alton & St. Louis 
Railroad ; The Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad ; The Missouri, Kan- 
sas & Texas Railroad ; The Kansas City, St. Josepli & Council Bluffs 
Railroad ; The Keokuk & Kansas City Railway Company ; The St. 
Louis, Salem & Little Rock Railroad Company ; The Missouri & 
Western ; The St. Louis, Keokuk & Northwestern Railroad ; The St. 
Louis, Hannibal & Keokuk Railroad ; The Missouri, Iowa & Nebraska 
Railway ; The Qiiincy, Missouri & Pacific Railroad ; Tlie Chicago, 
Rock Island & Pacific Railway ; The Burlington & Southwestern 
Railroad. 

MANUFACTURES. 

The natural resources of Missouri especially fit her for a great man- 
ufacturing State. She is rich in soil ; rich in all the elements which 
supply the. furnace, the machine shop and the planing mill ; rich in 
the multitude and variety of her gigantic forests ; rich in her marble, 
etone and granite quarries ; rich in her mines of iron, coal, lead and 



64 HISTOKY OF MISSOURI. 

zinc ; rich in strong arms and willing hands to apply the force ; rich 
in water power and river navigation ; and rich in her numerous and 
well-built railroads, whose numberless engines thunder along their 
multiplied track-wa3's. 

Missouri contains over fourteen thousand manufacturing establish- 
ments, 1,965 of which are using steam and give employment to 
80,000 hands. The capital employed is about $100,000,000, the 
material annually used and worked up, amounts to over $150,000,- 
000, and the value of the products put upon the markets $250,000,000, 
while the wages paid are more than $40,000,000. 

The leading manufacturing counties of the State, are St. Louis, 
Jackson, Buchanan, St. Charles, Marion, Franklin, Greene, Lafay- 
ette, Platte, Cape Girardeau, and Boone. Three-fourths, however, of 
the manufacturing is done in St. Louis, which is now about the second 
manufacturing city in the Union. Flouring mills produce annually 
about $38,194,000; carpentering $18,763,000 ; meat-packing $16,- 
769,000 ; tobacco $12,496,000 ; iron and castings $12,000,000 ; liquors 
$11,245,000; clothing $10,022,000; lumber $8,652,000; bagging 
and bags $6,914,000, and many other smaller industries iu propor- 
tion. 

REAT BRIDGE AT ST. LOUIS. 

Of the many public improvements which do honor to the State and 
reflect great credit upon the genius of their projectors, we have space 
only, to mention the great bridge at St. Louis. 

This truly wonderful construction is built of tubular steel, total 
length of which, with its approaches, is 6,277 feet, at a cost of nearly 
$8,000,000. The bridge spans the Mississippi from the Illinois to 
the Missouri shore, and has separate railroad tracks, roadways, and 
foot paths. In durability, architectural beauty and practical utility, 
there is, perhaps, no similar piece of workmanship that approximates 
it. 

The structure of Darius upon the Bosphorus ; of Xerxes upon the 
Hellespont ; of Cajsar upon the Rhine ; and Trajan upon the Danube, 
famous in ancient history, were built for military purposes, that over 
them might pass invading armies with their munitions of war, to de- 
stroy commerce, to lay in waste the provinces, and to slaughter the 
people. 

But the erection of this was for a higher and nobler purpose. Over 
it are coming the trade and merchandise of the opulent East, and 
thence are passing the untold riches of the West. Over it are crowd- 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 65 

ing legions of men, armed not with tlie weapons of war, \nt with the 
implements of peace and industry ; men who are skilled in all the arts 
of asjriculture, of manufacture and of mining; men who will hasten 
the day when St. Louis shall rank in population and importance, sec- 
ond to no city on the continent, and when Missouri shall proudly fill 
the measure of greatness, to which she is naturally so justly entitled. 



CHAPTER XI. 

EDUCATION. 

Public School System — Public School System of Missouri — Lincoln Institute — Offi- 
cers of Public School System — Certifl(?ates of Teachers — University of Missouri — 
Schools — Colleges — Institutions of Learning — Location — Libraries — Newspa- 
pers and Periodicals — No. of School Children — Amount expended — Value ol 
Grounds and Buildings — " The Press." 

The first constitution of Missouri provided that "one school or more 
shall be established in each township, as soon as practicable and neces- 
sary, where the poor shall be taught gratis." 

It will be seen that even at that early day (1820) the framersof 'the 
constitution made provision for at least a primary education for the 
poorest and the humblest, taking it for granted that those who were 
able would avail themselves of educational advantages which were not 
gratuitous. 

The establishment of the public-school system, in its essential fea- 
tures, was not perfected until 1839, during the administration of Gov- 
ernor Boggs, and since that period the system has slowly grown into 
favor, not only in Missouri, but throughout the United States. The 
idea of a free or public school for all classes was not at first a popular 
one, especially among those who had the means to patronize private 
institutions of learning. In upholding and maintaining public schools 
the opponents of the system felt that they were not only comi)romis- 
ing their own standing among their more wealthy neighbors, but that 
they were, to some extent, bringing opprobrium upon tlieir children. 
Entertaining such prejudices, they naturally thought that the training 
received at public schools could not be otherwise than defective ; hence 
many years of probation passed before the popular mind was prepared 



66 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 

to appreciate the benefits and blessings which spring from these insti- 
tutions. 

Every year only adds to their popularity, and commends them the 
more earnestly to the fostering care of our State and National Legis- 
latures, and to the esteem and favor of all classes of our people. 

We can hardly conceive of two grander or more potent promoters of 
civilization than the free school and free press. They would indeed 
seem to constitute all that was necessary to the attainment of the hap- 
piness and intellectual growth of the Kepublic, and all that was neces- 
sary to broaden, to liberalize and instruct. 

•'Tis education forms the common mind; 

For noble youth there is nothing so meet 
As learning is, to know the good from ill; 
To know the tongues, and perfectly indite, 
And of the laws to have a perfect skill, 
Things to reform as right and justice will; 
For honor is ordained for no cause 
But to see right maintained by the laws." 

All the States of the Union have in practical operation the public- 
school system, governed in the main by similar laws, and not differing 
materially in the manner and methods by which they are taught ; but 
none have a wiser, a more liberal and comprehensive machinery of 
instruction than Missouri. Her school laws, since 1839, have under- 
gone many changes, and always for the better, keeping pace with the 
most enlightened and advanced theories of "the most experienced edu- 
cators in the land. But not until 1875, when the new constitution was 
adopted, did her present admirable system of public instruction go 
into effect. 

Pi'ovisions were made not only for white, but for children of African 
descent, and are a part of the organic law, not subject to the caprices 
of unfriendly legislatures, or the whims of political parties. The Lin- 
coln Institute, located at Jefferson City, for the education of col- 
ored teachers, receives an annual ajjpropriation from the General 
Assembly. 

For the support of the public schools, in addition to the annual 
income derived from the public school fund, which is set apart by law, 
not less than twenty-five per cent, of the State revenue, exclusive of 
the interest and sinking fund, is annually applied to this purpose. 

The officers having in charge the public school interests are the State 
»' Board of Education," the State Superintendent, County Commission- 



68 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 

ers, County Clerk and Treasurer, Board of Directors, City and Town 
School Board, and Teacher. The State Board of Education is composed 
of the State Superintendent, the Governor, Secretary of State, and the 
Attorney-General, the executive officer of this Board being the State Su- 
perintendent, who is chosen by the people every four years. His duties 
are numerous. He renders decisions concerning the local application of 
school law ; keeps a record of the school funds and annually distributes 
the same to the counties ; supervises the work of county school officers j 
delivers lectures ; visits .schools ; distributes educational information ; 
grants certificates of higher qualifications, and makes an annual report 
to the General Assembly of the condition of the schools. 

The County Commissioners are also elected by the people for two 
years. Their work is to examine teachers, to distribute blanks, and 
make reports. County clerks receive estimates from the local direct- 
ors and extend them upon the tax-books. In addition to this, they 
keep the general records of the county and township school funds, and 
return an annual report of the financial condition of the schools of 
their county to the State Superintendent. School taxes are gathered 
with other taxes by the county collector. The custodian of the school 
funds belonging to the schools of the counties is the county treasurer, 
except in counties adopting the township organization, in which case 
the township trustee discharges these duties. 

Districts organized under the special law for cities and towns are 
governed by a board of six directors, two of whom are selected annu- 
ally, on the second Saturday in September, and hold their office for 
three years. 

One director is elected to serve for three years in each school dis- 
trict, at the annual meeting. These directors may levy a tax not 
exceeding forty cents on the one hundred dollars' valuation, pro- 
vided such annual rates for school purposes may be increased in dis- 
tricts formed of cities and towns, to an amount not exceeding one 
dollar on the hundred dollars' valuation, and in other districts to an 
amount not to exceed sixty-five cents on the one hundred dollars' val- 
uation, on the condition that a majority of the voters who are tax-pay- 
ers, voting at an election held to decide the question, vote for said 
increase. For the purpose of erecting public buildings in school dis- 
tricts, the rates of taxation thus limited may be increased when the 
rate of such increase and the purpose for which it is intended shall 
have been submitted to a vote of the people, and two-thirds of the 



HISTOnY OF MISSOURI. 69 

qualified voters of such school district voting at such election shall 
vote therefor. 

Local directors may direct the management of the school in respect 
to the choice of teachers and other details, but in the discharge of 
all important business, such as the erection of a school house or the 
extension of a term of school beyond the constitutional period, they 
simply execute the will of the people. The clerk of this board may 
be a director. He keeps a record of the names of all the children and 
youth in the district between the ages of five and twenty-one ; records 
all business proceedings of the district, and reports to the annual 
meeting, to the County Clerk and County Commissioners. 

Teachers must hold a certificate from the State Superintendent or 
County Commissioner of the county where they teach. State certifi- 
cates are granted upon personal written examination in the common 
branches, together with the natural sciences and higher mathematics. 
The holder of such certificate may teach in any public school of the 
State without further examination. Certificates granted by County 
Commissioners are of two classes, with two grades in each class. Those 
issued for a longer term than one year, belong to the first class and are 
susceptible of two grades, ditfering both as to length of time and attain- 
ments. Those issued for one year may represent two grades, marked by 
qualification alone. The township school fund arises from a grant of 
land by the General Government, consisting of section sixteen in each 
congressional township. The annual income of the townsliip fund is ap- 
propriated to the various townships, according to their respective 
proprietary claims. The support from the permanent funds is supple- 
mented by direct taxation laid upon the taxable property of each dis- 
trict. The greatest limit of taxation for the current expenses is one 
per cent ; the tax permitted for school house building cannot exceed 
the same amount. 

Among the institutions of learning and ranking, perhaps, the first 
in importance, is the State University located at Columbia, Boone 
County. When the State was admitted into the Union, Congress 
granted to it one entire township of land (4(5,080 acres) for the sup- 
port of "A Seminary of Learning." The lands secured for this pur- 
pose are among the best and most valuable in the State. These 
lands were put into the market in 1832 and brought $75,000, which 
amount was invested in the stock of the old bank of the State of Mis- 
souri, where it remained and increased by accumulation to the sum of 
$100,000. In 1S39, by an act of the General Assembly, five commis- 



70 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 

sioners were appointed to select a site for the State University, the 
site to contain at least fifty acres of land in a compact form, within 
two miles of the county seat of Cole, Cooper, Howard, Boone, Calla- 
way or Saline. Bids were let among the counties named, and tho 
county of Boone having subscribed the sum of $117,921, some 
$18,000 more than any other county, the State University was located 
iu that county, and on the 4th of July, 1840, the corner-stone was 
laid with imposing ceremonies. 

The present annual income of the University is nearly $65,000. 
The donations to the institutions connected therewith amount to 
nearly $400,000. This University with its different departments, 
is open to both male and female, and both sexes enjoy alike its 
rights and privileges. Among the professional schools, which form a 
part of the University, are the Normal, or College of Instruction in 
Teaching ; Agricultural and Mechanical College ; the School of Mines 
and Metallurgy ; the College of Law ; the Medical College ; and the 
Department of Analytical and Applied Chemistry. Other departments 
are contemplated and will be added as necessity requires. 

The following will show the names and locations of the schools and 
institutions of the State, as reported by the Commissioner of Education 
in 1875: — 

TTNIVIRSITrES AlTD COI-I.TtOK9. 

ChriEtian University Canton. 

St. Vincent's College Cape Girardeau, 

University of Missouri Columbia. 

Central College Fayette. 

Westminster College Fulton. 

Lewis College Glasgow. 

Pritchett School Institute Glasgow. 

Lincoln CoUege Greenwood. 

Hannibal College Hannibal- 
Woodland College Independence. 

Thayer College Kidder. 

La Grange College La Grane;e. 

William Jewell College Liberty. 

Baptist College Louisiana. 

St. Joseph College -St. Joseph. 

College of Christian Brothers , St Louis. 

St. Louia University St Louis. 

Washington University St Louis. 

Drury College Springfield. 

Central Wesleyan College Warrenton. 

FOB 8UPBR10R DTSTRUOTIOK OF WOMIN. 

Bt Joseph Female Seminary St Joseph. 

Christian College -Columbia. 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 71 

Stephens College. Columbia. 

Howard College _Fayetta. 

Independence Female College Independence. 

Central Female College Lexington. 

Clay Seminary Liberty. 

Ingleside Female College Palmyra. 

Lindenwood College for Young Ladies St. Charles. 

Mary Institute (Washington University) St. Louis. 

St. Louis Seminary St. Louis. 

Ursuline Academy St. Louis. 

FOR SECONDARY INSTRUCTION. 

Arcadia College Arcadia. 

St Vincent's Academy Cape Girardeau. 

Chillicothe Academy Chillicothe, 

Grand River College Edinburgh. 

Marionville Collegiate Institute Marionville. 

Palmyra Seminary Palmyra. 

St. Paul's College Palmyra. 

Van Rensselaer Academy Rensselaer. 

Shelby High School Shelbyville. 

Stewartsville Male and Female Seminary Stewarlsville. 

SCHOOLS OF SCIENCE. 

Missouri Agricultural and Mechanical College (University of Missouri) Columbia. 

Schools of Mines and Metallurgy (University of Missouri) RoUa. 

Polytechnic Institute (Washington University) St Loui*. 

SCHOOLS 07 THEOLOQT. 

St. Vincent's College (Theological Department) Cape Girardeau. 

Westminster College (Theological School) Fulton. 

Vardeman School of Theology (William Jewell College) Liberty. 

Concordia College St Louis. 

SCHOOLS OF LAW. 

Law School of the University of Missouri Columbia. 

Law School of the Washington University St Louis. 

SCHOOLS OF MEDICINE. 

Medical College, University of Missouri Columbia 

College of Physicians and Surgeons St Joseph. 

Kansas City College of Physicians and Surgeons Kansas City, 

Hospital Medical College St Joseph. 

Missouri Medical College St Louis. 

Northwestern Medical College St Joseph. 

St Louis Medical College v St Louis. 

Homeopathic Medical College of Missouri St Louis. 

Missouri School of Midwifery and Diseases of Women and Children St Louis. 

Missouri Central College St Louis. 

St Louis College of Pharmacy St Louis. 



7S 



BISTORT OF MISSOURI. 

LAKOEST FUBLIO LtBRARIES. 



Bt, Vincent's College _ 

Southeast Missouri State NormBl School , 

University of Missouri 

Athenian Society 

Union Literary Society 

Law College .'. 

Westminster College 

Lewis College 

Mercantile Library 

Library Association 

Fruitland Normal Institute 

State Library 

Fetterman's Circulating Library 

Law Library ." 

Whittemore's Circulating Library 

North Missouri State Normal School 

"William Jewell College 

Bt Paul's College 

Missouri School of Jlines and Metallurgy 

St. Charles Catholic Library , 

Carl Frielliiig's Library....". 

Law Library .". 

Public School Library 

Walworth & Colt's Circulating Library 

Academy of Science 

Academy of Visitation „ 

College of the Christian Brothers , 

Deutsche Institute 

German Evangelical Lutheran, Concordia College.. 

Law Library Association 

Missouri Medical Collef;e 

Mrs. Cuthbert's Seminary (Young Ladies) 

Odtl Fellow's Library _ 

Public School Library 

St Louis Medical College 

St Louis Mercantile Library 

St. Louis Seminary 

St Louis Turn Vcrein , 

St Louis University 

6t Louis University Society Libraries 

Ursuline Academy 

Wasliington Uinversity 

Bt Lkiuis Law School 

Young Men's Sodality 

Library Association 

Public School Library 

Drury College 



Location. 



Cape Girardeau. 
Cape Girardeiiu. 

Columbia 

Columbia 

Columbia 

Columbia 

Fulton 

Glasgow 

Hannibal 

Independence.... 

Jackson 

Jefferson City... 

Kansas City 

Kansas City 

Kansas City 

Kirksville 

Liberty 

Palmyra 

Kolhi 

St Charles 

St Joseph 

St Joseph 

St Joseph 

St Joseph 

St Louis 

St Louis 

St Louis 

St Louis 

St Louis 

St Louis 

St Louis 

St Louis 

St Loui^ 

St Louis 

St Louis 

St Louis 

St Louis 

St Louis 

St Louis._ 

St Louis 

St Louis 

St Louis 

St Louis 

St Louis 

Sedalia 

Sedalia 

Springfield 



Volumes. 



6,500 
1,225 
10,000 
1,200 
1,200 
l,ono 
6,0110 
8,000 
2,21'.) 

1.100 

1,000 

13,000 
1,300 
8,000 
1,000 
1.050 
4,000 
2,000 
1,478 
1.716 
6,000 
2,000 
2,500 
1,500 
2,744 
4.000 

22,000 
1,000 
4,800 
8,000 
1,000 
1,600 
4.000 

40,0'.i7 
1,100 

45,000 
2,000 
2,000 

17.000 
8,000 
2.000 
4,500 
8,000 
1,327 
1,600 
1.015 
2,000 



IN 1880. 
Newspapers and Periodicals 481 

CHAKITIES. 

State Asylum for Deaf and Dumb 

St Bridget's Institution for Deaf and Dumb 

Institution for the Education of the Blind 

State Asylum for Insane 

State Asylum for the Insane 



Fulton. 

.&t Louis. 
..St Louis. 

Fulton. 

.St Louis. 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 75 

NORMAL SCHOOLS. 

Normal Institute Bolivar. 

Boutheast Missouri State Normal School '. Cape Girardeau. 

Normal School (University of Missouri) Columbia. 

Fruitland Normal Institute Jackson- 
Lincoln Institute (for colored) Jefferson City, 

City Normal School St. Louis. 

Missouri State Normal School Warrensburg. 

IN 1880. 
Number of school children „ 



IN 1878. 

Estimated value of school property $8,321,399 

Total receipts for public schools 4,207,617 

Total expenditures 2,406,139 

NUUBKR OF TEACHERS. 

Male teachers 6.'-o9; average monthly pay $36.36 

Female teachers 5,000; average monthly pay 28.09 

The fact that Missouri supports and miiintains four hundred and 
seventj-one newspapers and periodicals, shows th'it her inhabitants 
are not only a reading and reflecting people, but that they appreciate 
" The Press," and its wonderful influence as an educator. The poet 
has well said : — 

But mightiest of the mighty means, 
On which the arm of progress leans, 
Man's noblest mission to advance, 
His woes assuage, his weal enhance, 
His rights enforce, his wrongs^redress — 
Mightiest of mighty Is the Prtsa. 



CHAPTER XII. 

RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS. 

Baptl.st Church — Its History — Congregational — When Founded — Its History — 
Christian Church — Its History — Cumberland Presbyterian Church — Its History — 
Methodist Episcopal Church — Its History — Presbyterian Church — Its History — 
Protestant Episcopal Church — Its History — United Presbyterian Church — lu 
History — Unitarian Church — Its History — Roman Catholic Church — Its History. 

The first representatives of religious thought and training, who 
penetrated the Missouri and Mississippi Valleys, were Pere Marquette, 
La Salic, and others of Catholic persuasion, who performed mis.sionary 



74 HISTORT OF MISSOURI. 

labor among the Indians. A century afterward came the Protestants. 
At that earlj period 

" A church In every grove that spread 
Its living roof above their heads," 

constituted for a time their only house of worship, and yet to them 

" No Temple built with hands could vie 
In glory with its majesty." 

In the course of time, the seeds of Protestantism were scattered 
along the shores of the two great rivers which form the eastern and 
western boundaries of the State, and still a little later they were sown 
upon her hill-sides and broad prairies, where they have since bloomed 
and blossomed as the rose. 

BAPTIST CHURCH. 

The earliest anti-Catholic religious denomination, of which there is 
any record, was organized in Cape Girardeau county in 1806, through 
the efforts of Rev. David Green, a Baptist, and a native of Virginia. 
In 1816, the first association of Missouri Baptists was formed, which 
was composed of seven churches, all of which were located in the 
southeastern part of the State. In 1817 a second association of 
churches was formed, called the Missouri Association, the name being 
afterwards changed to St. Louis Association. In 1834 a general con- 
vention of all the churches of this deuomiuation, was held in Howard 
county, for the purpose of effecting a central organization, at which 
time was commenced what is now known as the " General Association 
of Missouri Baptists." 

To this body is committed the State mission work, denominational 
education, foreign missions and the circulation of religious literature. 
The Baptist Church has under its control a number of schools and 
colleges, the most important of which is William Jewell College, 
located at Liberty, Clay county. As shown by the annual report for 
1875, there were in Missouri, at that date, sixty-one associations, one 
thousand four hundred churches, eight hundred and twenty-four min- 
isters and eighty-nine thousand six hundred and fifty church members. 

CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. 

The Congregationalists inaugurated their missionary labors in the 
State in 1814. Rev. Samuel J. Mills, of Torringford, Connecticut, 
and Rev. Daniel Smith, of Bennington, Vermont, were sent west by 
the Massachusetts Congregational Home Missionary Society during: 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 75 

that year, and in November, 1814, they preached the first regular 
Protestant sermons in St. Louis. Rev. Samuel Giddings, sent out 
under the auspices of the Connecticut Congregational Missionary 
Society, organized the first Protestant church in the city, consisting 
of ten members, constituted Presbyterian. The churches organized 
by Mr. Giddings were all Presbyterian in their order. 

No exclusively Congregational Church was founded until 1852, 
when the "First Trinitarian Congregational Church of St. Louis" 
was organized. The next church of this denomination was organized 
at Hannibal in 1859. Then followed a Welsh church in New Cambria 
in 1864, and after the close of the war, fifteen churches of the same 
order were formed in different parts of the State. In 1866, Pilgrim 
Church, St. Louis, was organized. The General Conference of 
Chui'ches of Missouri was formed in 1865, which was changed in 1868, 
to General Association. In 1866, Hannibal, Kidder, and St. Louis 
District Associations were formed, and following these were the Kan- 
sas City and Springfield District Associations. This denomination in 
1875, had 70 churches, 41 ministers, 3,363 church members, and had 
also several schools and colleges and one monthly newspaper. 

CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

The earliest churches of this denomination were organized in Cal- 
laway, Boone and Howard Counties, some time previously to 1829. 
The first church was formed in St. Louis in 1836 by Elder R. B. 
Fife. The first State Sunday School Convention of the Christian 
Church, was held in Mexico in 1876. Besides a number of private 
institutions, this denomination has three State Institutions, all of 
which have an able corps of professors and have a good attendance of 
pupils. It has one religious paper published in St. Louis, " Tlie Chris- 
tian," which is a weekly publication and well patronized. The mem- 
bership of this church now numbers nearly one hundred thousand in 
the State and is lucre ising rapidly. It has more than five hundred 
organized churches, the greater portion of which are north of the 
Missouri River. 

CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 

In the spring of 1820, the first Presbytery of this denomination 
west of the Mississippi, was organized in Pike County. This Pres- 
bytery included all the territory of Missouri, western Illinois and 
Arkansas and numbered only four ministers, two of whom resided at 



76 HISTORY OF MISSOUK 

that time in Missouri. There are now in the State, twelve Presby- 
teries, three Synods, nearly three hundred ministers and over twenty 
thousand membevs. The Board of Missions is located at St. Louis. 
They have a number of High Schools and two monthly papers pub- 
lished at St. Louis. 

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

In 1806, Rev. John Travis, a young Methodist minister, was sent 
out to the " Western Conference," which then embraced the Missis- 
sippi Valley, from Green County, Tennessee. During that year Mr. 
Travis organized a number of small churches. At the close of his 
conference year, he reported the result of his labors to the Western 
Conference, which was held at Chillicothe, Ohio, in 1870, and showed 
an aggregate of one hundred and six members and two circuits, one 
called Missouri and the other Meramec. In 1808, two circuits had 
been formed, and at each succeeding year the number of cii'cuits and 
members constantly increased, until 1812, wlien what was called the 
Western Conference was divided into the Ohio and Tennessee Confer- 
ences, Missouri falling into the Tennessee Conference. In 1816, 
there was another division when the Missouri Annual Conference was 
formed. In 1810, there were four traveling preachers and in 1820, fif- 
teen travelling preachers, with over 2,000 members. In 1836, the terri- 
tory of the Missouri Conference was again divided wiien the Missouri 
Conference included only the State. In 1840 there were 72 traveling 
preachers, 177 local ministers and 13,992 church members. Between 
1840 and 1850, the church was divided by the organization of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church South. lu 1850, the membership of the 
M. E. Church was over 25,000, and during the succeeding ten years 
the church prospered rapidly. In 1875, the M. E. Church reported 
274 church edifices and 34,156 members; the M. E. Church South, 
reported 443 church edifices and 49,588 members. This denomina- 
tion has under its control several schools and colleges and two weekly 
newspapers. 

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 

The Presbyterian Church dates the beginning of its missionary 
efl'orts in the State as far back as 1814, l)ut the first Presbyterian 
Church was not organized until 1816 at Beilevue settlement, eight 
miles from St. Louis. The next churches were formed in 1816 and 
1817 at Bonhomme, Pike County. The First Presbyterian Church 
was organized in St. Louis in 1817, by Rev. Salmon Gidding. The 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 77 

first Presbytery was organized in 1817 by the Synod of Tennessee 
with four ministers and four churches. The first Presbyterian house 
of worship (which was the first Protestant) was commenced in 1819 
and completed in 1826. In 1820 a mission was formed among the 
Osage Indians. lu 1831, tiie Presbytery was divided iuto three: 
Missouri, St. Louis, and St. Charles. These were erected with a 
Synod comprising eighteen ministers and twenty-tliree churches. 

The church was divided in 1838, throughout the United States. In 
1860 the rolls of the Old and New School Syuod together showed 109 
miuisters and 146 churches. Li 1866 the Old School Synod was di- 
vided on political questions springing out of the war — a part form- 
ing the Old School, or Independent SjMiod of Missouri, who are con- 
nected with the General Assembly South. In 1870, the Old and New 
School Presbj'terians united, since which time this Synod has steadily 
increased until it now numbers more than 12,000 members with more 
than 220 churches and 150 ministers. 

This Synod is composed of six Presbyteries and has under its con- 
trol one or two institutions of learning and one or two newspapers. 
That part of the original Synod which withdrew from the General 
Assembly remained an independent body until 1874 when it united 
with the Southern Presbyterian Church. The Synod in 1875 num- 
bered 80 ministers, 140 churches and 9,000 members. It has under 
its control several male and female institutions of a high order. The 
St. Louis Preshyterian, a weekly paper, is the recognized organ of 
the Syuod. 

PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

The missionary enterprises of this church began in the State in 
1819, when a parish was organized in the City of St. Louis. In 1828, 
an agent of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society, visited the 
city, who reported the condition of things so favorably that Kev. 
Thomas Horrell was sent out as a missionary and in 1825, he began 
his labors in St. Louis. A church edifice was completed in 1830. In 
1836, there were five clergymen of this denomination in Missouri, 
who had organized congregations in Boonville', Fayette, St. Charles, 
Hannibal, and other places. In 1840, the clergy and laity met in 
convention, a diocese was formed, a constitution, and canons adopted, 
and in 1844 a Bishop was chosen, he being the Rev. Cicero S. 
Hawks. Through the efforts of Bishop Kemper, Kemper College waa 
founded near St. Louis, but was afterward given up on account of 



78 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 

pecuniary troubles. In 1847, the Clark Mission began and in 1849 
the Orphans' Home, a charitable institution, was founded. In 1865, 
St. Luke's Hospital was established. In 1875, there were in the city 
of St. Louis, twelve parishes and missions and twelve clergymen. 
This denomnation has several schools and colleges, and one newspaper. 

UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 

This denomination is made up of the members of the Associate and 
Associate Reformed churches of the Northern States, which two 
bodies united in 1858, taking the name of the United Presbyterian 
Church of North America. Its members were generally bitterly 
opposed to the institution of slavery. The first congregation was 
organized at Warrensburg, Johnson County, in 1867. It rapidly 
increased iu numbers, and had, in 1875, ten ministers and five huudred 
members. 

UNITARIAN CHURCH. 

This churcn was formed in 1834, by the Rev. W. G. Eliot, in St. 
Louis. The churches are few in number throughout the State, the 
membership being probably less than 300, all told. It has a mission 
house and free school, for poor children, supported by donations. 

ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 

The earliest written record of the Catholic Church in Missouri shows 
that Father Watrin performed ministerial services in Ste. Genevieve, 
in 1760, and in St. Louis in 1766. In 1770, Father Menrin erected a 
small log church in St. Louis. In 1818, there were in the State four 
chapels, and for Upper Louisiana seven priests. A college and semi- 
nary were opened iu Perry County about this period, for the 
education of the young, being the first college west of the Mississippi 
River. In 1824, a college was opened in St. Louis, which is now 
known as the St. Louis University. In 1826, Father Rosatti was 
appointed Bishop of St. Louis, and through his instrumentality the 
Sisters of Charity, Sisters of St. Joseph and of the Visitation were 
founded, besides other benevolent and charitable institutions. In 
1834 he completed the present Cathedral Church. Churches were 
built in different portions of the State. In 1847 St. Louis was created 
an arch-diocese, with Bishop Kenrick, Archbishop. 

In Kansas City there were five parish churches, a hospital, a con- 
vent and several parish schools. In 1868 the northwestern portion of 
the State was erected into a separate diocese, with its seat at St. Joseph, 



HISTORY OF MISSOORI. 7S 

and Eight-Reverend John J. Hogan appointed Bishop. There were, 
in 1875, in the city of St. Louis, 34 churches, 27 schools, 5 hospitals, 
3 colleges, 7 oi'phan asylums and 3 female protectorates. There were 
also 105 priests, 7 male and 13 female orders, and 20 conferences of 
St. Vincent de Paul, numbering 1,100 members. In the diocese, out- 
side of St. Louis, there is a college, a male protectorate, 9 convents, 
about 120 priests, 150 churches and 30 stations. In the diocese of 
St. Joseph there were, in 1875, 21 priests, 29 churches, 24 stations, 
1 college, 1 monastery, 5 convents and 14 parish schools: 

Number of Sunday Schools in 1878 . . 2,067 

Number of Teachers in 1878 ... . . ., 18,010 

Number of Pupils In 1878 . 139,578 

THEOLOGICAL SCHOOLS. 

InstrucLion preparatory to ministerial work is given in connection 
with collegiate study, or in special theological courses, at: 



Central College (M. E. South) ..... 
Central Wesleyan College (M. E. Church) . 

Christian University (Christian) 

Concordia College Seminary fEvangelical Lutheran) . 
Lewis College (M. E. Church) .... 
St. Vincent College (Roman Catholic) 
Vardeman School of Theology (Baptist) 

The last is connected with William Jewell College. 



Fayette. 

. Warrenton. 

Canton. 

. St. Louis. 

Glasgow. 

Cape Girardeau. 

. Liberty. 



CHAPTER Xm. 

ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR CRITTENDEN. 

Nomination and election of Tliomas T. Crittenden — Personal Mention — Marmadnke's 
candidacy — Stirring events — Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad — Death of Jesse 
James — The Fords — Pardon of the Gamblers. 

It is the purpose in this chapter to outline the more important 
events of Governor Crittenden's unfinished administration, stating 
briefly the facts in the case, leaving comment and criticism entirely to 
the reader, the historian having no judgment to express or prejudice 
to vent. 

Thomas T. Crittenden, of Johnson county, received the Demo- 
cratic nomination for Governor of Missouri at the conveulion at Jeffer- 



80 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 

son City, July 22cl, 1880. Democratic nomination for a State office in 
Missouri is always equivalent to election, and the entire State ticket 
was duly elected in November. Crittenden's competitors before the 
convention were Gen. John S. Marmaduke, of St. Louis, and John 
A. Hockaday, of Callaway county. Before the assembling of the 
convention many persons who favored Marmaduke, both personally 
and politically, thought the nomination of an ex-Confoderate might 
prejudice the prospects of the National Democracy, and therefore, as 
a matter of policy, supported Crittenden. 

His name, and the fame of his family in Kentucky — Thomas T. 
being a scion of the Crittendens of that State, caused the Democracy 
of Missouri to expect great things from their new Governor. This, 
together with the important events which followed his inauguration, 
caused some people to overrate him, while it prejudiced others against 
him. The measures advocated by the Governor in his inaugural 
address were such as, perhaps, the entire Democracy could endorse, 
especially that of refunding, at a low interest, all that part of the State 
debt that can be so refunded ; the adojition of measures to relieve the 
Supreme Court docket ; a compromise of the indebtedness of some of 
the counties, and his views concerning repudiation, which he con- 
temned. 

HANNIBAL & ST. JOE RAILROAD CONTROVERSY. 

By a series of legislative acts, beginning with the act approved 
February 22, 1851, and ending with that of March 26, 1881, the 
State of Missouri aided with great liberality in the construction of a 
system of railroads in this State. 

Among the enterprises thus largely assisted was tlie Hannibal and 
St. Joseph Railroad, for the construction of which the bonds of the 
State, to the amount of $3,000,000, bearing interest at 6 per cent per 
annum, payable semi-annually, were issued. One half of this amount 
was issued under the act of 1851, and the remainder under the act of 
1855. The bonds issued under the former act were to run twenty 
years, and those under the latter act were to run thirty years. Some 
of the bonds have since been funded and renewed. Coupons for the 
interest of the entire $3,000,000 were executed and made payable in 
New York. These acts contain numerous provisions intended to 
secure the State against loss and to require the railroad company to 
pay the interest and principal at maturity. It was made the duty of 
the railroad company to save and keep the State from all loss on 
account of said bonds and coupons. The Treasurer of the State was 



HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 81 

to be exonerated from any advance of money to meet either principal 
or interest. Tiie State contracted with the railroad company for com- 
plete indemnity. She was required to assign her statutory mortgage 
lien only upon payment into the treasury of a sum of money equal to 
all indebtedness due or owing by said company to the State by reason 
of having issued her bonds and loaned them to the company. 

In June, 1881, the raih-oad, tlirough its attorney, Geo. W. Easley, 
Esq., paid to Phil. E. Chappell, State Treasurer, the sum of $3,000,- 
000, and asked for a receipt in full of all dues of the road to the 
State. The Treasurer refused to give such a receipt, but instead gave 
a receipt for the sum ♦' on account." The debt was not yet due, but 
the authorities of the road sought to discharge their obligation pre- 
maturely, in order to save interest and other expenses. The railroad 
company then demanded its bonds of the State, which demand the 
State refused. The company then demanded that the $3,000,000 be 
paid back, and this demand was also refused. 

The railroad company then brought suit in the United States Courl 
for an equitable adjustment of the matters in controversy. The $3, 
000,000 had been deposited by the State in one of the banks, and was 
drawing interest only at the rate of one-fourth of one per cent. Ik 
was demanded that this sum should be so invested that a larger rate 
of interest might be obtained, which sum of interest should be allowed 
to the company as a credit in case any sum should be found due from 
it to the State. Justice Miller, of the United States Supreme Court, 
who heard the case upon preliminary injunction in the spring of 1882, 
decided that the unpaid and unmatured coupons constituted a liability 
of the State and a debt owing, though not due, and until these were 
provided for the State was not bound to assign her lien upon the road. 

Another question which was mooted, but not decided, was this : 
That, if any, what account is the State to render for the use of the 
$3,000,000 paid into the treasury by the complainants on the 20th of 
June? Can she hold that large sum of money, refusing to make any 
account of it, and still insist upon full payment by the railroad 
company of all outstanding coupons? 

Upon this subject Mr. Justice Miller, in the course of his opinion, 
said : " I am of the opinion that the State, having accepted or got this 
money into her possession, is under a moral obligation (and I do not 
pretend to commit anybody as to how far its legal obligation goes) to 
so use that money as, so far as possible, to protect the parties who 
have paid it agi'inst the loss of the interest which it might accumulate, 



82 HISTORY OF MISSOURI. 

and which would go to extinguish the interest on the State's obliga- 
tions." 

March 2G, 1881, the Legislature, in response to a special message of 
Gov. Crittenden, dated February 25, 1881, in which ho informed 
the Legislature of the purpose of the Hannibal and St. Joseph com- 
pany to discharge the full amount of what it claims is its present 
indebtedness as to the State, and advised that provision be made 
for the " profitable disposal" of the sum when paid, passed an act, 
the second section of which provided. 

•' Sec. 2. Whenever there is sufBcient money in the sinking fund to 
redeem or purchase one or more of the bonds of the State of Missouri, 
such sum is hereby appropriated for such purpose, and the Fund 
Commissioners shall immediately call in for payment a like amount 
of the option bonds of the State, known as the " 5-20 bonds," 
provided, that if there are no option bonds which can be called in for 
payment, they may invest such money in the purchase of any of tho 
bonds of the State, or bonds of the United States, the Hannibal and 
St. Joseph railroad bonds excepted." 

On the 1st of January, 1882, the regular semi-annual payment of 
interest on the railroad bonds became due, but the road refused to 
pay, claiming that it had already discharged the principal, and of 
course was not liable for the interest. Thereupon, according to the 
provisions of the aiding act of 1855, Gov. Crittenden advertised the 
road for sale in default of the payment of interest. The company 
then brought suit before U. S. Circuit Judge MeCrary at Keokuk, 
Iowa, to enjoin the State from selling the road, and for such other 
and further relief as the court might see fit and proper to grant. 
Autnist 8, 1882, Judge McCrary delivered his opinion and judgment, 
as follows : 

*' First. That the payment by complainants into the treasury of tho 
State of the sum of $3,000,000 on the 26th of June, 1881, did not 
satisfy the claim of the State in full, nor entitle complainants to an 
assignment of the State's statutory mortgage. 

'^Second. That the State was bound to invest tho i)rincipal sum 
of $3,000,000 so paid by the complainants without unnecessary delay 
in the securities named in the act of March 26, 1881, or some of 
them, and so as to save to the State as large a sum as possible, 
which sum so saved would have constituted as between tlie State and 
complainants a credit pro tanto upon the unmatured coupons now in 
controversy. 



HISTORY or MISSOURI. 83 

"Tliird. That the rights and equity of the parties are to be deter- 
mined upon the foregoing principles, and the State must stand 
charged with what would have been realized if the act of March, 
1881, had been complied with. It only remains to consider what the 
rights of the parties are upon the principles here stated. 

♦' In order to save the State from loss on account of the default of 
the railroad company, a further sum must be paid. In order to deter- 
mine what that further sum is an accounting must be had. The ques- 
tion to be settled by the accounting is, how much would the State 
have lost if the provisions of the act of March, 1881, had been 
complied with? • • • • I think a perfectly fair basis of settle- 
ment would be to hold the State liable for whatever could have been 
saved by the prompt execution of said act by taking up such 5-20 
option bonds of the State as were subject to call when the money was 
paid to the State, and investing the remainder of the fund in the 
bonds of the United States at the market rates. 

*' Upon this basis a calculation can be made and the exact sum still to 
be paid by the complainant in order to fully indemnify and protect the 
State can be ascertained. For the purpose of stating an account 
upon this basis and of determining the sum to be paid by the com- 
plainants to the State, the cause will be referred to John K. Cravens, 
one of the masters of this court. In determining the time when the 
investment should have been made under the act of March, 1881, the 
master will allow a reasonable period for the time of the receipt of the 
said sum of $3,000,000 by the Treasurer of the State — that is to say, 
such time as would have been required for that purjjose had the offi- 
cers charged with the duty of making said investment used reason- 
able diligence in its discharge. 

" The Hannibal and St. Joseph railroad is advertised for sale for the 
amount of the instalment of interest due January 1, 1882, which 
instalment amounts to less than the sum which the company must pay 
in order to discharge its liabilities to the State upon the theory of this 
opinion. The order will, therefore, be that an injunction be granted 
to enjoin the sale of the road upon the payment of the said instal- 
ment of interest due January 1, 1882, and if such payment is made 
the master will take it into account in making the computation above 
mentioned." 

KILLING OF JESSE JAMES. 

The occurrence during the present Governor's administration which 
did most to place his name in everybody's mouth, and even to herald 



84 HISTORY OF MISSOUKI. 

it abroad, causing the European press to teem with leaders announcing 
the fact to the continental world, was the " removal" of the famous 
Missouri brigand, Jesse W. James. The career of the James boys, 
and the banditti of whom they were the acknowledged leaders, is too 
well-known and too fully set forth in woiks of a more sensational 
character, to deserve further detail in these pages ; and the " removal " 
of Jesse will be dealt with only in its relation to the Governor. 

It had been long conceded that neither of the Jameses would ever be 
taken alive. That experiment had been frequently and vaiuij' tried, 
to the sorrow of good citizens of this and other States. It seems to 
have been one of the purposes of Gov. Crittenden to break up this 
band at any cost, by cutting off its leaders. Soon after the Winston 
train robber^', on July 15, 1881, the railroads combined in empower- 
ing the Governor, by placing the money at his disposal, to offer heavy 
rewards for the capture of the two James brothers. This was ac- 
cordingly done by proclamation, and, naturally, many persons were 
on the lookout to secure the large rewards. Gov. Crittenden worked 
quietly, but determinedly, after offering the rewards, and by some 
means learned of the availability of the two Ford boys, young men 
from Ray county, who had been tutored as juvenile robbers by the 
skillful Jesse. An understanding was had, when the Fords declared 
they could find Jesse — that they were to "turn him in." Robert 
Ford and brother seem to have been thoroughly in the confidence of 
James, who then (startling as it was to the entire State) resided in 
the city of St. Joseph, with his wife and two children I The Fords 
went there, and when the robber's back was turned, Robert shot him 
dead in the bade of the head/ The Fords told their story to the 
authorities of the city, who at once arrested them on a charge of mur- 
der, and they, when arraigned, plead guilty to the charge. Promptly, 
however, came a full, free and unconditional pardon from Gov. Crit- 
tenden, and the Fords were released. In regard to the Governor's 
course in ridding the State of this notorious outlaw, people were 
divided in sentiment, some placing him in the category with the Ford 
boys and bitterly condemning his action, while others — the majority 
of law-abiding people, indeed, — though deprecating the harsh meas- 
ures which James' course had rendered necessary, still upheld th 
Governor for the part he i)layed. As it was, the '« Terror of Mis- 
souri " was effectually and finally " removed," and people were glad 
that he was dead, Robert Ford, the pupil of the dead Jesse, had 



HI8TOET OF MISSOURI. 85 

been selected, and of all was the most fit tool to use in the extermina- 
tion of his preceptor in crime. 

The killing of James would never have made Crittenden many ene- 
mies among the better class of citizens of this State ; but, when it 
came to his 

PARDON OF THE GAMBLERS. 

The case was different. Under the new law making gaminghouse- 
keeping a felony, several St. Louis gamblers, with Robert C. Pate at 
their head, were convicted and sentenced to prison. The Governor, 
much to the surprise of the more rigid moral element of the State, 
soon granted the gamblers a pardon. This was followed by other 
pardons to similar offenders, which began to render the Governor quite 
unpopular which one element of citizens, and to call forth from some 
of them the most bitter denunciations. The worst feature of the case, 
perhaps, is the lack of explanation, or the setting forth of sufficient 
reasons, as is customary in issuing pardons. This, at least, is the bur- 
den of complaint with the faction that opposes him. However, it 
must be borne in mind that his term of office, at this writing, is but 
half expired, and that a full record can not, therefore, be given. Like 
all mere men. Gov. Crittenden has his good and his bad, is liked by 
some and disliked by others. The purpose of history is to set forth 
the facts and leave others to sit in judgment; this the historian has 
tried faithfully to do, leaving all comments to those who may see fit to 
make them. 



HISTORY 



GLAY COUNTY, MO. 



CHAPTER I. 

EARLY HISTORY TO THE ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY, 

The Indians — The French and Spanish — First Exploration and Settlement by Amer- 
icans—The First American Settlers in Clay — An Indian Fight — Organization of 
Clay County. 

THE INDIANS. 

Prior to about the close of the eighteenth century the country now 
comprised within the boundaries of CUiy county was in undi.sputed 
possession of the Missouri tribe of Indians, who fished and trapped in 
its streams, hunted over its surface, and sang their songs and danced 
their dances with none to molest them or make them afraiil. From 
about 1680 for a hundred years the Missouris held the north side of 
the river (to which they guve their name) from a point opposite the 
mouth of the Gasconade, on the east, out into what is now the State 
of Kansas. Northward their territory extended to the Des Moines 
river or until checked by the fierce Dakotas. Occasionally the Mis- 
souris crossed the river and went on the war path against the Osages, 
their long time enemies, whom they had first driven out of this coun- 
try, and again they would go far north against the tribes along the 
Upper Des Moines or Upper Missouri. They were warlike and aggres- 
sive, although they appeared to greatly enjoy a quiet life, and their 
forays seem to have been partly for the sake of glory, and partly for 
recreation, not particularly for conquest. 

The niimQ. Missoicri is an old one. Father Marquette, in 1680, 
called the tribe of Indians in this quarter, " We-Missouret," which 

(87) 



88 HISTOKY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

Thivenet, his reviser, changed to On-Missoiu-i.^ The name means 
mxulihj, or, as is said dirty, and douhtless the hitter was given to the 
particular tribe of Indians as indicating their habits and uniform per- 
sonal condition ; though why the term was limited to any particular 
tribe can not be conjectured. It would seem that a chai'acteristic so 
generally prevalent among the aborigines of America ought not to 
have been especially attributed to the tribe that immediately preceded 
the Anglo-Saxons who first settled Clay county. 

But some writers say that the Missouri tribe of Indians took their 
name from the river, which was called muddy, and that the river was 
named first. To the mind of the writer the testimony is against this 
theory. Father Marquette called the stream Pekitanoui awA the tril)e 
We-Missouret, and the name Pekitanoui prevailed among Europeans 
until Marest's time, in 1712. The Recollects, the early French monks, 
called the stream the river of the Osages.^ Certain Indian tribes 
called it a name signifying mud water ; other Indians termed it Nee- 
Shuga, or smoky water.^ But all tribes and every one acquainted 
with them called the Indians the Missouris, or as it was almost uni- 
versally pronounced, Mis-soo-rees (not " Mizzoorys"). The best 
testimony is that the French first called the stream the Missouri, or as 
stated by Charlevoix, i^a Riviere des Missouris — the River of the 
Missouris. Evidently the stream was named from the tribe, and not 
the tribe from the stream. 

Uptmthe appearance of the French in this quarter of the West they 
almost immediately became on good terms with the Missouris. These 
friendly relations were never disturbed. 

THE FRENCH AND SPANIARDS. 

Stoddard's Annals of Louisiana, now a rare but very valuable work, 
says that the old French colony of Louisiana suffered much from 
the war which broke out between France and Spain in 1719. Although 
the contest was chiefly confined to the posts on the Gulf of Mexico, 
the upper settlements severely felt its injurious etlects. Their com- 
merce was interrupted, and the immense expenditures which were 
necessary to carry on the war impoverished both the company and the 
colony. The war, however, was not long carried on in a systeniatic 
manner, but as the two nations had always been comi)etitors for the 



1 Sliea's Mississippi Valley, p. 2G8. 

2 Sliea, p. 38. 

^ Wctmore's Gazetteer, p. 33. 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 89 

Iiuliaii trailc, aiui as continual di.s)iutos arose concerninu- the rights of 
territory, they ko})! up a predatory war for several years. 

In 1720 the Spaniards ibrnicd a design of destroying the nation of 
the Missonris, situated on the Missouri river, and of forming a settle- 
ment in their country. The ohject of this was to divert the current 
of Indian tiade, and to confine tiie settlements of the French to the 
borders of the Mississippi. The Spaniards believed, that in order to 
put their colony in safety, it was necessary they should entirely 
destroy the Missonris, who were the warm and constant friends of 
the French ; but, concluding that it would be impossible to subdue 
them with their own force alone, they resolved to enter into an alli- 
ance with the Osages, a people who were the neighbors of the Mis- 
sonris, and, at the same time, their most mortal enemies. With these 
intentions they formed a caravan at Santa Fe, consisting of men, 
women, and soldiers ; having a priest for chaplain, and an engineer 
captain for their chief conductor, with the horses antl cattle necessary 
for a [)ermanent settlement. 

The caravan set out in 1720; but beiug unacquainted with the 
country, and not having proper guitles, they mistook their wa}'. 
They wandered about for some time in the wilderness, and at length 
arrived at the Missonris, whom they supposed to be Osages.^ Under 
this impression, the conductor of the caravan, with his interpreter, im- 
mediately held a council with the chiefs. He explained to them the 
object of his visit, telling them that he had come to form an alliance 
with their tribe, in order to destroy their common enemies, the Min- 
souris! The great chief of the Missonris, concealing his thoughts 
upon this expedition, evinced the greatest joy. He showed the 
Spaniards every possible attention and promised to act in concert 
with them. For this purpose; lie iiiviti'd them to rest a few days, 
after their tiresome journey, till lie had assembled his warriors and 
held a council with the old men, to which the Spaniards acceded. 

The boldness of the Spaniards, in thus penetrating into a country 
of which they had no previous knowledge, made the French sensible 
of their danger and warned them to provide against further encroach- 
ment. They suspected the intentions of the S[)aniards, and determineil 
to prevent, if possible, their being put into execution. Accordingly, 
in the summer of 1721 a considerable force was dispatched from 



' This assortion rests upon the aulliority of several respectable writers, Du Prat/, 
and Cliarlevoix among them. Maj. Stoddard, however, in liis Historical Sketches 
of Louisiana, states that the Spaniards marched in pursuit of the I'awnec, and not 
the Osage villages. For the truth of this he refers to the records of Santa Fe. 



90 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

the French posts on Mobile Bay, under M. de Bourgmont, who as- 
cended the Missouri and took possession of an ishind in the river, 
about five miles below the mouth of Grand river. On this island 
a considerable fort was erected which was called Fort Orleans. 

A sergeant among the French soldiers, named Dubois, became 
enamored of a woman of the Missouri tribe of Indians, a large 
body of whom encamped on the north bank of the river, opposite the 
fort, and married her. He was afterwards placed in command of 
the fort. 

M. de Bourgmont found the different tribes on and adjacent to the 
Missouri engaged in a sanguinary warfare, which not only diminished 
their number but interfered greatly with trade, and rendered all inter- 
course with them extremely hazardous. Hence it became an object 
to the French to bring about a general peace. And so in the spring 
of 1724 Bourgmont ascended the Missouri to the mouth of the 
" Cansez," or where Kansas City now is, and then went some leagues 
to the northwest among several Indian tribes. He was accompanied 
by a few French soldiers and a large party of friendly Indians. His 
object in visiting the different tribes was to invite their chiefs and 
head men to a grand peace council, to be held in the early summer. 
All the tribes received the peacemaker kindly, even joyfully, and 
promised to send delegates to the council. Bourgmont and his party 
spent some weeks in this n()l)le endeavor. 

July 3, 1724, the council came off. It was held on the Missouri at 
the " Cansez," then the site of the chief town of the Kansas tribe of 
Indians, afterward Fort Osage, now Sibley, Jackson county. All the 
tril)es for hundreds of miles to the west, northwest and southwest sent 
emi)assadors, and the pi'oceedings were full of interest. Bourgmont 
made a great speech, and the delegates of the several tribes smoked 
the pipe of peace, and entered into a treaty of amity and good will 
between themselves, promising to be always faithful and friendly and 
to learn war no more. M. de Bourgmont was of course the leading 
spirit of the council. By his urgent invitation a number of the chiefs 
and principal men of many of the trii)es accompanied him on a visit 
to France, where they were highly entertained, and their attachment 
to the French was I'ully confirmed. Sergeant Dubois and his wife ac- 
companied this excursion party to and from Paris and Versailles, and 
it was on his return that the sergeant was placed in command of Fort 
Orleans. 

But in the fall of 1725 Fort Orleans was attacked and totally de- 
stro3-ed, and all of its inmates massacred. The town of the Missouris, 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 91 

opposite the fort, was attacked tlie same time, ami 200 or more men 
and women killed, and tlie remainder, only a score or less, driven to 
the other side of the river, and down upon the Little Osage. Though 
it has never been proved to a certainty who did this bloody work, it 
is reasonably certiun that its authors were those " tierce Huns of the 
north, the Sacs and Foxes, who swept down from the Des Moines 
river upon the unsuspecting Missouris and tiieir allies, the French, 
and annihilated them. 

Doubtless M. de Bourgmoat and his party, while on their way to 
invite the Indians to the place of council, in the spring of 1724, were 
the first whites to visit the soil of what is now Clay county. They 
made no settlements hero, it is true, but they may be said to have dis- 
covered the country. Crossing and recrossing the river, they landed 
upon its southern borders, and when returning passed through it. 

After the massacre of the French at Fort Orleans, until the found- 
ing of St. Louis, in 17(54, there were no Caucasians in this quarter of 
Missouri. The red Indians held undisputed sway so far as the whites 
were concerned. But in this year the great province of Louisiana 
passed from the control and assumed ownership of the French into the 
hands of the Spaniards. What is now Missouri was then Upper 
Louisiana, whose capital was St. Louis, and whose first Governor was 
Don Pedro Pieruas. The Spanish Governors (Piernas, from 1764 to 
1775 ; Francisco Cruzat, from 1775 to 1778 ; Ferdinando Leyba, from 
1778 to 1780 ; Cruzat again from 1780 to 1788 ; Manuel Perez, from 
1788 to 1793, and Zenon Trudean, from 1793 to 1800)'made no es- 
pecial ett'orts to extend the settlenients until Governor Trudeau came. 
He encouraged immigration, gave to the fur trade a new impetus and 
rewarded all projectors of new enterprises according to their own 
efforts and the merits of their schemes. The fur traders pushed tar 
out into hitherto unexplored regions, and adventurers were frequently 
setting forth to accomplish enterprises of value and moment. Doubt- 
less some of these traders and trappers visited Clay county in the 
prosecution of their business. 

The days of the Spanish possession were the golden ones in the 
history of the Upper Mississippi. There was little else but peace and 
plenty — 

"And health and quiot aud loviug words." 

The rulers (except Leyba, who did not last long) were easy, good 
natured and well disposed ; their subjects loyal, obedient, industrious 
and well behaved. French, English, American and Spanish, though 



92 IIISTOUY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

tliey were bj- birth, tliey were eiicli nil Spanish in their devotion to 
Spain and the banner of Castile. Not a man among them but who 
would have been glad to give his goods and his life Por el Rey. The 
dreamy, sensuous life in the wilderness, amid the glorious forests, by 
the sweet, clear springs and brooks, and on the flowery prairies, was 
peculiarly suited to the dreamy, sensuous Dons. The little work done 
by the colonists in their fields was so easily accomplished and so 
abundant in its results that it was but pastime to do it. 

FIRST EXPLORATIONS AND SETTLEMENTS RY AMERICANS. 

In 1803 jNIissouri Territory underwent an iin[)ortant change. The 
Indian summer of Spanish possession and occupancy had been suc- 
ceeded ])y the stormy winter of French domination, and. now there 
followed the balmy and bustling spring and summer of American rule. 
From about 1805 to 1812 French voyageurs and American trappers 
•traveled up and down the Missouri Valley, sometimes paddling their 
way on the river in canoes, sometimes tramping overland. Many of 
these passed through our county, of course, l)ut none of us can tell 
how or when. A few actual settlers came up some distance from St. 
Louis during this period. 

The next representatives of the Caucasian race to visit the borders 
of Clay county, of whom we have definite knowledge, were the inem- 
l)ers of Lewis and Clark's expedition, sent out by President Jefferson 
in 1804. Very soon after the acquisition of the Louisiana Territory 
Mr. Jefferson projected an expedition to explore the newly acipiired 
district from the mouth of the Missouri to its source, and thence 
across to the Pacific ocean. The President's private secretary, Capt. 
Merriwether Lewis, then but thirty-one years of age, was given com- 
mand of the expedition, with Capt. William Clark, of the regular 
urmy, as second in command. The company consisted of nine 3'oung 
Kentuckians, fourteen soldiers, two Canadian voyageurs, a hunter, 
and Capt. Clark's negro servant. In May, 1804, this expedition 
passed up the Missouri, along the borders of Chi}', but from their 
published journal it does not appear that any particular examination 
of the country was made. Two years afterward, or in September. 
1806, Lewis and Clark passed down the river again, reaching St. Louis 
and terminating the expedition on the 23d of the month. 

From accounts received hy Jlr. D. C. Allen from earl}^ settlers and 
others, that gentleman felt warranted in stating in Campbell's Gazet- 
teer that, without much doubt, the first white settlement within the 
l)orders of Clay county was made by a few French families at Ran- 



HISTOKV OF CLAY C:OUNTY. 93 

(lolph BliiH", oil the ^Missouri, throe miles northeast of Kansas City, 
about the year 1800. Tiie iicnds of tiieso families were trap])ers, 
acting prohatily under the direction of Pierre Chouteau, Sr., of St. 
Louis. They left scarcely a trace of their occupancy, however, and 
the compiler has been unable to learn anything definite or explicit 
about them. 

The county was visited in 1808 by Maj. Dougherty, long afterward 
a resident of the county, where he died December 28, 18G0. At the 
time of his first visit Maj. Dougherty was l)ut 17 years of age, and 
was on his way to the Rocky Mountains in the employ of the Ameri- 
can Fur Company. Other representatives of the fur company passed 
through here at intervals on their way to and from the waters of the 
Upper Missouri, but their stay was only temjiorary. 

Some time prior to the War of 1812, one Delaney Bowlin, who had 
settled a locality hi Montgomery county known as the Big Spring, 
and had given his name to a considerable elevation of land in the 
neighborhood which is known to this day as Bowlin's Knob, left 
Loutre Island, with four or five companions, two of whom were John 
Davis an<l Lewis Jones, for the mouth of the Kans or Kaw river (now 
the Kansas). Davis and Jones returned, and old settlers of Mont- 
gomery county savs that Bowlin and one or two of the others built at least 
one cabin in what is now Clay county, where they resided some years, 
engaged in trapping and hunting. What finally become of Bowlin is 
not known. During the War of 1812 he was in Fort Kincaid, How- 
ard county. Jones and Davis died in the southern part of Montgomery 
county, where many of their descendants yet reside. The daughter 
of the man (Jacob Groom) to whom Bowlin sold his claim, yet lives 
ut the Big Spring with her husband, a Mr. Sncthen. 

In the year 1808 Fort Osage, on the south side of the Missouri, 
was built by a force of dragoons or mounted rangers, under Capt. 
James Clomson. The fort was established as a government post or 
factory, and around it there was laid oft' a tract of land six miles 
square, on which a limited number of white settlers were permitted 
to locate in order to raise supplies for the garrison. The site of Fort 
Osage is now called Sibley, in honor of Gen. Geo. C. Sibley, who 
was the government factor and agent at the fort from 1818 until its 
abandonment in 182o. The locality is about five miles in a straight 
line southeast of Missouri City, and nearly two miles southeast of the 
extreme southeast boundary of Clay county. 

If there were any American settlers on what is now Clay county soil 
prior to the breaking out of the War of 1812, it can not at this date 



94 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

be stated who they were and where they located. The war coming on 
drove all the American settlers who were on the frontiers to the block- 
houses and forts in Howard county or still fnrther down the Missouri 
river, and sent the American trappers back to their headquarters and 
trading posts. The country here belonged to the Indians at that time, 
and was not open to settlement anyhow, and it can not be proved that 
there were any bona fide settlers in this quarter. 

March 9, 1815, a treaty was concluded with the Indians, by which 
the territory within the following limits were resigned to the whites :_ 
•' Beginning at the mouth of the Kaw [Kansas] river, thence running 
north 140 miles, thence east to the waters of the Auhaha [Salt river], 
which empties into the Mississippi, thence to a point opposite the 
mouth of the Gasconade, thence up the Missouri river, with its 
meanders, to the place of beginning." 

In the years 1818 and 1819 the territory now included in the coun- 
ties of Ray and Clay — and much other territory besides — was sur- 
veyed and opened to entry, and thereupon settlers came in rather 
rapidly. In what is now Ray county, settlements were made on 
Crooked river as early as 1817 by the Vanderpools, Abraham Lin- 
viile, John Proffitt, Isaac Martin, Isaac Wilson, John Turner, Lewis 
Richards, and one or two others, who were from Kentucky and 
Virginia. 

THE FIRST AJIERICAN SETTLERS IN CLAY. 

No authentic information can be given of any permanent settle- 
ments made in what is now Clay county prior to the year 1819. In 
that ycar^ there came John Owens, Samuel McGee, Benjamin Hensle\% 
William Campbell, Thomas Campbell, John Wilson, Zachariah Averett 
and John Braley ; and also, according to Smith's Atlas sketcii, Charles 
McGee, George Taylor, Travis Finley, Cornelius Gilliam and Edward 
Pyburne. These located in the southern and southeastern portions 
of the county, some of them in the vicinity of where Liberty now 
stands. 

In 1820 immigration began in earnest, and settlements were made 
on Fishing I'iver, Big Shoal, along the Missouri, and throughout 
the southern portion of the county generally by Samuel Tilford, 
John Thornton, Andrew Robertson, Sr., Andrew Robertson, 
Jr., Col. Shnball Allen, Robert Murray, John Bartleson, Andrew 
Bartleson, John Dean, Henry Estes, Thomas Estes, Peter Estes, 
James Hyatt, Samuel Hyatt, Richard Hill, William Munkers, James 



1 According to Hon. D. C. Allen's sketch in Campbell's Gazetteer, 1875. 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 95 

Gilniore, Robert Giliiiore, Emiis Vaughan, Andrew Russell, Eppa 
Tillery, Martin Palmer, Henry Mailes, Squire Hutchinson, Solomon 
Fry, Edmond Munday, William Lenhart, William L. Smith, Hum- 
phrey Best, David McElwee, Eldridge Patter, Thomas Hixon, Joseph 
Grooms, Hugh Brown, Joseph Brown, Thomas OfScer, Robert Officer, 
Patrick Laney, and doubless others. 

At this time the territory now embraced in Clay county formed a 
part of or at least was attached to Howard county. The county seat 
was at Old Franklin, where was also the United States Land Office at 
which the land was entered. November 16, 1820, Ray county was or- 
ganized (named for Hon. John Ray, of Howard) and what is now Clay 
became a part thereof, being denominated at first Fishing River town- 
ship. Afterward, in 1821, the western half was called Gallatin town- 
ship. 

The first county seat of Ray county was called Blufl'ton, which stood 
on the Missouri river, near where Camden now stands. It remained 
the seat of justice until 1827. The first county court was held in 
April, 1821, and of its members two of the justices, John Thornton 
and Elisha Cameron ; the clerk, William L. Smith, and the sheriff, 
John Harris, were either then or soon afterward became citizens of 
Clay and held the same positions in our first county court. 

AN INDIAN FIGHT. 

Although there were numerous bands of Indians in close proximity 
to the settlements in Clay, and though many of these were semi-hos- 
tile, no outbreaks or collisions occurred between them and the pioneers 
until in the summer of 1821. 

Up in what is now the northwestern part of the county lived the 
Vesser family, whose adult male members were not above suspicion 
in many regards. Especially were they accused of frequently acquir- 
ing property by c|uestionable means. Their fondness for horses was a 
particular weakness. On one occasion, in the summer of 1821, they 
visited a camp of Iowa Indians up in the Platte country and carried 
away some horses belonging to the savages. 

It was some time in the month of August, 1821, probably, when 
nine Iowa Indians came down into the Clay county settlements to 
take reprisal for the horses stolen from theni by the Vessers. To the 
southeastern part of the county, three miles northeast of where Mis- 
souri City now stands (northwest quarter section 34, township 52, 
range 30), David McElwee had come from Tennessee the previous 
year, and built a house and opened a farm. At the time of the visit 



PT) HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

(if the Indians, however, he was liack in Tennessee on a visit, having 
taken with him his wife and daughter, the hitter now Mrs. Margaret 
Howdeshell. He left behind to care for the house and farm his sons, 
James and William, and his daughter Sarah, all unmarried young 
people. 

The nint' Indians came to Mr. McElwee's one evening and took 
three horses belonging to the settler, from the stable, and seized an- 
other which they weie prevented from carrying off only by the stub- 
born and plucky interposition of young James McElwee. The Indians 
seemed greatly elated at the ease with wiiich they had "got even" 
with the whites in the matter of horse stealing, and at once sent off 
the three captured animals, in charge of two of their number, to the 
tribe. The other seven Indians went into camp for the night within 
fifty yards of Mr. McElwee's house. 

The young McElwees were in great terror to I)e sure. But when 
their father left he had charged them that if they were ever in danger 
from the Indians they had only to let their nearest neighbor know it 
and they would soon be relieved. On this occasion they contrived to 
let Mr. Thomas Officer know of their situation and soon the entire 
settlement was informed that seven Indians had already taken three 
horses from the McElwee young folks and were threatening them by 
their presence with further damage and injury. 

The next morning early came old Martin Parmer, and with him 
Patrick Laney, Thomas Officer, James Officer, David Liles, William 

Liles, James Woolard, Alex. Woolard and Brununett. With 

tliem were Mrs. Jane Laney, wife of Patrick Laney, and Miss Mary 
Crawford, who had come for companionship for Miss McElwee. 

The Indians were a little startled by the appearance of the settlers 
but stoutly maintained that what they had done was justifiable and 
altogether proper. Old Martin Parmer was not in a mood to discuss 
the principles of the lex talionis and its applicability to this case. He 
never let an opportunit}'^ pass to have a fight with the Indians. Two 
3'ears before, in a fight of his own bringing on, down on the AVakenda, 
in Carroll county, he and his party killed three Indians and wounded 
a immber more. His voice was alwa^'s for war — or, at least for a 
figiit — when there was the smallest provocation. 

The discussion in McElwee's door-^'ard grew warm, and at last 
Parmer said something to one of the Indians which so incensed him 
that he presented his gun at Parmer and cocked it, but before he 
could tire Parmer shot him dead. 

A fierce and stubborn little fiijhtthen came off in the door-yard. Both 



HISTOIIY OF CLAY COUNTY. 97 

whites !ind Indians ran to cover. Two of the Indians ran into the 
house where the ladies were, Ijut seing them coming Miss McElwee 
ran out of doors and Mrs. Laney and Miss Crawford took refuge 
under a bed. Tiie Indians outside were defeated and scattered, one 
of them being wounded. Tiiose in the house ch)sed the door tightly 
and bravely held the fort. But at last the whites clinibed to the top 
of the house and began tearing away the roof, when the savages sud- 
denly opened the door and sprang forth, hoping to escape by swift 
running. Some of the settlers were waiting for them and one was 
shot dead before he had gotten twenty feet from the door ; the other 
escaped. 

The fight was now over. Two Indians had been killed, and one at 
least was wounded. Three of the unharmed survivors made their 
way in safety back to the tribe, but the remaining one was never 
heard of. It was believed that lie, too, was wounded, and crawled 
oft"ijito the woods and died. The one known to have been wounded 
made his way to Ft. Osage, where he was cared for until he recovered, 
and was then sent back to his tribe. 

When the two Indians were running into the cabin Win. McElwec 
and his sister Sarah both attempted to run out. Miss McElwee got 
safely awa}^ but one of the Indians struck at William with a toma- 
hawk. Young McElwee thi'ew up his arm to protect his head from 
tlie blow, but the weapon descending cut off one of his fingers. This was 
all the injuries the whites received, though some of them heard bullets 
whiz uncomfortably close to their ears. 

It is believed that this is the first time the details of this incident 
have been published, and that this account is the only correct one 
ever given to the public. It has been derived from the statements 
of Mrs. Margaret Howdeshell, a daughter of David McElwee, and a 
sister of Sarah, William and James McElwee. She is now living in 
Fishing River township, and through her son Samuel the facts above 
set forth have been learned. 

Smith's sketch in the Clay County Atlas refers to this incident as 
having occurred in 1820, and calls it " a skirmish which occurred that 
year in the eastern part of the county, and in which seven [ !] Indians 
were killed." Mr. D. C. Allen, author of the valuable and well writ- 
ten article on Clay county in Campbell's Gazetteer (1875), thus de- 
scribes it : " In a skirmish in the southeastern part of the county, in 
1820, seven Indians were killed ; another about the same time had 
his hand cut oti'in attempting to burst open the door of David Mc- 
Elwee' s house." The reader will see that both Mr. Smith and Mr. 



!t8 HISTOKY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

Allen were misinformed in regard to the facts in the case. Mr. 
Allen's informants caused him to believe that not only were" seven " 
Indians killed in the " skirmish," but that another row occurred in 
the same locality in which an Indian had his hand cut oft", etc. The 
old settlers got the story mixed. It was William McElwee's finger 
which was cut oflT by an Indian, and this occurred in the only " skir- 
mish " ever had with the savages in this county; and moreover only 
two or possibly three Indians were slain, not " seven." There were 
only seven Indians in the party. ^ 

ORGANIZATION OF CLAY. 

During the year 1821 settlers had poured into the western part of 
Eay county in considerable numbers. The pioneers evinced a disposi- 
tion to go out upon the frontiers to the "jumping off place," or to 
the extreme western boundary of the State, as far as they could go. 
So it was that Clay was well settled before Carroll, the eastern part 
of Ray, and a largo portion of Chariton were. 

Fishing River and Gallatin townships of Ray county were so well 
l>opulated that it was determined to create out of them a new county 
to be called Clay, in honor of the then brilliant orator and coming 
statesman of Kentucky, Henry Clay. January 2, 1822, the Legisla- 
ture passed the following act forming the new county: — 

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, 
as follotvs : 

1. A new county shall be estal)lished as follows: Begimiing in the 
middle of the main channel of the Missouri river, south of the range 
line passing between range twenty-nine and thirty west of the fifth 
principal meridian, thence north and with said range line, pursuing 
the course thereof, when continued to the northern boundary line of 
this State ; thence west with the northern boundary line to the north- 
west range of this State ; thence south with said boundary line due 
south to tlie Missouri river, and to the middle of the main chainiel 
thoreof ; thence down the middle of the main channel thereof to the 
place of b(!ginning, which shall be called the county of Clay. 

2. John Ilutchins, Henry Estes, Enos Vaughn, Wyatt Atkins and 
John Poor, be, and are hereby appointed commissioners, with jiower 
lo fix u|)on the most suitable place in said county wherecni to erect a 
court-house and jail ; and the place whereon they, or a majority of 
them shall agree, shall be the permanent seat of justice for the said 
county of Clay. 



' Since the above was written the statements are corroborated by one or two old 
settlers. 



IIISTOUY OF CLAY COUNTY. 99 

3. The power and duties of the said commissioners within the 
county of Clay shall be the same as the powers and duties assigned 
by an act entitled " An act defining the limits of Howard county, and 
laying off new counties within the limits of said county as hereto- 
fore defined," to the commissioners appointed to point out and fix 
upon the most suitable place in the county of Ray whereon to 
erect a court-house and jail for the said county of Kay. 

4. The said commissioners, or a majority of them, be and are 
hereby empowered to receive as a donation, or to purchase the land 
by them selected, and to lay off the same into lots or squares, and 
to expose them to public sale under the same restrictions as were 
imposed by the before recited act, on the commissioners of Itiiy 
county, and the powers and duties of the judge of the circuit court 
shall be the same in the said county of Clay, as in the said county 
of Ray. 

5. The courts to be holden in the county of Clay, shall be holden 
at the house of John Owens, until said commissioners shall choose and 
fix on a temporary seat of justice for said county ; and after the said 
commissioners have selected a temporary seat of justice in said county, 
the courts to be holden for said county shall be holden at the tempo- 
rary seat of justice until a house for holding courts and a jail is pro- 
vided at the permanent seat of justice for said county of Clay. 

6. All executions to be issued after the taking effect of this act, 
from the circuit court of the county of Ray, sliall be directed to the 
proper officers of the county of Clay, if the person against whom 
they may issue reside within the said county of Clay; and such exe- 
cutions shall be executed and returned by him in the same manner as 
if issued by the clerk of the county of Clay ; and all accounts of 
executors, administrators and guardians now penriing in the county 
of Ray, if such executors, administrators or guardians reside in the 
county of Clay, shall at the request of such executors, administra- 
tors or guardians, be certified by the clerk of the said county of 
Ray, with the proceedings had thereon, to the clerk's office in the 
county of Clay, and shall stand ready for trial or settlement as if 
they had commenced therein ; and all justices of the peace and 
constables now residing in the said limits of said county of Clay 
shall continue to execute all the duties of their offices, as justices 
and constables, in the county of Clay ; and it shall be the duty of 
the county court for said county of Clay, at the fir.st term of said 
court, to appoint a collector for said county, who shall immediately 
enter upon the duties of his office ; and the taxes for the said county 
of Clay shall be collected and accounted for by the collector of said 
county in the same manner as is now required of the collector of Kay 
county. 

This act shall take effect and be in force from and after the pas- 
sage thereof. 

Approved, January 2, 1822. 



CHAPTER 11. 

HISTORY OF. THE COUNTY FROM 1822 TO 1830. 

General Historical Sketch from 1822 to 1830 — First County Courts — First Circuit 
Courts — Three Indian Horse Thieves — First Murder Case — Execution of tlie 
Murderess — The County in 1822 as Described by Dr. Beck — Martin Palmer, the 
"Ring-Tailed Painter" — Miscellaneous Items — Liberty Township — Roads and 
Ferries — Important County Court Proceedings in 182(i ^Miscellaneous — Valua- 
tion of Property in 1829 — The Indian Alarm of 1828— The Expedition into the 
Platte Country. 

Upon the organization of Chw county, in January, 1822, the popu- 
lation was about 1,200. The area of the county at that time was very 
much larger than at present, but the population was abiiost entirely 
confined to the territory embraced within the present limits. The 
numlier of voters was 240. 

Liberty was laid out and made the county seat in the summer of 
1822, and the same year a dozen houses — nearly all log cabins — 
were built. Six small stores were in the county this year, two of 
which were Essex & Hough's and Robert Hood's. These Avere at 
Liberty. A few Indian tradei's were at the mouth of the Kansas and 
across the river at Fort Osage. 

Other merchants in Clay county from 1822 to 1830 were William 
Samuels & Co., Ely & Curtis, Hickman & Lamme (afterward Hick- 
man, Lamme & Ilingo), Joshua Fallen, F. P. Chouteau, James Auil, 
James M. Hughes; & Co., and Moore, Samuels & Croysdale. Some 
of the grocers^ were James Aull, Hiram Rich, Gershom Compton and 
Laban Garrett. Noah Richards had a licensed dram-shop in 1828. 
All these were in Liberty. 

Merchants' licenses were $15 ; grocers', $5 and $10. 

From the records of the county court — indisputal)le evidence — it 
appears that among other industries Lewis- Scott had a tanyard in 
1825 ; Ely & Curtis operated a distillery in 182(5 ; and John Baxter 
had a saddle and harness shop in Liberty in 1827. 

Mills followed the first settlers. Smith's sketch in the Atlas says 
the first horse-mill was built near Lil)erty in 1821, l)y Samuel Tilfoni 



1 At that date a "grocer" sold more wliisky tlian coffee and sugar, and a "gro- 
cery" was understood to be a place where ardent spirits were retailed. 

(100) 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 101 

" and ground only corn." Probably there was nothing else to grind. 
The buhrstones of this mil! were made of " lost rocks," as are some- 
times called the granite boulders scattered over the county, relics of 
the glacial period. Four other mills were in existence certainly as 
early as 1826 — Manchester's mill, on Shoal creek; William and 
Joel Estes' mill, on Fishing river; Smith's mill, on Smith's fork, and 
Hixon's mill. 

David D. Moore had a mill on Big Shoal creek, in the south- 
western part of the county, in 1830. 

A serious obstacle to the settlement of Clay county was the diffi- 
culty of crossing the Missouri, then more so than now a turbid, 
troublesome stream, with its shifting currents and channels, its treach- 
erous bars and shoals, and, when at a high stage, its almost irresistible 
tides. Trifles and insignificant circumstances often directed a settler's 
location, and many a man located on the south side of the Missouri 
l)ecause of the difficulty of crossing to the north side. The first ferries 
whose owners lived in this county were Joseph Boggs', established in 
1825 ; Richard Linville's the same year; John Thornton's in 1826, 
;ind Frost's about the year 1828. Linville, in 1826, disposed of his 
ferry to an old Frenchman named Calisse Montargee, commonly called 
"Calisse" (pronounced Cahece). He ran it until in 1830, when he 
sold it to Beuj. Hancock. 

Old Calisse was an eccentric character. He was one of the first 
settlers in the county, coming here soon after the War of 1812, first as a 
trapper and voyugeur. He had a landing on the river, kuowu as 
Calisse's landing, on fractional section 18—50-32, or a mile south of 
the present site of Moscow. He ran his ferry from tliis landing. 

Aaron Overton had a ferry over the Missouri, at the mouth of 
Rose's branch, in May, 1830. It and all the other ferries were pro- 
pelled bv oars, or sweeps, and it was a good half day's work to take 
the boat over to the south side and bring back an emigrant wagon. 

Schools were established early. Smith's sketch states that a few 
steps south of the Baptist Church, in Liberty, was built a log school- 
house as early as 1821, the first in the county, and that the first school 
was taught there by Judge Sibron G. Sliced. There may be and 
probably is a mistake in the statement that this house was built as 
early as 1821, but ther-e was certainly a school-house in Liberty in 
1823. In 1825 there was a good school-house near Benjamin Samp- 
son's in the southwestern portion of the county (elections were held 
in it), but the name of the first teacher can not here and now be 
driven. 



102 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

There was also a church, or as the records call it " a meeting- 
house," near Mr. Sampson's, in 1825. 

Upon the first settlement of the county Government land was $2 
per acre, and the nearest land office was at Old Franklin, in Howard 
county. In about 1825 the price of land was reduced to $1.25 per 
acre, and the land office was removed not long afterward to Lexing- 
ton.^ A number of the farms in this county were taken as " New 
Madrid claims." 

The term " New Madrid claim " may thus be explained to thoae 
who do not understand it : After the great earthquake at and in the 
vicinity of New Madrid, in December, 1811, Congress passed an act 
for the relief of the settlers who had been injured by that great con- 
vulsion of nature, giving each of them certain favors and privileges in 
regard to re-entering or locating laud in other parts of the State. In 
some instances this relief amounted to an absolute grant of land. The 
act was passed February 17, 1815, and was entitled," An act for the 
relief of the inhabitants of the late (?) county of New Madrid, in Mis- 
souri Territory, who suffered by earthquakes." 

In 1827 a United States militar}' post was established on the site of 
the present Fort Leavenworth, an incident of importance to this 
county, since it furnished a market for horses, mules and supplies, 
and also gave employment to a number of our citizens, contractors 
and others. In a letter to the compiler. Gen. E. C. Drum, Adjutant- 
General of the United States, says: "It appears from the records 
of this office that Cantonment Leavenworth, on the site of the present 
Fort Leavenworth, was first established by Cos. B, D, E and H, 
Third Infantry, under' Col. Henry Leavenworth (who was its first 
commandant, and for whom it was named), about April 1, 1827." 

In the summer of 1826 came the first " big rise " in the Missouri. 
The bottom lands were overflowed and the settlers thereon were forced- 
to remove to higher ground. Though there was some inconvenience 
and even damage and distress at first, the flood proved a blessing in 
disguise to the county in general. Many of the pioneers were afraid 
of the highlands, and especially of the prairies, but now they preferred 
them to the bottoms, which, as they could see, were liable annually to 
be submerged l)v tiie mighty, tawny waters of the Missouri, bringing 
destruction and devastation and leaving malaria and pestilence. So 
now, the uplands of the county were tested and found to be good, and 
thus the whole county began to settle up. 



1 The Atlas sketch says this was in 1822, but there was uo Lexington in 1822. 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 103 

Upon the first settlement of the country many of the pioneers shared 
the expressed opinion of Dr. Beck, given on another page, and held 
that the prairies were and always would he practically valueless ; but 
there were others who knew good soil when they saw it, and did not 
hesitate to say tiiat the Clay county prairies were fertile and would 
produce well. There was a serious obstacle in the way of their cul- 
tivation, however. At that day there were no plows strong enough to 
tear up the thick, tough sod. The plows then in vogue were light 
att'airs, with small iron (chiefly cast-iron) points, and wooden mold- 
boards. These were wholly insufficient for prairie breaking. After a 
time stronger plows were introduced, the prairie sod was trodden and 
became less substantial, and prairie farms became very popular. 

FIRST .SESSIONS OF THE COUNTY COURT. 

February 11, 1822, the first county court of Clay county convened 
at the house of John Owens, which stood on what is now lot 18(3, on 
the iKU'thwest corner of Water and Mill streets, in the city of Liberty. 
There were present the county justices, John Thornton, Elisha Cam- 
ron^ and James Gilmor, who exhibited their commissions, signed by 
Gov. Alexander McNair, and took their seats. (Thornton and Cam- 
rou had previously been justices of the county court of Ray county). 
William L. Smith was appointed county clerk, with Col. Shubael 
Allen and John Shields as secretaries. Smith had been clerk of Ray 
county. 

The court first proceeded to the appointment of certain other 
officers of the county for the year 1822, viz. : William Hall, assessor ; 
Jesse Gilliam, collector; Samuel Tilford, John Hutchings, Howard 
Averatt,^ Richard Linville and Benjamin Sampson, commissioners 
" to preserve from waste the school lands lying in this county." All 
of these, except William Hall, were present in court and took the 
bath of office. John Harris was sheriff; he had lieen sherifl' of Ray 
county. 

It is said that the court room was Mr. Owens' sitting room, vacated 
by the family for the occasion. Old Zadock Martin was present, and 
seemed to hold the entire proceedings in contempt, and so the first 
order of the court was the imposition of a fine of $1 on Mr. Martin 
for his said contempt. Whereupon Zadock awoke to a realization of 



1 Judge Camron died in this county June 2, 1853, aged sixty-nine. As he wrote it 
himself his name was spelled as here printed, but latterly it is spelled with an c. The 
city of Cameron was named for him. 

■ Afterward and now spelled Everett. 

2 



104 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

the fact that this really was a court, with power to protect its dignity 
and punish affronts thereupon, and so he made apology, and the fine 
was subsequently remitted. Martin was afterward a county judge 
himself, and he it was who is said to have been the first American 
actual settler in Platte county, whither he removed in 1827, and 
established a ferry on Platte river, at the crossing of the military road 
from Liberty to Fort Leavenworth. 

On the second day of the term the newly appointed assessor, Wm. 
Hall, appeared and took the oath of office. The court determined to 
establish a precedent for economy in the administration of the county 
government and made the following order: — 

Ordered, That the sum of one dollar only per day be charged by 
the justices of this court for their services ; and it is further ordered 
that the same economy be observed by all persons who shall have 
claims against the county. 

Money was scarce that day, and the judges wisely determined that 
the county ought to live within its income. Mr. Owens was allowed 
$2 for the use of his house as a court room during the two days' ses- 
sion, and then the court adjourned. 

The court made no order dividing the county into municipal town- 
ships — at least none is to be found. It seemed to accept the division 
which had previously been made by the Ray county court — of two 
townships. Fishing River and Gallatin. The line between these town- 
ships ran north and south, dividing the county neai'ly into halves. 

A special session was held at Owens' March 9, 1822, at which 
Judges Thornton and Gilmor were present. Jesse Gilliam gave bond 
as collector, and Wm. Hall was appointed assessor in Gallatin town- 
ship, and Pleasant Adams assessor of the State taxes for J'ishing River. 

At the regular May term, 1822, all the justices were present, and 
John Thornton was made presiding judge. George Halfacre and 
James Williams were nominated to the Governor as suitable persons 
to be commissioned as justices of the peace for Fishing River town- 
ship. Preparations were made for holding the August election in the 
two townships, as follows : — 

In Fishing river, the house of James Munker was designated as the 
voting place, and Thos. Officer, Howard Averatt and Bailey George 
were appointed judges of the election. In Gallatin township, the 
house of John Owens, in Liberty, was named as the voting place, and 
the judges of election were James McClelland, John Evans and John 
McKissick. 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 105 

The first roads established hy tlio Clav coiuitv court were oixlered 
surveyed or reviewed at this term. Those already in use had heca 
make by the Ray court. The first road establisiied ijy our court wa.s 
one from Liberty to the intersection of a road leading to Blutfton, on 
the Missouri river, which was then the county seat of Ray county. 
This road was directed to be surveyed " from the county line, where 
the road leading from Bluffton strikes said line ; from thence by 
Col. [Martin] Palmer's, taking the dividing ridge between Fish- 
ing river and the Missouri ; thence with the said ridge to the line 
ranges 30 and 31, and from thence to the county seat by the nearest 
between and most })racticable route." The commissioners were 
Joseph Hutchings, Jacob McKoy, Thos. Estes, Elisha Hall and Elijah 
Smith. 

Other roads were established as follows: A road leading from the 
north end of Main street, in Lil)erty, " the nearest and best way to 
the prairie in the direction of Magill's." Commissioners, John 
Owens, Eppa Tillery, Ezekiel Hutt'man and John Hall. A road 
"leading from the court house [John Owens'] in Liberty, the 
nearest and best way to Andrew Russell's, from thence to the [State] 
boundary line." Commissioners, Mitchell Poage, South Malott, 
Aaron Roberts and Andrew Russell. The settlers had already begun 
to push out as fur as possible, or was safe, and settlements were being 
made on the western frontiers, and roads were needed for communi- 
cation with the outer world. 

At this term David Manchester was appointed county surveyor, and 
Joshua Adams assessor for Fishing River township. Mr. Adams was 
selected to assist Mr. Hall, the county assessor, who, owing to the 
size of the county at that time, could attend to his duties in but one 
township, Gallatin, in time for the June levy. 

Some idea of the character of the county at this time can be gained 
from the report of Jesse Gilliam, the county collector, who stated tr> 
the court that he had issued six retail licenses (at $5 each), thus 
shoAving that there were six retail stores in the coimty in the spring of 
1822. These, of course, were not comparable with the establishments 
of to-day, but their stocks were limited to the necessaries of pioneer 
life at that day. Some of the merchants in the county this year were 
Essex & Hough and Robert Hood. 

FIRST CIRCUIT COURT. 

March 4, 1822, the first circuit court of Clay county was held at the 
house of John Owens — in Liberty — David Todd, judge; Wm. L. 



106 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

Smith, clerk; Hamilton R. Gamble, circuit attorney/ and John Har- 
ris, sheriff'. The court was in session two days, and had for grand 
jurors: Richard Linville, foreman; Zachariah McGree, Benj. Samp- 
son, Robert Y. Fowler, Zachariah Averett, Howard Averett, John 
Ritchie, James JMuidver, John Evans, Thomas Estes, Andrew Robert- 
son, Richard Hill, David Magill, Walker McClelland, Robert Poage, 
Samuel Tilford, David Gregg, Wm. Allen, Elisha Hall and James 
Williams. There was no trial jury until the July term, in the case of 
"The State fs. Jonathan Caniron." Indictment for alTray. The 
jurors were : Abijah Means, Richard Chane3s Abraham Creek, John 
Bartleson, James Gladdin, Francis T. Slaughter, Enos Vaughn, 
Andrew Copelin, John C'arrell, Matthew Averett, Eppa Tillery and 
Samuel Magill. Verdict, "Not guilty." There was no fixed place 
for holding court, it being sometimes held under the arbor of a tree, 
until 1832, when the first court house was built. 

The first attorney admitted to practice before our circuit court was 
Dabuey Carr, at the first term. 

Judge David Todd was born in Fayette county, Ky., in 1790. He 
came to Missouri at an early day and located at Old Franklin, How- 
ard county. He was well known and long remembered as an able 
and upright judge and a pure man. Judge Todd died at Columbia, 
Boone county, in 1859. Hamilton R. Gamble was born in Winchester 
county, Va., November 29, 1798; came to St. Louis in 1818, and in 
1819 to Old Franklin ; was appointed prosecuting attorney in 1822 ; 
Secretary of State in 1824, and Supreme Court Judge in 1851. In 
1861, when Claib. Jackson was deposed, he was made Provisional 
Governor. He died in 1864. 

THREE INDIAN HORSE THIEVES. 

In the month of May, 1823, a roving band of Iowa Indians passed 
through this county on their way down to the Grand river country. 
Three of these Indians stole three horses from Ezekiel Huffman and 
other citizens of this county, and carried them oft' to the encampment 
on Grand river, above where Brunswick now stands. 

The chiefs of the tribe gave information to the authorities, and on 
an affidavit of John P. Gates, the Hon. David Todd, then judge of the 
first judicial circuit, issued a warrant directed to the sheriff of Chari- 
ton county, where the Indians then were, directing him to arrest the 



1 At this term Mr. Gamble was not present. Hon. Abiel Loonard, then deputy cir- 
cuit attorney for tlic first circuit in the counties of Clay, Ray, Lillard, Saline and Cole 
attended. 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 107 

throe culprits, whose names wore <j;iven as Cha-pa-har-Jar, or Buffalo 
Nose ; Mon-to-kar, or White Briar, and Ton-tar-ru-rJiue-che, or Where ho 
is Crossing. Subpoenas were also issued for War-sen-nee, or The End 
of Medicine; War-hu-kea, or Moccasin Awl; Monk-she -kon-nah, -a 
Valiant Man, Won-chee-mon-nee, ^'^ chieis of the said loway nation 
of Indians." 

Tiio Indians were duly arrested,' and broiioht before Judge Todd, at 
Fayette, on the 5th of July. Their preliminary examination resulted 
in their commitment to the Howard county jail. On the 7th they 
were again brought before Jutlge Todd by Slieritf Ben B. Rav, of 
Howard county. The judge ordered " tlie said Indians committed to 
the custody of the sheriff of Chariton county, to be forthwith re- 
manded to the sheriff of Clay county, to await theirfurther trial before 
the circuit court of Clay county on the first day of the next term, in 
defiiult of giving bail in $200 each.". - 

But on the night of the 8th of July the prisoners contrived to escape 
from their guai'ds, as witness the following return of the deputy sheriff 
of Chariton county, in whose custody they were : — 

On the 7th of July the within named Indians were delivered into 
my custody. I summoned Thos. Smith, Joel King and Thos. Jack 
as a guard, who kept them under custody until the night of the 8th 
inst., when the said Indians made their escape and have not since been 
apprehended. Alexander Trent, 

July 11, 1823. Deputy Sheriff Chariton County. 

Tlie Indians were never recaptured, i)ut it is understood that the stolen 
horses were recovered by Huffman and his neighbors. This is the 
only instance now to be found where the Indians committed any seri- 
ous offense against our people after the year 1822, or the organization 
of the county. 

THE FIRST MURDER CASE EXECUTION OF THE MURDERESS, A NEGRO 

WOMAN . 

Some time in the summer of 1828 ( probably in June ) , a slave Avoman 
named Annice murdered her children, and the crime having been 
discovered she was arrested and indicted. At the July term of the 
circuit court following she was arraigned and tried before a jury 



' The arrest was effected by a posse composed of Maj. Daniel Asliby, John M. Bell, 
Peregrine Earickson and Christian Houser, who, the return says, were "on the search 
for three days." 

2 See the papers in this case, on file In the circuit clerk's office. 



108 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

composed of Charles English, Benedict Weldon, Ma3'berry ^litchell, 
David Bevins, Abraham Creek, Josiah Thorp, John Hardwicke, Ed- 
nuind Mnnday, David Hamilton, James Gray, Lewis Sheltou and 
Nathan Chaney. Of these David Bevins and Josiah Thorp are yet 
living. 

Annice Ijelonged to a Mr. Prior, who lived near Greenville, in 
the northeastern part of the county. The family went away from 
home, and the negress decoyed her children to the woods and to a 
small stream, a branch of Fishing river. In a deep pool formed by a- 
small water-fall she threw two (or tiiree) of her youngest children 
and drowned them. She was chasing another, her oldest, when she 
was discovered. 

The proof was positive as to the guilt of the accused, and Judge 
David Todd sentenced her to be hung on the 23d day of August 
following. There was no appeal of the case, no pardon, no com- 
mutation, no postponement of the execution, and the wretched crea- 
ture was hung on the day appointed, by Col. Shubael Allen, the 
then sheriff. The execution came off in the northern part of Liberty. 

DR. BECK DESCRIBES CLAY COUNTY IN 1822. 

Beck's Gazetteer of Missouri, published in 1823, has the following 
concerning Clay county : — 

Clay county was erected from Ray in 1822. It is bounded north 
and west by the Ijoundary lines of the State, east i)y the county of 
Ray, and south by Lillard. Its form is that of a parallelogram, about 
100 miles in length, and 21 in breadth; containing an area of about 
2,000 square miles. The southern boundary is washed by the Mis- 
souri river; the interior is well washed l)y Fishing river, and several 
other small streams, running in a southerly and westerly direction. 
The lands arc generally elevated, and in the northern part approaching 
to hilly. Of the fertility of this county and the inducements which it 
offers to emigrants, I need not adduce a more convincing proof than 
the fact that but two or three 3^ears since it was a complete wilderness 
without a single white inhabitant; while at present its population is 
not less than 1,000. The country north and west is owned and in- 
habited by hordes of Indians. 

Clay county is attached to the first judicial circuit; sends one mem- 
ber to the House of Representatives, and with Ray, Lillard and Chari- 
ton, one to the Senate. 

Speaking of the prairies in this quarter of the State, Dr. Beck 
says : — 

The prairies, although generally fertile, are so very extensive, that 
they must for a great length of time, and perhaps forever, remain 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 109 

wild and uncultivated ; yet such is the enterprise of the Ameri- 
can citizens — such the immigration to the West, that it ahnost 
amounts to presumption to hazard an opinion on the subject. Perhaps 
before the expiration of ten years, instead of beino- bleak and deso- 
late, they may have been converted into immense grazing fields, cov- 
ered with herds of cattle. It is not possible, however, that the 
interior of the prairies can l)e inhabited ; for, setting aside the difficulty 
of obtaining timber, it is on other accounts unjileasant and uncom- 
fortable. In winter the northern and western blasts are excessively 
cold, and the snow is drifted like hills and mountains, so as to render 
it impossible to cross from one side to the other. In summer, on the 
contrary, the sun acting upon such an extensive surface, and the 
southerly winds, which uniformly prevail during this season, produce 
a degree of heat almost insupportalile. 

It should not, by any means, l)e understood these objections appl}^ 
to ail the prairies. The smaller ones are not subject to these incon- 
veniences ; on the contrary, they are by far the most desirable and 
pleasant situations for settlement. 

There arc those of this description in the county of which we are treat- 
ing, surrounded by forests, and containing here and there groves of 
the linest timber, watered by beautiful running streams, presenting 
an elevated, rolling or undulating surface, and a soil rarely equaled 
in fertility. 

"THE RING TAILED 'PAINTER.'" 

In 1826 the first State Senator for the district composed of Eay 
and Cla}^ was elected. Hitherto the district had been represented by 
Gen. Duff Green, of Howard. The successful candidate in 1826 was 
Martin Parmer (or Palmier), of Clay, who lived on Fishing river, in 
the southeastern part of the county. Parmer was a "statesman" 
somewhat of the David Crockett species, uneducated, illiterate and 
uncultivated, but possessing natural good sense, a considerable amount 
of shrewdness, and an acquaintanceship with the ways of the world. 
An incident that occurred during Palmer's career as State Senator is 
thus described in Wetmore's Gazetteer: — 

When the time approached for the meeting of the Legislature, 
Palmer loaded a small keel with salt on the ^Missouri, above Harde- 
man's plantation, and having taken the helm himself, manned the 
vessel with his son and a negro. Uniting, as he did, business and 
politics, while afloat on the river he stood astride of the tiller, with a 
newspa))er in hand (not more than six weeks old), out of which he 
was spelling, with all his might, some of the leading points of a poli- 
tical essay. At this critical period the assemblyman was reminded 
by his vigilant son in the bow of the break of a " sawyer head." 
" Wait a minnit," said he, "until I spell out this other crack-jaw ; it's 
longer than the barrel of my rifle gun," but the current of the Mis- 



110 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

souri was no respecter of persons or words, the river " went ahead," 
and the boat ran foul of the nodding obstruction, and was thrown on 
her beam ends. The next whirlpool turned her keel uppermost. The 
cargo was discharged into the bowels of the deep, and there his " salt 
lost its savor." The negro, in a desperate struggle for life, swam for 
the shore, but the steersman, who, like a politician, determined to 
stick to the ship as he would to his party, as long as a timber or a fish 
floated, continued to keep uppermost. 

Having divested themselves of their apparel, to be in readiness for 
swimming, the father and son continued astride the keel, until the, 
wreck was landed at the town of Franklin. Here the old hunter, who 
was a lean citizen, was kindly supplied by a stout gentleman with a 
su't of his own clothes, which hung, like the morals of the politician, 
rather loosely about him. The suflerers by shipwreck were invited 
into the habitation of a gentleman who dwelt near the shore on which 
they had been cast. 

While recounting their perils at the breakfast table, the lady, who 
was administering coflee, inquired of the politician if his little son had 
not been greatly alarmed. "No, madam," said he, "I am a real 
ring-tail painter, and I feed all my children on rattlesnakes' hearts, 
fried in painter's grease. There are a heap of people that I would 
not wear crape for if they was to die before their time ; but your 
husband, marm, I allow, had a soul as big as a cow-t house. When we 
war floating, bottom uppermost (a bad situation for the people's 
representative), past Hardeman's garden, we raised the yell, like a 
whole team of bar-dog on a wild cat's trail; and the black rascals on 
the shore, instead of coming to our assistance, only grinned up the 
nearest saplin, as if a buck possum had treed. Now, madam, I wish 
God Almighty's yearthquakes would sink Hardeman's d — ned planta- 
tion — begging your pai'don for swearing madam, with ni}"^ feet on 
your beautiful kiverlid here. May be you wouldent like me to spit on 
this kiverlid you have spread on the floor to keep it clean ; I'll go to 
the door — we don't mind putting anything over our puncheon floors. 
"The river, marm," continued the guest, " I find, is no respecter 
of persons, for I was cast away with as little ceremou}', notwithstand- 
ing I am the people's representative, as a stray bar-dog would l)e 
turned out of a city church; and upon this principle of Democratic 
liberty and equality it was that I tolcl McNair, when I collared him and 
backed him out of the gathering at a shooting match, where he was 
likeh' to spoil the prettiest kind of a fight. 'A Governor,' said I, ' is 
no more in a fight than any other man.' I slept with Mac. once, just 
to have it to say to my friends on Fishing river that I had slept with 
the Governor." 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

A special session of the county court in June, 1822, was devoted to 
arranging for the collection of taxes. A levy of 50 per cent of the 
amount of the State tax was made for county purposes, and it was 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. Ill 

ordereil th;it " ;ill taxes collected for county purposes be paid in gold 
or silver coin." In August following, however, this order was 
rescinded, the court saying that they " doubted tire legality " of 
making nothing but gold and silver receivable for taxes. The collec- 
tor was ordered to pay hack what specie he had already received on 
the receipt of its equivalent in loan office or county certificates. 

At the August term, 1822, the court made an order for the erection 
of the first public structure built by the county. This was a " stray 
pen" or pound for the restraining of animals running at large under 
certain circumstances. It was 60 feet square, built of posts and rails, 
l)y Jonathan Reed, and cost the county $29 .87^! . 

Road commissioners, to lay off roads and allot hands to work the 
same, were appointed, viz. : For Fishing River township, John 
Hutchings and Thomas Officer; for Gallatin, John Thornton and 
James Gilmor. Chesley Woodward was appointed overseer of the 
road leading from Liberty to the prairie, " in the direction of 
Magill's." 

In November, 1822, Jesse Gilliam, the county collector, made his 
first report. The total tax list of the county was $142. 77i, and of 
this he had collected $140. 27J, leaving a delinquent list of but $2.50. 
What the delinquent list would have been had the court insisted on 
the payment of gold and silver can only be conjectured, but doubtless 
it would have been much larger. 

At this term the first guardians were appointed: Richard Linville 
and Thomas Frost were appointed guardians of Gilbert, Thomas, 
Josiah, Joshua, Benjamin, Polly, Ann and Hannah Frost, children 
under fourteen, of Elijah Frost, deceased. 

The county court was in session nine da3's in the year 1822. 

In November, 1824, the court appointed the first patrol, one company 
for the entire county, as follows: Captain, Leban Garrett; privates, 
Claiborne Rice and Charles Magee. There were only enough slaves 
in the county at the time to justify the ajipointment of but this one 
conii)any. 

The tax list in 1824 amounted to $225. 52j. 

Merchants in 1824 were Wm. Samuels & Co., Ely & Curtis, Hick- 
man & Lammes and Robert Hood. 

In February, 1825, six saloons or dram-shops and one billiard table 
were licensed in the county. The latter was charged $50 for the priv- 
ilege of running one year. Our first settlers were men like some of 
their descendants and loved their toddy. But while Clay county, in 
1825, with a i)opulation of 4,000 had six saloons, in 1885, si.xty years 



112 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

later, with a population of nearly 20,000, she has not one saloon, and 
has not had for many years. 

In the fall of the previous year (1824) a road had been established 
through the county leading to " the Council Bluffs," and in the early 
spring of this year another was laid out from Liberty to the Missouri 
river, " at u certain blue bank." 

Under an act of the Legislature, passed the previous session, the jus- 
tices of the peace of the county constituted the county court, and at 
the March term, 1825, there assembled at Liberty George Burnett 
and Sebron G. Sneed, Esqs., of Gallatin township, and George Hnf- 
faker and Howard Averett, of Fishing River. They paid Benj. Simms 
" for repairing the court house and for furnishing benches " and also 
paid Nathaniel Patton, of Old Franklin, Howard county, for publishing 
in his paper, the Boone's Lick Democrat, the receipts and expendi- 
tures of the county for the year 1824. At that time the Democrat was 
the paper published nearest to this county. 

Thornton Strother and Sebron G. Sneed were recommended to the 
Governor for commissions as justices of the peace of Gallatin town- 
ship, at the August term, this year. At this time Sneed's house, in 
Liberty, was used to hold courts and elections in, and was called a 
court house. It is said that it was a vacant building owned by Judge 
Sneed. 

TOWNSHIP nOUNDAKIES DEFINED FORMATION OF LIBERTY TOWNSHIP. 

At the March term, 1825, Liberty township was created by the fol- 
lowing order of the county court : — 

Ordered, That the following boundaries hereafter constitute the 
townships of this county : — 

All that part of this county whicii lies between the line dividing Ray 
and Clay counties to the sectional line running north and south, di- 
viding sections 9 and 10, in the tier of townsliips in range 31, be aud 
constitute Fishing River township. 

All that part of the county which lies between said sectional line 
dividing sections 9 and 10, in townships 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56. 
and 57, in range 31, to the first sectional line running north and 
south in range 32, be and constitute a new township, to be called and 
known as Liberty township. 

All of that part of the county which lies west of said sectional line 
dividing sections 1 and 2, in townships 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 5(J, and 
57, in range 32, to the western boundary of the county constitute and 
hereafter be known and design;itcd as Gallatin township. 

In the following August these boundaries were chanijed. The 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 11.") 

western boundary of Fishing River was made the section line between 
sections 2 and 3, in range 31, which is now (1885) tiie eastern line of 
Liberty. The western boundary of Liberty was made the line be- 
tween sections 2 and 3, in range 32, a mile west of the present bound- 
ary of the township. Gallatin township comprised the western 
portion of the county. All the townships extended northward from 
the Missouri river to the northern boundary of the State. 

The previous year, at the August term, a petition was presented 
for the creation of Liberty townshij) out of Gallatin, but the court 
refused to grant the prayer of the petitioners, saying: — 

* * * Upon consideration, it appears to the court that the 
signers to said petition, or a large majority of them, reside in or near 
to the town of Liberty, the county seat, and therefore can not labor 
under much inconvenience in consequence of the size of the township ; 
and it moreover appears that said petition, being presented so soon 
after the election, has been gotten up on improper grounds, and is, 
therefore, rejected. 

nOADS AN1> FERKIES IN 1825. 

Li May a road was laid out from Liljerty to Thornton's ferry, on 
the Missouri, " at or near the Blue Inink." Another from Liberty 
to the Missouri river, " at the boat landing at the town of Gallatin." 
Another from Liberty " to the mouth of the Kansas river." 

In September Joseph Boggs was licensed to keep a ferry across the 
Missouri river, " from the bank near where Wyatt Adkins lives." 
He was allowed to charge the following rates : " For a loaded wagon 
and team, $2 ; empty wagon and team, $1.50 ; loaded cart and team, 
$1 ; for a dearborn and horses, or gig and horses, 62^ cents; man and 
horse, 37i cents; single person, 18| cents; horses, each, 18| cents; 
sheep, hogs, and cattle, 3 cents each." In November Richard Lin- 
ville was licensed to keep a ferry on the Missouri, from a point in 
section 18, township 50, range 32, " where Louis Barthelette now 
lives," a mile south of the present site of Moscow. Judge Linville 
was allowed to charge the same rates as Boggs. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

In the spring of 1825 Philip Logan and Wm. Murray engaged in an 
affray, or fisticuff, one day, in Liberty, and were arrested and con- 
victed before Esq. Seron G. Sneed, who sentenced them to pay a fine 
and costs. Not having any money they were sent to Lillard county 
jail. When they had served " in gaol " a sufficient time to liquidate 
the fine they were released upon making oath that they were unable 



114 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

to pay the costs and the county court ordered their release. Thomas 
Young, another convicted and imprisoned fighter, asked for his release, 
l)ut the court said he should remain in confinement " the time pre- 
scribed by the verdict of the jury." Logan and Murray were arrested 
the same summer charged with arson. 

Elections in 1825 were held: In Gallatiu township, at Beuj. Samp- 
son's ; judges, Zadock Martin, Sr., Harmon Davis and Benj. Sampson. 
In Liberty, at the town ; judges, John Evans, George Lincoln and 
John Bartleson. In Fishing River, at James Munker's ; judges, Wm-. 
Miller, Thos. Officer and Jeremiah Rose. 

New merchants this year were Joshua Fallen and F. P. Chouteau, 
the latter a well known trader. This year, 1825, the county court 
records mention "a meeting house, near Benj. Sampson's," in the 
southwest part of the county. 

COURT PROCEEDINGS IN 182G. 

In February, township 51, range 31, including Liberty and the 
country east and south for five or six miles, was incorporated as the 
first school township in the county under the act of the Legislature of 
1825. 

At the same session the court provided for a seal of the following 
design: '■'■Device — A plough and rake, with the sun immediately 
over the plough, the rays of which point in every direction." The 
words : " Seal of Clay county, Missouri," were to be " on the outer 
margin and circle." 

In May the first steps were taken to l)uild a court house ; Wm. 
Averett was allowed $30 per year for the support of his insane son ; 
and Abraham Lincoln (uncle of the "martyr President"), Reuben 
Tillery and Abraham Creek were appointed reviewers of a road from 
Liberty to Estes' mill, on Fishing river. 

Elections were held this year in Gallatin township, "at the school 
house near Mr. Sampson's, in said township;" judges, Wm. Todd, 
Benj. Sampson and Hermon Davis. In Fishing River, at James Mun- 
ker's ; judges, Peter Writesman, William Miller and Travis Finley. 
In Liberty, at the court house ; judges, James E. Hale, John Evans 
and Samuel Tilford. 

This year Reuben Tillery, the county assessor, was twenty days in 
assessing the count}'. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

Patrolers were appointed in 1827 as follows : In Fishing River 
township, Roland Starks, captain ; Smith Story and Littleberry Sub- 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 115 

lette. In Gallatin, Hiram Fiigate, captain; Robert Cain, John 
Gumm, Daniel Hughes, John S. Mallott. In Liberty, Thos. Estes, 
captain ; David Lincoln, Lewis Scott, Robert Johnson. Their duties 
required them to patrol at last 24 hours in every month. 

The Legislature of 1827 repealed the law providing that the justices 
of the peace should be ex-officio county judges, and in June, pursuant 
to this act, the county court of Clay assembled, being composed of 
Elisha Camron, Samuel Tillery and Joel Turnham, all of whom pre- 
sented commissions signed by Gov. John INIiller, appointing them 
county judges for a term of four years. 

The first deeds of emancipation were issued in 1828. In February 
Henry Estes emancipated " Tom, a man of color," and John Evans 
set free " Sylvia, a woman of color." In May Joseph Collett, who 
was himself a " man of color," but free, purchased and emancipated 
"Hannah," a slave woman, and her two children, " America " and 
" Eliza." It is quite certain that the woman was or became Collet's 
wife. In 1836 Collet and his wife were granted license to remain in 
the State as long as they should be of good behavior. No other cases 
of emancipation arc recorded until 1834, when John Robidoux, the 
founder of the city of St. Joseph, gave freedom to one Jeflrey 
Dorney. 

The i-eceipts of the county from all sources during the year 1829 
were $1,231.39 ; the expenditui'es were $9()0.2G. 

Wm. L. Smith, county clerk, resigned in January, 1831, and Wm. 
T. Wood (afterwards the distinguished lawyer and jurist of Lexing- 
ton) was appointed in his stead. David R. Atchison and Andrew S. 
Hughes were licensed to practice before the county court at this 
time. 

VALUATION OF PROPERTY IN 1829. 

Perhaps a definite idea of the value of personal property in Clay 
county in early days may be obtained from the appraisement of Ar- 
chibald Holtzclaw's estate, in 1829, and the prices at which the pro- 
perty was sold. Mr. Holtzclaw's estate was very large and valuable, 
and his property was divided among his children at the following 
values : — 

Jincy, a crippled slave girl, 30 3'ears old .... $100 

Anthony, Jincy's child, 1 year old ..... 100 

Susan, a slave, 14 years old ....... 300 

Henry, a slave, 13 years old ....... 336 

Isaac, a slave, 25 years old ....... 450 

George, a slave, 13 years old . . . , . .316 



116 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

Other personal property had the following sworn values : A horse 
and side-saddle, $40 ; cow and calf, $7.50 ; sow and five pigs, $1.50 ; 
sheep, each, $1 ; a flax wheel, $3 ; a cotton wheel, $3 ; flag-bottomed 
chairs, 50 cents each ; Bible and hymn-book, $1.50 ; skillet, $1.25 ; a 
good horse, $25. 

THE INDIAN ALARM OF 1828. 

In the summer of 1828 there was another Indian ahirni in this 
county. Some white men up in what is now Clinton county had sold 
some whisky to a band of Iowa Indians. The latter became uproar- 
iously drunk, and in the absence of a town, began to paint the prairies 
red. Of course, an alarm spread that the Indians were on the war- 
path, and were about to descend on the settlements in Clay. 

Capt. Wm. Stephenson, of near Liberty, at the head of 63 armed 
and mounted men set out at once for the scene of the reported 
troubles, intending, if the Indians were really advancing, to meet 
them at least half way. The men furnished their own horses, rifles, 
provisions and equipments. Some of the members of this company 
were Anthony Harsell, Alex. B. Duncan, Thos. Vanghan, Wm. 
Campbell and " Pelig " Ellington. 

The company was organized at Liberty, and rendezvoused the first 
night out at John Owens', three miles north of Sinithville. Fi'om 
thence it went up on Big Platte — being accompanied by Gen. Andrew 
S. Hughes — then north of where Plattsburg now stands, and over on 
to Crooked river ; from here it went as far back as the waters of 
Grand river, and then turned back and returned home, after an ab- 
sence of 14 days. Not an Indian was seen. The men were afterwards 
declared to be entitled to 40 acres of land each for their services. 

About the same time Capt. Leonard Searcy, the well known tavern- 
keeper of Liberty, took out a company for the protection of the can- 
tonment and garrison at Fort Leavenworth. This company, like 
Stephenson's, accomplished nothing but the fatigue of its members 
and their loss of time. On its return it encountered a band of 15 
peaceable, friendly Iowa Indians and brought them to Liberty, where 
they were released. 

An incident that occurreil during the stay of these Indians in Lib- 
erty is remembered by some of the old pioneers, as it was one in- 
stance wherein an Indian " phiyed ofi'" on a white man, Mr. Gill E. 
Martin, a young son of old Zadock Martin, being the victim. The In- 
dians were excessively fond of sugar, and were known to consume 
inordinate quantities when they could get it. 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 



117 



Young Martin accosted a strapping "buck," and told him that if 
he would eat three pounds of sugar he would buy it for him. With 
extravagant demonstrations of joy and delight, the Indian accepted 
the proposition, and Martin bought the sugar. The savage set to 
work with great gusto and ate handful after handful. Martin and 
some companions stood watching him, eagerly awaiting the time when 
the limit of his appetite should be reached, and he should become first 
satiated and then sickened. 

But when the Indian had eated a pound or so, he coolly wrapped up 
the remainder and thrusting it under his blanket and prepared to take 
his leave. "Hold on !" exclaimed Martin, " you agreed to eat all 
of the sugar — stand to your bargain, sir!" With something of a 
shrewd look the " untutored savage " rejoined : " Ugh ! All right — 
me eat him all — maybe some to-day — maybe some to-morrow — 
maybe some one odder day — Injun no lie — me eat him all — 
good-bv ! " 



CHAPTEE III. 

HISTORY OF THE COUNTY FROM 1830 TO 1840. 

General Sketch of the County from 1830 to 18-10 — Early Days in Clay County — The 
Deep Snow of 1830 — Building the First Court House — The First Jail — During the 
Black Hawk War — Origin of the Platte Purchase — The "Hetherly War " — Cliy 
County in 1836 — The Mormon War. 

GENERAL SKETCH OF THE COUNTY FROM 1830 TO 1840. 

In about 1830 steamboats began to make regular trips from St. 
Louis up the Missouri as high as Liberty Lauding, and occasion- 
ally a boat laden with government freight ascended as high as Ft. 
Leavenworth, or even up to Council Bluffs. Landings were estab- 
lished at divers available points on the river in this county. Col. 
Shubael Allen established a landing on his plantation in about 1830. 
He had a licensed warehouse and near by Wm. Yates had a ferry in 
the spring of 1831. In the fall of 1831 Col. Allen obtained the ferry, 
and operated it from his warehouse. One informed on the subject 
thus writes of Allen's Lauding in the Missouri volume of the U. S. 
Biographical Dictionary, p. 313: — 

From 1829 until Col. Allen's death (1841), Allen's Landing was 
the main point of exit and entrance of nearly all the l)usinoss and 
travel of Northwest Missouri, in its communication with the outer 
M'orld by 'the river, and hence there were visible at that point a degree 
of activity and a multitude of conuiiercial transactions utterly unknown 
in these days of the degeneracy of the river traffic in iMissouri. It 
was also for many 3'ears the starting point of a large number of the 
employ s of the American Fur Company in their expeditious to the 
plains and mountains of the great Northwest. The scene presented 
annually on the assemblage of these empioA^es — embracing, as it did, 
swarthy French voyageuvs ; tall, half-breed Indians, straight as arrows, 
and dressed iu wild garbs ; the display of arms of all kinds, the tents 
scattered over the lawn, the picketed animals, the many-colored gar- 
ments — this scene was unique, semi-barbarous, but animated and 
highly picturesque. 

Liberty Landing, in the boating season, was a point of some activity. 
Joel Turnham built a tobacco warehouse here in the winter of 1830- 
31, and had it licensed in February of the latter year; James Rob- 
erts was inspector. A great deal of freight was shii)ped from St. 
(118) 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 119 

Louis to this landing, and a great many passengers were landed here 
from the boats — emigrants and prospectors. 

In November, 1831, Aaron Overton had a ferry at Overton's Cross- 
ing. Shrewsbury Williams operated one in 1832, and Samuel Gragg 
estal)Iished one in the spring of 1833. Col. Allen's ferry was suc- 
ceeded l)y Fielding McCcjy's. 

Some of the grocers in the city in 1S34 were S. & A. S. Ringo, 
Shnl)ael Allen, Charles Carthrae, Abraham Croysdale, George WuUis, 
J. & R. Aull, and Arthur, Turnham & Stephens. 

The Big Siioal meeting-liouse was built in 1835, and is mentioned in 
the county records of 183(3. 

The first public l)ridge, that is, built by authority of the county, 
was erected across Fishing river, at the crossing of the State road, in 
the spring of 1836. Reuben Long, Solomon Fry and Littleberry 
Sublette were the commissioners. Soon after, another bridge was 
built by the county across a small branch near Uriel Cave's, on the 
Big Lick road ; init as it cost but $37 it could not have been a very 
elaijorate or important structure. To be sure, there were other bridges 
prior to these, but they were built by private subscriptions. 

As the county was now pretty well settled, and roads were nearly 
as numerous as now, it became necessary to systematize the matter of 
establishing new roads and keeping them in repair. In February, 
183(3, the county court divided the county into 42 road districts, and 
appointed overseers. 

The nearness of Fort Leavenworth to the county and the desire 
for military life, induced some of our young men to visit the barracks 
and enlist in the regular army. They imagined, from what they 
could see from the service, that the life of a soldier was one of smart 
uniforms, dress parades, and an easy time generally, with $8 a month 
and "board, clothes, and doctor's bills." Some of them who en- 
listed soon grew disgusted and desperate at the drudging, menial 
life they were compelled to lead, and deserted. Others sought to 
back gracefully out. In March, 1836, our county court took upon 
itself the responsibility of ordering one Charles D. Stout discharged 
forthwith from the U. S. service ! Whether or not the military 
authorities obeyed the order can not here be stated. 

Daniel Ferrill volunteered in Capt. Sconce's Ray county company, 
in 1837, and served in the P^'lorida War. It is believed that two or 
three more Clay county men enlisted with Ferrill. 

The population of the county in 1830 was 5,338 ; in 183(3, it was 
8,533. 

3 



120 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

The following were the post-offices and their respective postmasters 
in the county in 1836 : Liberty, John Hendly ; Barry, P. Flemmino; ; 
Elm Grove, James Duncan ; Platte, W. Turner. 

The vote for President in this county in 1832 can not here be given, 
but in 1836 it stood : For Van Buren, Democrat, 347 ; for Harrison 
and Hugh M. White, Whigs, 282. 

"An old resident " writing in the Tribune, in 1859, thus mentions 
the first Sunday-school in the county : — 

In contrast with the present public opinion of the county, I will re- 
late the history of the first Sunday-school established in Lil)crty. At 
the request of an aged minister of the gospel, I had purchased some 
Sunday-school books in Philadelphia, and when they arrived a school 
was opened in the court-house, and I consented to be one of the 
teachers. The news spread over the county that such an institution 
was established, and that I had taken part in it. Several of my 
friends advised me to quit — that it was calculated to " unite church 
and State," and that I would lose my custom if I persisted. I did 
quit, and the school soon broke up, the old minister not being able lO 
procure help to carry it on. 

Intercourse with Fort Leavenworth was frequent and quite intimate. 
Many parties, balls, and merry-makings in Liberty were participated 
in by Gen. Bennett Riley, Lieutenants Nate, Cady, Cooke, Walters, 
Wicklitle, and others. Liberty was noted for its dancing parties, 
which were frequently attended by e.xcursionists from Lexington, 
Richmond, Independence and Leavenworth. 

In 1834, Gen. A. S. Hughes brought to Liberty the old Indian chief, 
White Cloud, and his daughter, Sally. They attended a party at 
Leonard Searcy's tavern, and the next morning Miss Sally purchased 
a new leghorn bonnet, trimmed with flaming red ribbon. Her father 
bought for himself a fur hat, with the crown 15 inches high, but with 
a narrow brim. The father and his daughter paraded the streets in 
their now clothes, prouti of tiieir new acquisitions, and the observed of 
all observers. 

EAULY DAYS IN CLAY COUNTY. 

A writer in the Liberty Tribune of December 19, 1846, under the 
head of " Clay County 17 Years Ago," thus narrates certain incidents 
in the early history of this county. AVho this writer was can not here 
be stated, as he signed himself " Old Settler," and his name can not 
now be identified : — 

In the month of December, 1829, I saw for the first time the county 
of Clay and the town of Liberty. I remember it well. I entered the 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 121 

county by the way of Meek's (then Jack's) ferry, and I had not rid- 
den more than a mile or two before I saw an opossum, and I got off 
my horse and killed it. 

What changes have taken place since that day ! The whole Platte 
country was then inhabited by the Iowa, Sac and Fox Indians ; there 
were only one or two families in what are now Clinton, DeKalb, Gen- 
try, Caldwell, Daviess and Harrison counties. Clay county was the 
ultima tlmle of Western emigration, and Liberty was regarded as the 
very paradise of Western towns. Compared to the neighl)oring towns 
it was so, for Richmond, Lexington and Independence scarcely de- 
served the name of towns, and Plattsburg was not then in existence. 

In these davs Liberty was a thriving town. It was the iieadquarters 
of the Upper Missouri, and Liberty Landing was the head of naviga- 
tion, except that occasionally steamboats would go up to Fort Leaven- 
worth. There was no warehouse then at our landing. The arrival of 
■A boat was announced by the firing of a cannon four or five miles below, 
and by the time it reached Col. Allen's all the merchants would be 
there, as well as half the town and neighborhood. Freight was high 
but money was plenty, and everybody thought that there was no such 
a place as Clay county. The thought of ever being in want of a mar- 
ket for the surplus i)roductions of the county never once entered into 
any of our minds. 

The change is wonderful in this and the surrounding country since 
1829. The Indians have left the Platte country, and now there are at 
least three counties in it that contain as heavy a population as Clay, 
viz. : Buchanan, Platte and Andrew. 

In 1830 an election for Senator, Representative and sherifi" took 
place. I attended a muster at Judge Elisha Cameron's and heard the 
candidates speak. Jacksonism at that time was in its zenith, and rode 
over everything else. A candidate had but little else to say besides de- 
claring himself " a Jackson man." That was enough to defeat the 
best men who were opposed to Jackson. I recollect the speech of the 

famous " Neal " G [Cornelius Gilliam] at the muster above spoken 

of. He was a candidate for sheriff and of course was elected. He 
mounted a big elm log and said : — 

^^ Fellotv-citizpns — I am a Jackson man up to the hub. I have 
killed more wolves and broke down more nettles than any man in 
Clay county. I am a candidate for sheriff, and I want your votes." 

He then dismounted, and a " Hurrah for Neil " was given by the 
crowd. In 1832 the Jackson spell was somewhat broken, as the Clay 
men succeeded in electing the lamented Woodson J. Moss to the Leg- 
islature, along with Col. Thornton. The Whigs have been in the 
ascendancy ever since. 

THE DEEP SNOW OF 1830-31. 

October 29, 1830, the memorable " deep snow " commenced fall- 
ing, covering the ground to a depth of 20 inches on the level, and 
drifting in many places twelve feet deep. A week or so afterwards 



122 HISTORY or CLAY COUNTY. 

another snow fell of about the same depth, and actually covering the 
ground, without drifting, to a depth of two feet in most places. 
January '6, 1831, another snow fell, which added to that already on 
the ground made a depth of nearly three feet. The situation 
may be imagined. Travel was almost impossible. The few 
roads were blocked, and no one pretended to go abroad except on 
horseback. In a short time there came a thaw, then a freeze, the 
latter forming a crust through which the deer would break, while 
wolves and dogs passed over in safety. Large numbers of deer and 
turkey perished, and could be cauglit with but little difficulty. The 
snow lasted till the first of March following, when it went off with a 
warm rain, and there were great floods resultant. 

The season of 1831 was unfavorable for the settlers of this 
county. Corn was the chief staple then raised — the principal de- 
pendence of the people — and the corn crop of that year was a failure. 
Much of it was planted late, and the season turned out backward and 
cool and the summer was full of east winds. At last, in August there 
came a frost, " a killing frost," and nipped the corn so severely that 
it did not ripen. The grains were so imperfectly developed that but 
few of them would germinate and the next spring seed corn was very 
scare and very dear. Certain vegetables were also injured by the 
frost, and to many the situation was actually distressing. 

BUILDING THE FIRST COURT-HOUSE. 

Up to 1828 there was no attempt made to build a court-house for 
the county. There was no money in the treasury to build a suit- 
able one, nor could a sufficient amount be raised by taxation, within a 
reasonable time, on the property then in the county. In May, 1826, 
Enos Vaughan was allowed $4.50 " as commissioner of the court- 
house and jail," but it does not appear what services he per- 
formed. 

Temporary houses in which the courts were held were rented of 
John Owens and John Thornton up to 1828, and afterwards of Stephen 
A. St. Cyr, J. T. V. Thompson and others. In May, 1838, AVm. L. 
Smith, who as county commissioner had superseded Wm. Powe, 
Henry Estes and Wyatt Adkins, was authorized to contract for 
100,000 bricks, and also for digging the foundation in the center of 
the public square, " 44 feet 4 inches square from out to out." 

A large portion of the expense of building the house was borne by 
the citizens. In May, 1829, when Commissioner Wm. L. Smith re- 
signed, he had expended $672.11, of which sum $415.11 had been 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 123 

subscribed by the people. Joel Tunihaiii succeeded Smith, and let 
the contract for laying the brick and for the greater portion of the 
wood work. The architect of the building was Judge George 
Burnet. 

The work dragged along until in May, 1831, when Richard C. 
Stephens was appointed commissioner, and it was under his super- 
vision that the work was finally completed. Although some of the 
lower rooms were occupied in 1831, it was not until the spring of 1833 
that the entire building, {jlastering, furnishing, etc., was finished. 
Joseph Bright did the carpenter work for $691.50 ; the lathing and 
plastering were done by John Dyke, Hezekiah Riley and Robert Bur- 
den. The tables were made by George C. Hall. 

The court-house was of brick, two stories high. The first story 
was 14 feet and the second nine feet " in the clear." It was well 
lighted and had four doors or entrances on the ground floor, one at 
each cardinal compass point. As it was erected before the days of 
heating stoves the rooms were warmed by fire places, at least for many 
years. In 1836 lightning rods were placed u])on it. This building 
was burned down in 1857, standing about 25 years, and was replaced 
by the present handsome, commodious and valuable structure. 

In May, 1836, the public square was enclosed by post and square- 
rail fence, the rails being set in the posts " diamond position." There 
were four gates in the center of the four sides opposite each door of 
the court-house, and two stone steps led up to each gate. 

THE FIRST JAIL. 

For about ten years after its organization Clay county had no jail, 
or gaol, as it was commonly called. Prisoners were sent to the Lil- 
lard or Jackson county jail for safe keeping. In April, 1833, ' our 
county court let a contract to Solomon Fry for the building of the 
substantial stone structure still standing in Liberty. Elisha Camron 
was commissioner. The building was completed and ordered paid 
for the following December, and it is said that it cost less than 
$600. 

DURING THE BLACK HAWK WAR. 

Details of the Black Hawk War, which broke out in Wisconsin in 
the spring of 1832, between the whites and the Sacs, Foxes and Win- 
nebago Indians, belong to other histories. It is only with the part 



' By a misprint tlie slvetch in tlie County Atlas says 1823. 



124 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

of that war with which Chiy county was concerned that these pages 
have to deal. 

The news that the war had broken out reached here in due season. 
Various circumstances contributed to form a belief on the part of 
many prominent men well versed in the characteristics of the savages 
that a general Indian uprising from the Lakes to Mexico was imminent. 
In this part of Missouri many of the people were acquainted with the 
Sacs and Foxes and knew that they were formidable enemies if they 
once vfeut on the war path. Knowledge of the events taking place iii 
Wisconsin and Illinois coming to the people of this county, there was 
considerable alarm and apprehension. Some of the more adventurous 
of the early settlers who had pushed out on the frontiers into where 
is now Clinton county, retired in good order to this county, fearing 
that the Indians would swoop down upon them from Iowa unawares 
and leave none to tell the tale. 

Fearing for the northern frontier and the settlements in this and 
other portions of the State, Gov. John Miller early adopted precau- 
tionary measures. About the 10th of May, 1832, he ordered the 
generals commanding the Missouri militia to warn the members of 
their commands " to keep in readiness a horse, with the necessary 
equipments, a rifle in good order, with an ample supply of ammuni- 
tion," etc. On the 25th of May, 1832, he ordered Maj.-Gen. Richard 
Gentry, of Columbia, to raise, without delay, one thousand volun- 
teers for the defense of the frontiers of the State, to be in readiness 
to start at ;i moment's warning. Accoi'dingly, on the 29th of May, 
1832, orders were issued by Gen. Gentry to Brig. -Gens. Benjamin 
Means, commanding the seventh, Jonathan Eiggs, eisjhth, and Jesse 
T. Wood, ninth brigade, third division, to raise the required quota, 
the first named 400, and each of the last 300 men. 

Two conqjanies of militia belonging to Gentry's division — a com- 
pany from Pike county, commanded by Capt. Mudd, and a company 
from Ralls county, under Capt. Richard Matson, were sent to the 
northeastern border of the State about the 1st of July. 

Accordingly, Capt. Matson's company set out for the northern part 
of the State, and after some days of scouting and marching reached 
a point eight miles from the Chariton river, in what is now Schuyler 
county, and began the erection of a fort, which, in honor of the cap- 
tain of their company, the Ralls county men named Fort ]Matson. 
This fort commanded what was then known as the Chariton river trail, 
which led from Iowa down to the settlements near Kirksville. Three 
vears before — that is to say, in 1829 — a party of Iowa Indians had 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 125 

made a raid on these settlements and killed a number of men and 
two women. It was believed that should the Indians come into the 
State one line of invasion would be over the Chariton trail, and in 
that event Fort Matson was designed as the first formidable obstacle 
they would encounter. 

The Pike county company marched to the extreme northeastern 
part of the State, and built a fort ton miles from the mouth of the 
Des Moines river, within the present limits of Clark county ; this fort, 
in honor of their county, Ca[)t. Mudd's men called Fort Pike. The 
two companies were keptpre£ty busy for some weeks scouting, picket- 
ing and fort building, but not fighting, for they saw no hostile Indians. 
These companies were afterward relieved by Capt. Jamison's and 
Hickman's companies of Callaway and Boone respectively, as narrated 
on page 53 of this volume, which see for a summary of the events 
that took place in the northeastern portion of the State.' 

Coining now to the [nirt taken in the Black Hawk War by Clay 
county, it may be stated that two companies, commanded by Capts. 
Geo. AVallis and Smith Crawford, took the field in August. Craw- 
ford's com[)any was from the northern and northeastern portions of 
the county ; Wallis' was from Liberty and the adjacent neighbor- 
hoods. Each company numbered about (30 men, who were all mounted, 
and every man furnished his own horse, arms, ammunition, and rations. 
The battalion was under command of Col. Shubael Allen, who 
marched it northeast into the Grand river country, scouting that region 
thoroughly. From Grand river the battalion went westward to the 
boundary lino, down which they marched to near Smithville, and came 
back by way of that village to Liberty, which they reached after an 
absence of 32 days. Not a hostile Indian, or, indeed, no Indians of 
any sort, were encountered on the entire march, which was void of 
interesting adventure or incident worth mention. 

Mr. Anthony Harsell is now the only survivor of the Black Hawk 
AVar expedition from Clay county, known to the compiler, and from 
him much of the information contained in this article has been obtained. 

ORIGIN OF THE PLATTE PURCHASE. 

The accomplishment, in 183(5, of what is known as the "Platte Pur- 
chase," deserves especial mention in a history of Clay county, because 



^ Note. — By an omission, too late to be corrected, no mention is made on pages 
53-54 of the only real important services performed by Missouri militia during the 
Black Hawk War — those performed by Capts. Matson's and Mudd's companies — and 
so they are inserted in the history of Clay county. 



126 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

it was in this county that the idea of the acquisition of that purchase 
originated, and where the plans for the same were fully matured. 
Moreover it was Clay county men who carried out these plans. 

As Col. Switzler, in his History of Missouri says, many intelligent 
citizens of Missouri have often propounded the inquiry, without having 
it answered, — When, where, and by whom was the suggestion first 
made that Missouri, a State already among the largest in territorial 
area in the Union, should extend her boundary so as to embrace what 
is now known as the " Platte Purchase? " The idea originated in the 
summer of 1835, at a regimental militia muster at Weekley Dale's 
farm, three miles north of the town of Liberty, in Clay county. 

After the morning parade and during recess for dinner, the citizens 
present were organized into a mass meeting, which was addressed, 
among others, by Gen. Andrew S. Hughes, who came to Clay from 
Montgomery county, Kentucky, in 1828, and who soon afterwards was 
appointed Indian agent by President John Quincy Adams. Gen. 
Hughes was a lawyer by profession, a gentleman of acknowledged 
ability, and in wit and sarcasm almost the equal of John Randolph.^ 
At this meeting, and in this public address, he proposed the acquisi- 
tion of the Platte country ; and the measure met with such emphatic 
approval that the meeting proceeded at once, by the appointment of a 
committee, to organize an eflbrt to accomplish it. The committee was 
composed of the fcllowing distinguished citizens : William T. Wood, 
afterwards judge of the Lexington circuit ; David R. Atchison, ex- 
United States Senator ; A. W. Doniphan, too well known to be men- 
tioned more fully ; Peter H. Burnett, afterwards Governor, and one 
of the supreme judges of California, and Edward M. Samuel, after- 
wards president of the Commercial Bank in St. Louis, and who died 
there in September, 1869, — all of them, at the time of the appoint- 
ment of this committee, residents of Clay county. 

An able memorial to Congress was subsequently drafted by Judge 
Wood, embracing the facts and considerations in behalf of the mea- 
sure, which all the committee signed, and it was forwarded to our 
Senators and Representatives at Washington. 

Pursuant to the prayer of this memorial, in 1836, a bill was intro- 
duced into Congress by Senator Benton, and ardently supported by 
his colleague. Senator Linn, namely, an act to extend the then exist- 
ing boundary of the State so as to include the triangle between the cx- 



1 General Andrew S. Hughes died while attending court at Plattsburg, Missouri, 
December 14, 1843, aged 54 years. 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 127 

isting line and the Missouri river, then a part of the Indian Territory, 
now comprising the counties of Atchison, Andrew, Buchanan, Holt, 
Nodaway and Platte, and known as the "Platte Purchase." The 
difficulties encountered were threefold: 1. To make still larger a 
State which was already one of the lai-gest in the Union. 2. To make 
a treaty with the Sac and Fox tribes of Indians whereby they were to 
be removed from lands which had but recently been assigned to them 
in perpetuity. 3. To alter the Missouri Compromise line in relation 
to slave territory and thereby convert free into slave soil. Notwith- 
standing these difficulties, the two first mentioned serious, and the 
last formidaldc, the act was passed and the treaties negotiated, and in 
1837, the Indians removed west of the Missouri river, thus adding to 
our State a large body of the richest land in the world. 

THE " HETHERLY WAR." 

In the summer of 1836 occurred in Northern Missouri certain inci- 
dents known in the aggregate as the " Hetherly War." With these 
incidents it is proper to deal in this volume, since two companies of 
volunteers from Clay county took part in the war, and at the time the 
entire population was greatly excited ami at times apprehensive. 

From the official records of Carroll county, from the statements of 
living witnesses, and from other sources of information, it is learned 
that in the spring of this year a baud of desperrdoes, robbers and 
thieves lived in that part of Carroll county known as the Upper Grand 
river country, and now included in Mercer and Grundy counties. 
This band had for its principal members a family named Hetherly, 
from Kentucky, composed of the following persons : Geo. Hetherly, 
Sr., the father; Jenny Hetherly, the mother; John Hetherly, Alfred 
Hetherly, George Hetherly, Jr., and James Hetherly, the sons, and 
Ann Hetherly, the daughter. 

The Hetherlys lived far out on the frontier, and their cabin was a 
rendezvous for hard characters of ail sorts. The antecedents of the 
family were bad. Old George Hetherly was regarded as a thief in 
Kentucky, and Mrs. Hetherly was a sister to the notorious Kentucky 
murderers and freebooters. Big and Little Harpe. The women of the 
family were prostitutes, and the men were believed to be villians of 
the hardest sort. One of Mrs. Hetherly's children was a mulatto, 
whose father was a coal black negro, that accompanied the family from 
Kentucky to Missouri. Bad as they were, however, the Hetherlys 
wore perhaps not as black as they were painted, and many crimes were 
attributed to them of which, in all probability, they were innocent. 



128 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

Living with the Hetherl^'s as boarders, visitors or employes, were 
three or four young men whose reputations were none of the best, and 
who had doubtless drifted westward from the older States as they 
fled from the oflicei's of the law from crimes committed. 

Old Mrs. Hetherly is said to have been the leading spirit of the 
gang, prompting and planning many a dark deed, and often assisting 
in its execution. Tales were told of the sudden and utter disappear- 
ance of many a laud hunter and explorer, who visited the Upper 
Grand river country and was last seen in the neighborhood of the 
Hetherly house. These stories may or may not have been true, but 
all the same they were told, and gradually gained credence. 

Early in the month of June, 1836, a hunting party of the Iowa In- 
dians from southern Iowa came down on the east fork of Grand river 
on a hunting expedition. As soon as the Hetherlys heard of the 
proximity of the Indians they resolved to visit their camp, steal what 
horses they could, and carry them down to the river counties and sell 
them. Taking with them James Dunbar, Alfred Hawkins, and a man 
named Taylor, tlie four Hetherlys visited the scene of the lowas' 
hunting operations and began to steal the ponies and horses which had 
been turned out to graze. Fortune favored them and they managed 
to secure quite a lot of ponies, and escaped with tliem to the forks of 
Grand river. Here they were overtaken by a pursuing party of the 
lowas, who demanded a return of their property. The demand not 
being either refused or instantly complied with, the Indians opened 
fire on the thieves. The first volley killed Thomas. Other shots being 
fired, the Hetherly gang retreated, leaving the ponies in the hands of 
their rightful owners. 

Upon the defeat of their scheme the Hetherlys returned home, and 
began consulting among themselves as to the best course to pursue 
under the circumstances. Being much alarmed lest the Indians should 
give information of the affair to the whites and have the true story 
l)elieved, it was resolved to anticipate a visit to the whites on the river, 
and go first themselves and tell a tale of their own. Dunbar had for 
some time sliown symptoms of treachery to the party, or rather of a 
desire to break away from his evil associations. Soon after he was 
murdered and his body found. 

In a day or two the Hetherlys made their appearance in the settle- 
ments raising an alarm that the Indians were in the country murdering 
and robbing, and claimed that they had killed Dunbar and other white 
men in the Upper Grand river country. The news was at first be- 
lieved, and there was great excitement throughout the country. A 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 129 

part of the story — that the Indians were in the country — was known 
to be true, and the rest was readily believed. Carriers were sent to 
Ray, Clay and Clinton, and the people were thoroughly aroused. 

Gen. B. M. Thompson, of Ray, commanding the militia forces in 
the district, ordered out several companies, and at the head of a regi- 
ment from Ray,^ and Carroll moved rapidly to the scene of the re- 
ported troubles. The whole country north of Carroll county was 
thoroughly scoured. An advance scouting party penetrated the sec- 
tion of country where the Indians were, visited tiieir camp and found 
them quiet and perfectly peaceable, and wondering at the cause of 
the visit of so many white men in arms. 

Two companies from Clay were ordered out by Gen. Thompson. 
These were commanded by Capts.Wallis and Crawford, the same who 
had led the Clay militia in the Black Hawk War. Campbell's Gazet- 
teer states that one of these companies was the "Liberty Blues," com- 
manded by David R. Atchison, but W. A. Breckenridge, who 
belonged to Wallis' company, assures the writer that the " Blues " 
were not out.'' The battalion, numbering about 150 men, was again 
commanded by Col. Shubael Allen. There accompanied the militi^ 
some volunteers, among whom were A. W. Doniphan and O. P. 
Moss. 

Obedient to orders Col. Allen marched his battalion almost due 
north, nearly along the then western boundary of the State to a point 
in what is now DeKalb county, and then turned east to the reported 
scene of the troubles. This was done to discover whether or not there 
was a movement of the savages from that quarter or to flank the 
supposed hostile band reported to be advancing down Grand river. 

The first night on the march after leaving the county, Col. Allen's 
battalion encamped at Joel Burnam's, in the southwest corner of Clin- 
ton county, near where Union Mills or Edgerton now stands. Here 
30 or 40 Indians, Sacs and lowas, were encountered on a hunting ex- 
pedition, all friendly. Col. Allen held a council with them — it is 
not clear why. During the delil)erations he stated to the savages that 
they would do well not to go on the war-path against the whites, whose 
soldiers, he assured them, " outnumbered the blades of grass on all 
these prairies ! " 

Arriving at Grand river the Ijattalion crossed and encamped one 
Sunday on its banks. No trouble of any sort was encountered. 



' The two compauies from Ray were commanded by Capts. Matthew P. Long and 
Wm. Pollard. 

- Gen. Atchison himself, in a letter to the writer, corroborates this statement. 



130 HISTOUY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

After thorough examination and investigation of the situation and 
the circumstances, Gen. Thompson became perfectly satisfied that the 
Indians were not and had not been hostile — wei'e innocent of the 
olfenses alleged against them, but, on the contrary, had been preyed 
upon by the Hetherly gang in the manner heretofore described. After 
consultation the officers returned the men to their homes and disbanded 
them, and the great scare was over. The Clay count}' men mai'ched 
to Liberty, via where Haynesville and Kearney now are. 

The depredations and crimes alleged against the Indians were now' 
traced directly to the Hetherlys. A warrant for their arrest was is- 
sued, and July 17, Sheriff Lewis N. Rees, of Carroll county (yet 
living), with a strong posse, apprehended them, and their preliminary 
examination came off before 'Squire Jesse Newlin, who then lived at 
Knavetown, now Spring Hill, Livingston county. The examination 
attracted great attention and lasted several days. The result was that 
the accused were found to be the murderers, either as principals or 
accessories, of James Dunbar. 

There was strong talk of lynching them, but on the 27th of July 
they were given into the custody of the sheriff of Ray county for safe 
keeping, until the October term of the circuit court. Old man 
Hetherly, his wife, and their daughter, Ann, were released on bail. 

October 27, 1836, in obedience to a writ of habeas corpus, issued 
by Judge John F. Ryland, in vacation, the sheriff of Ray county 
brought into the circuit court, at Carrollton, the old man, George 
Hetherly, his wife, Jenny Hetherly, their sons, George, Jr., John, 
Alfred and James Hetherly, and Alfred Hawkins, all charged with 
the murder of James Dunbar. The accused were returned to the 
custody of the sheriff. 

The grand jury found bills of indictment against the Hetherlys, and 
a separate indictment against Alfred Hawkins. Austin A. King took 
his seat on the bench, as judge of the circuit, in the room of Judge 
Ryland, at this term. Thos. C. Birch was circuit attorney, but hav- 
ing been of counsel for the accused in the preliminary examination, 
was discharged from the duties imposed upon him by the law in this 
case, and Amos Rees was appointed by the court special prose- 
cutor. 

On Tuesday, March 7, 1837, John Hetherly was acquitted. There 
being no sufficient jail in Carroll county, the Hetherlys were sent to 
the Lafayette county jail, and Hawkins to the jail of Chariton county, 
for safe keeping. Bills to the amount of $530 were allowed certain 
partiesfor guarding the prisoners. 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 131 

It being apparent to the prosecutor that no conviction could be had 
of the Hetherlys, nor of Hawkins, unless some of his fellow-criminals 
would testify against him, at the July term, 1837, before Judge King, 
a nolle pros, was entered against the Hetherlys, and they were dis- 
charged. Whereupon Hawkins was placed on trial, and the Hetherlys 
testified against him. He was ably, and vigorously defended by his 
counsel, wlio induced some of the jury to i)Glieve that the Hetherlys 
themselves were the guilty parties, and the result was, that the jury 
disagreed, and were discharged. 

At the November term 1837, Hawkins was again tried, at Carroll- 
ton, and this time convicted of murder in the first degree, and sen- 
tenced to death. The sentence was afterwards commuted to twenty 
years in the penitentiary, whither he was taken, but, after serving 
about two years of his time, he died, and thus terminated " the 
Hethei-ly War." What eventually became of the Hetherly family is 
not known. 

CLAY COUNTY IN 1836. 

The following description of Clay county in 1836 is from Wetmore's 
Gazetteer of Missouri, published in 1837 : — 

This county, on the left bank of the Missouri river, is bounded on 
the south by it and west l)y the old State line, which is now changed 
by the addition of the territory recently acquired by Missouri. When 
the State was admitted into the Union, there was not a house in Clay 
county.^ It is now one of the best settled tracts of country in Mis- 
souri or elsewhere. The liigli cultivation of the numerous and large 
farms, the substantial buildings, and the tasteful arrangements about 
the domiciles of the old settlers, would lead the visitor to suppose, 
if he were governed by appearance, that he was in the heart of the 
best settlements of one of the older States. 

The pioneers who explored this region of country found the land 
so rich and the face of the country so attractive, that swarms of good 
citizens of Kentucky and elsewhere poured in, and the county was 
speedily settled and densely populated. Great wealth was carried to 
the country, and more has been acquired by the enterprise and indus- 
try of the inhabitants. They have not failed to avail themselves of 
the advantages jiresented in the frontier market, which they enjoy in 
common with their neighbors of Jackson county. This market the 
settlers of Clay at first enjoyed exclusively, having been cultivators 
before any settlements were made in Jackson. 

The people of Clay have not complained of having too much 
prairie ; and it is probable a larger proportion would have been ad- 



1 This is an error so palpable that it is a matter of wonUerment how Wetmore 
made it. In 1821 there were a number of houses in this county. — Compiler. 



132 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

vantageous. They have, however, the fashion of making prairie, 
where there is any deficiency, with the Knous' or Collins axes. The 
timber of Clay is good, and the county abundantly supplied with a 
variety of oak, black walnut and black ash. The bee hunters (a peo- 
ple rather less industrious than the insects which they destroy) have 
made sad havoc with the timber of Missouri. [?] They go ahead of 
the settler, and find honey in the to})s of the tallest trees in the 
forests. These are necessarily felled to obtain the honey ; and thus 
some of the best timber on the public lands is destroyed. Where the 
bee hunter is followed up by the tanner, much additional waste is 
committed on the public domain. But, after all these depredations, 
enough generally remains for all the purposes of the farmer ; and 
heavy log-rollings are common occurrences. Fields of corn filled 
with bare and leafless trees are found in various parts of the count}', 
and are among the surplus possessions of the farmers of Clay, as well 
as their countrymen of other counties. 

The inhabitants of Clay are at i)resent dependent upon the East 
fork of the Platte and Fishing river and some smaller mill-streams 
for their water power. But when the great mill sites on the main 
branch of Little Platte shall he improved, the western part of the 
county will be happily situated for milling facilities. These sites are 
in the territory recently acquired by the State. Limestone and sand- 
stone abound in Clay, and the " lost stone" is used for milling pur- 
poses in oi'dinary or country work milling. 

There are eleven grist mills that are run with water power in Clay, 
which are not suflicient for grinding bread stufls for all the inhabitants 
of the county, and horse-mills are therefore still in use. There is 
likewise a steam mill a few miles from Liberty, on the iMissouri 
river. 

THE MORMON WAR." 

In 1832 the Mormons, under their Prophet, Joe Smith, came into 
Jackson, where the previous year large tracts of land had been en- 
tered and purchased for their benefit, and began to occupy and 
possess the land, with the intention, as they said, of remaining for 
" all time." But their years in that land were few and full of trouble. 
They were in constant collision with their Gentile neighbors, who 
frecjucntly tied them up and whip[)cd them with cowhides and hickory 
switches, derided their religion, boycotted them where they did not 
openly persecute them, and at last engaged in a deadly encounter 
with them, tarred and feathered their bishop, threw their printing 
press into the river, and finally drove them from their homes and out 
of the county. 



' The Knous axes were made by Nathau Knous & Sons, of Fayette, Howard 
county. 

- See pages 54-57. 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 133 

Affrighted and terror-stricken, many of tiie Mormons took refuge 
in Clay. Every vacant cabin in the south half of the county was occu- 
pied by the fugitives. Many of them among the men obtained em- 
ployment with the farmers ; some of the women engaged as domestics, 
and others taught school. A few heads of families were able to and 
did purchase land and homes, but the majority rented. The Clay 
county citizens received them kindly, ministered to their wants and 
rendered them so many favors that to this day, away out in Salt 
Luke, the old Mormons hold in grateful remembrance the residents of 
the county of 1834-3().' 

The Jackson county people were indignant at the reception given 
the Mormons by the citizens of Clay, and stigmatized some of our 
people as "Jack Mormons," a term yet used. On one occasion a 
delegation of eleven Jackson county citizens, led by Maj. Sam. Owens 
and James Campbell, came over to Liberty to hold a council with the 
Gentile citizens and Mormons of Clay in regard to the lands from 
which the Mormons had been driven. The title to these lands was in 
the hands of the Mormons, but the Gentiles wished to extinguish it 
by purchase, if it could be obtained at their — the Gentiles' — price. 
Accordingly they offered the Mormons an insignificant sum for their 
lands and farms, many of which were already in possession of certain 
citizens of Jackson, but this offer was refused. The Clay county 
people generally indorsed the refusal. 

Returning home that night, in great ill humor with their neighbors 
on this side of the river, the delegation of Jackson met with a sad 
misfortune. As they were crossing the river at Ducker's ferry, when 
about, tlie middle of the river the boat sank and five of them were 



1 An old citizen of Iiidepeudence has recently published in the Kau.sas City Journal 
an interesting article ou the Mormon troubles in Jackson county. One paragraph of 
this article is as follows: — 

True history, however, must record the fact that the deluded followers of the so- 
called prophet, Joseph Smith, in their first effort to organize and establish a religious 
socialistic community in Jackson county, Mo., were unjustly and outrageously mal- 
treated by the original settlers, that is seen in the tragic and pitiful scenes which oc- 
curred during the last part of their sojourn in this, their promised inheritance, their 
Zion, and New Jerusalem. With scarcely one exception, the settlers were aggressors 
so fur as overt acts of hostility were concerned. During the last year of their stay 
the continued persecutions to which they were subjected excited the sympathy of 
many outside of the county, especially of the people of Clay county, who gave them 
an asylum and assistance for a year or two after their expulsion. Indeed, material 
aid and arms were furnished them by citizens of Clay before their expulsion; a wagon 
with a quantity of guns was stopped near the south part of Kansas City and seized 
by parties on the watch. 



134 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

drowued. Three of the unfortunate men were Ihe Job, James Camp- 
bell, and Everett. The casuality increased the indignation al- 
ready felt against the people of Clay. 

By the year 1838, all, or nearly all, of the Mormons had left Clay 
county and joined the Mormon settlement, at or near Far West or at 
other points in Caldwell and Daviess counties, and in October of that 
year the " Mormon War" broke out. Among the troops dispatched 
to Far West during that month were some companies of militia from 
(ylay, belonging to Gen. Donii)han's lirigade of Maj.-Gen. D. R. At- 
chison's division. Two of these companies were commanded by Capts. 
Prior and O. P. Moss. 

Of Capt. Prior's company Peter Holtzclaw was first lieutenant. 
He, with 25 men from the northern part of the county, became sepa- 
rated from the main command and did not leave with it. The detach- 
ment marched across into Ray county and fell in with the Jackson 
county regiment which had refused to march through Clay, owing to 
the animosity existing, and had crossed the river at Lexington. 

All the Clay county men were present in line confronting the breast- 
works when the Mormon camp at Far West was surrounded, and wit- 
nessed all the proceedings. They saw the white flag pass back and forth 
from the Mormons, and saw the robber, Capt. Bogard, of the Missou- 
rians, fire on it ; saw the cannoneers stand with lighted matches beside 
their pieces, having sent word to Gen. Doniphan that they were ready 
to fire : saw suddenly a white flag go up ; saw the Mormon battalion 
march out with " Gen." G. W. Hinkle, brave as a lion, at its head, 
and form a hollow square and ground arms, and then saw Hinkle ride 
up to Doniphan, unbuckle his sword and detach his pistols from their 
holsters and pass them over to his captor, who quietly remarked, 
" Give them to my adjutant." Then they saw Hinkle dash the tears 
from his face, and ride back to his soldiers. 

The Mormons agreed fully to Doniphan's conditions — that they 
should deliver up their arms, surrender their prominent leaders for 
trial, and the remainder of them, with their families, leave the State. 
As hostages, Joe Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Lyman Wight, G. W. Hin- 
kle, and other prominent Mormons, delivered themselves np to be 
held for the faithful performance of the hard conditions.' 



1 Col. Lewis Wood, of this count}', vvlio was present, states to the compiler tliat at 
a council of tlie leading militia officers held the night following the surrender, it was 
voted by nearly three to one to put these leaders to death, and their lives were only 
saved by the intervention of Gen. Doniphan, who not only urged his authority as brig- 
adier, but declared he would defend the prisoners with his own life. 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 135 

The Mormon leaders were taken before a court of inquiry at Rich- 
mond, Judge Austin A. King presiding. He remanded them to 
Daviess county, to await the action of the grand jury on a charge of 
treason against the State, and murder. The Daviess county jail being 
poor and insecure, the prisoners were brought to Liberty and confined 
in the old stone jail (still standing) for some time. Many citizens of 
the county remember to have seen Joe Smith when he was a prisoner 
in the old Liberty jail. 

In due time indictments for various offenses, treason, murder, 
resisting legal process, etc., were found against Joe Smith and his 
brother, Hiram Smith, Sidney Rigdon, G. W. Hiukle, Caleb Baldwin, 
Parley P. Pratt, Luraan Gibbs, Maurice Phelps, King Follett, Wm. 
Osburn, Arthur Morrison, Elias Higbee and others. Sidney Rigdon 
was released on a writ of habeas corjms. The others requested a 
change c)f venue, and Judge King sent their cases to Boone county 
for trial. On the way from Liberty to Columbia Joe Smith escaped ; 
it is generally believed that the guard was bribed. Parley Pratt 
escaped from the Columbia jail. The others were either tried and 
acquitted, or the cases against them were dismissed. The entire pro- 
ceedings in the cases were disgraceful in the extreme. There never 
was a handful of evidence that the accused were guilty of the crimes 
with which they were chai'ged. Those that were tried were defended 
by Gen. Doniphan and James S. Rollins. 

4 




CHAPTEE IV. 

HISTORY OF THE COUNTY FROM 1840 TO 1850. 

The Political Canvass of 1840 and 1844 — Elections of 1S4G — The Great Flood of 
18-44 — Miscellaneous — Negro Killing — Tom Haggerty's Case — Clay Countyin 
the Mexican War — List of Capt. Moss's Company, and Sketch of its Services — 
The Political Canvass of 1848 — The Jackson Resolutions — Benton's Appeal — His 
Meeting at Liberty. 

THE POLITICAL CANVASS OF 1840 AND 1844. 

The Presidential campaign of 1840 was one of the most exciting in 
the history of the country. It marked the advent of the Whig party 
into power under Harrison and Tyler, and the Democrats, under Van 
Buren and Johnson, were overwhelmingly defeated. Even iu Mis- 
soui'i, where the Whigs were iu a minority, they were extremely active 
and held numerous monster meetings, at which their best speakers 
orated, and where they paraded log cabins, barrels of hard cider, live 
raccoons, and other emblems of their political heraldry. One meeting 
at Rocheport, Boone county, lasted three days. Gen. Doniphan was 
one of the speakers. 

In Clay the Democrats were led by Gen. D. R. Atchison, Col. John 
Thornton and Capt. Geo. Wallis. The Whigs were marshalled by 
Gen. A. W. Doniphan, Maj. John Dougherty and William T. Wood. 
Notwithstanding that there is a recollection that in this canvass the 
Whigs carried the county, the records show they did not, the vote 
standing: Van Buren, 649; Harrison, 457; Democratic majority, 192. 

But in 1844 the Whigs swept the polls by a good majority for 
Henry Clay and Frelinghuysen over Polk and Diillas hy the follow- 
ing vote: Clay, 765 ; Polk, 552. The canvass had been full of in- 
terest, and the old Keutuckians i*allied largely to the " favorite son " 
of their native State. The political hosts were under the same leader- 
ship as in 1840. 

ELECTIONS OF 1846. 

At the August election, 1846, Congressmen were first elected from 

Missouri by districts. Hitherto they had been chosen b}' a general 

ticket voted on by all the voters in the State. As now, Missouri was 

strongly Democratic, and the result had nniformlj' been the choosing 

(136) 



HI8TORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 137 

of ii " 8()lid " Democratic delegation. The Whigs were growing in 
mimbcrs, however, and as there was a tendency to bringing out Inde- 
pendent Democratic candidates, thus dividing the Democratic vote, 
the chances that Whigs might thereafter be chosen caused the major- 
ity in the LegisUiture to adopt the district plan, care being taken that 
each district be surely and safely Democratic. 

The district in which Clay was situated (the Fourth) was composed 
of the counties of Adair, Linn, Grundy, Livingston, Carroll, Ray, 
Caldwell, Clay, Platte, Daviess, Clinton, Buchanan, Andrew, Holt, 
De Kalb, Harrison, Nodaway, Putnam, Gentry, Atchison, Mercer and 
Sullivan, all of Northwest and a jjortion of Northeast Missouri. 

Hon. Willard P. Hall, then a private in Capt. Moss' Clay county 
company, of Doniphan's regiment, and in service, was the regular 
Democratic nominee (nominated at Gallatin), and opposed to him 
was Hon. James H. Birch, of Platte, who announced himself as an Li- 
dependent Democratic candidate. The Whigs, largely in the minor- 
ity, brought out no candidate, and a strong effort was made to prac- 
tically unite them in the support of Birch. The latter stumped the 
district, denouncing his opponent as having enlisted not wholly out 
of patriotic impulses, but as a stroke of demagoguery, to excite sym- 
pathy and win admiration. 

But Hall, who was already a noted lawyer and politician, marched 
along with his company toward Santa Fe, and wrote his reply to 
Birch and sent it back to his district, where it was printed and circu- 
lated and proved a most effective cami)aign document. When the 
election came otT Hall was elected by nearly 3,000 majority.' Many 
Whigs voted for him. He and Birch had, however, in the early 
spring canvassed a portion of the disti'ict together, to secure the Dem- 
ocratic nomination. 

The vote at the election in this county stood: — 

Constitution of 1845 — For, 809 ; against, 211. Congress — Hall, 
regular Democrat, 564; Birch, Independent, 463. Legislature — 
Coleman Younger, Whig, 498 ; Henry Owens, Democrat, 575. Two 
members were chosen, and there was no opposition to Younger and 
Owens. Sheriff"— Samuel Hadley, Democrat, 083: H. M. Riley, 
Whig, 468. 

In the summer Hon. Sterling Price resigned his seat in Congress to 
become the colonel of a Missouri regiment in the Mexican War, and 



' Though Hall was duly informed of his election he did not at once return home, bu 
with four others of the Clay company volunteered to accompany Gen. Kearney from 
Santa Fe to California, and was commissioncda lieutenant in Capt. Iludsou's company. 



138 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

in November a special State election was held to fill the vacancy. The 
candidates were Hon. Wm. M. McDaniel, of Marion county ("Billy 
the Buster " ), and Hon. Wm. :M. Kiiicaid, of Platte county, the former 
a Democrat, the latter a Whig. Hon. J. T. V. Thompson, of Clay, 
was an Independent candidate, but was voted for in but a few counties. 
McDaniel was elected by about 500 over Kincaid, although the vote 
was small, and some 30 counties in the State did not hold an election. 
In this county the vote stood: Kincaid, 421; Thompson, 184; 
McDaniel, 30. 

THE GREAT FLOOD OF 1844. 

The extraordinary high water of 1844 will long be commemorated 
in the history of the Missouri valley. The river was higher in that 
year than in any other now known, exceeding the great overflow of 
1826. The " June rise " of that year was extraordinary, and it was 
reinforced by the unprecedented flood in the Kansas river. 

Judge Eansom, of Kansas City, an old settler, says that the rise in 
the Kansas was caused by heavy rains along the Republican and Smoky 
Hill forks, and other tributaries of the river in Kansas. The depth 
of fall of the Kansas at Kansas City, where it empties into the Mis- 
souri, is much greater than that of the Missouri at that point. Dis- 
charging great volumes of water day and night, the Kansas cut square 
across the" Big Muddy and broke in huge breakers on the banks on the 
opposite side^ and at last over into the Clay county bottoms, doing 
great damage. The weather was very peculiar ; it rained a veritable 
^' forty days and forty nights." Every evening, out of a clear sky, 
just as the sun went down, there arose a dark, ominous looking cloud 
in the northwest. Flashes of lightning and the heaviest thunder 
followed, and about ten o'clock the rain would begin to fall in tor- 
rents. The bridges were ueariy all washed away. The next day the 
sun would rise clear and beautiful, and not a cloud would fleck the 
sky as a reminder of the disturbed elements of the night. 

In Clay county the days on which the flood was the highest were 
June 14, 15 and 16. The river was over its banks everywhere, and 
all the low bottom lands were submerged everywhere. 

The crops of that season were well advanced, and promised a glor- 
ious harvest ; vast flelds of wheat, oats, rye and corn were sul)merged, 
and the waters receded to leave them a desolate waste. Great sufler- 
ing necessarily followed. The corn in the bottoms was especi.iUy 
luxuriant, and many persons were dependent upon the successful 
cultivation of that staple for a living. When it was destroyed their 
only resource for the necessities of life was the charity of the people. 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 139 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



Ill the summer of 1846 the prices of produce were as follows : 
Hemp, $2.50 per cwt. ; wheat, 45 and 50 cents per bushel ; flour, $2 
and $2.50 per barrel ; hams, 4 cents per pound ; " hog round," 3^ 
cents. Shipping rates to St. Louis from Liberty Lauding were, for 
hemp, $6 and $7 per ton ; wheat and corn, 16| cents per bushel ; bacon, 
$2 per hhd. ^ 

About April 1 the steamer Wakendah struck a rock at the mouth 
of Fishing river and sank to the bottom. The boat and cargo were a 
total loss. A few days later the Tobacco Plant was snagged near 
Richfield and sank, but was soon after raised, brought down to Liberty 
Landing and repaired. 

On May (3, 1846, a hurricane passed over the central part of the 
county, from southwest to northeast. Three miles south of Liberty 
it blew down a double log house belonging to a Mr. Simuis and pros- 
trated trees, fences, etc. 

December 26, 1846, the first railroad meeting in aid of the Hannibal 
& St. Joseph railroad was held at Liberty. E. M. Samuel was chair- 
man. A general meeting was called to meet at Fayette, March 8, 
1847, " to consider the propriety of building a railroad from Hannibal 
to some point on the Missouri river," and the following named dele- 
gates were appointed from Clay county : Thomas W. DcCourcey, A. 
H. F. Payne, Walter S. Watkins, E. M. Samuel, Graham L. Hughes 
and Col. Henry L. Routt. 

In the winter of 1847, when the old Masonic College was to be 
removed from Marion county, a strong effort was made to have it 
located at Liberty. The people worked hard for it. Even the 
ladies turned out, held meetings, made speeches themselves, and 
subscribed handsomely. The college was located at Lexington, how- 
ever. 

In the winter and early spring of 1848 a temperance wave struck 
Liberty and rolled from thence over the entire county, bearing along 
many, but unfortunately not washing away all the whisky. A lodge 
of the Sons of Temperance was organized at Liberty March 13, with 
Col. H. L. Routt as H. P. ; Benj. Hayes, W. A. ; H. M. Jones, R. 
S. ; J. W. Ringo, F. S., and Isaac Palmer, treasurer. The lodge 
numbered 65 members, some of whom were among the most promi- 
nent citizens of Liberty. A large temperance celebration was held 
under the direction of the lodge in May. 



140 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

It was some time in the first few years of tiie decade beginning 
with 1840 that the ninrder of Chavez, a wealtliy Spanish-Mexican, 
occurred. Chavez was a merchant and trader of Santa Fe, who had 
a branch house at Independence. At the time of his murder he was 
on his way from New Mexico to Missouri, and had several thousand 
dollars in his possession, chiefly in Spanish doubloons. 

A party in Liberty was organized to go out on the Santa Fe trail, 
along which Chavez was known to be coming, and intercept him and 
his party and murder and i%b thorn. This was done at a point neav 
the crossing of the Arkansas river. Chavez was murdered and his 
money, or a large portion of it, was found secreted in one of the axles 
of a wagon. 

Developments led to the arrest of several parties in Liberty and 
their trial in the United States court at St. Louis. John McDauiel, 
a young clerk of Liberty, was convicted and hung. Further par- 
ticulars are not well enough remembered to be stated with exactness. 

NEGRO KILLING. 

In August, 1848, two negro slaves had an affray at Liberty Land- 
ing, which resulted in the death of one of them. The particulars are 
thus briefly given in the current number of the Tribune: — 

On Saturday evening last a dispute arose between two negro men, 
at Liberty, the property of Robert Thompson and John D. Ewing, 
which resulted in the death of the negro belonging to Mr. T. On 
Monday morning the negro man of Mr. Ewing was tried before Justice 
Tillcry and committed for further trial. 

How the case was disposed of is tiuis stated in the same paper in 
October : — 

The black man of Mr. J. D. Ewing, of this county, charged with 
nmrder of Mr. Robert Thompson's black man, had his trial on Mon- 
day last and was sentenced to receive 39 lashes and transported out 
of the State. 

iiaggkrty's case. 

In the summer of 1848 one Thomas Haggerty was arrested and 
imprisoned in the Liberty jail on a charge of horse-stealing. He sent 
for Col. Alex. W. Doniphan to defend him. It is related that Col. 
Doniphan said to the prisoner: "It is very hard to clear a horse 
thief. It is far easier to acquit him of murder. There is more of bias 
and prejudice against men who steal horses than against men who take 
human life." 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 141 

Though this was not meant for ;i hint that he should commit mur- 
der, Haggerty acted upon it as such, and the same night fell upon an- 
other inmate of the jail, a negro, and wantonly murdered him, out- 
right, in cold blood, and without any sort of provocation whatever. 
The negro was named "Tom" Lincoln, and was temporarily placed 
in the jail for safe keeping, preparatory to being sent South and sold 
to the cotton planters. Haggerty was indicted for murder, but in 
March, 1849, escaped from jail, went to California, and was never 
recaptured: He wrote one letter to Col. Doniphan, however, and de- 
tailed the manner of his escape. 

CLAY COUNTY IN THE MEXICAN WAR. 

The annexation of Texas was the alleged cause of the declaration 
of war by Mexico against the United States in April, 1846, but the 
more immediate cause was the occupation by the American army of 
the disputed territory lying between the rivers Nueces and Rio 
Grande. May 1^5, 1846, a counter-declaration by the American Con- 
gress was made, that " a state of war exist between the United 
States and Mexico." 

President Polk called on Gov. Edwards of this State for a regi- 
ment of volunteers to join Gen. Kearney's " Army of the West." 
There was a hearty response from all quarters of Missouri, and, as 
in all other wars through which the country has passed. Clay county 
bore her full part. 

May 30, 1846, a war meeting was held at Liberty. J. T. V. 
Thompson was chairman. Speeches were made, it was resolved to 
I'aise a company for the war, and a number of volunteers put down 
their names at once. As the company was to be mounted and a-num- 
ber of volunteers had no horses and were unable to buy them, a com- 
mittee, composed of J. M. Hughes, M. M. Samuels, Alvin Lightburn 
and J. T. V. Thompson, were appointed to raise means to mount such 
volunteers as were unable to mount themselves. 

As reported in the Tribune there was a generous and hearty sub- 
scription. James M. Hughes gave $100 in cash. A. Lightburn, W. 
H. Wymer, S. McGauhey, J. C. Christy, Garlichs & Hale each gave 
$20; Clark & Wilson, $25, and other parties smaller sums. Col. J. 
T. V. Thompson gave four horses, E. M. Samuel, two, and A. Light- 
burn, John R. Keller, Robt. Walker, Joseph Courtney, Garrard Long, 
Samuel Hadley, E. D. Murray, R. Neally and Robt. Atkins each sub- 
scribed one horse. 

A company was soon raised. Volunteers poured in not only from 



142 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 



all parts of this county, but from other counties. More men offered 
themselves than could be accepted. By the 6th of June the roll was 
full and the company left for Ft. Leavenworth, the place of rendez- 
vous. They arrived the same evening, were mustered into service 
the next day, and immediately went into camp. 

Upon the organization of the regiment, the following was the mus- 
ter roll of the Clay county company, which became 



COMPANY 0, 1st MISSOURI MOUNTED VOLUNTEERS. 



O. P. Moss, Captain. 
L. B. Sublette, First Lieutenant. 
James H. Moss, Second Lieutenant. 
Thomas Odgen, Third Lieutenant. 
Thomas McCarty, First Sergeant. 
James Long, Second Sergeant. 



Wm. Wallis, Third Sergeant. 
A. K. McClintocli, Fourth Sergeant. 
George H. Wallis, 1st Corporal. 
Carroll Scaggs, Second Corporal. 
John S. Groom, Third Corporal. 
Martin Cloud, Fourth Corporal. 



PRIVATES. 



Abraham Estes, Bugler. 

Henry B. Ammons. 

John Brisco. 

Wra. Beal. 

Park Ben thai. 

Wash Bell. 

James T. Barnes, Blks'ith. 

James Burns. 

Sherrod Burton. 

James Cooper. 

Smith Cumins. 

Wash Crowley. 

Ed. Crabster. 

John G. Christy. 

James Chorn. 

Rufus Cox. 

Allen Cox. 

Wm. Campbell. 

Hiram Chaney. 

N. Paley Carpenter. 

Hudson Clajlon. 

Wash W. Drew. 

Harvey Darneal. 

Matt. Duncan. 

Wm. Duncan. 

Theo. Duncan. 

Eiley Everett. 

Henry Ellis. 

Harvy W. English. 

Spencer Faubion. 

Matt. Franklin. 

Riley Franklin. 

John M. Findley. 

Thos. Fielding. 



Robert Fleming, 
Geo. Fleming. 
Wm. C. Gunler. 
Hiram Green. 
Carroll Hughes. 
John T. Hughes. 
Willard P. Hall. 
Doc. Hall. 
James Hall. 
John D. Holt. 
Chas. Human. 
Bailor Jacobs. 
Newton Jacobs. 
And. Job. 
John Leard. 
Wm.T. Leard. 
James Lamar. 

Matt. Letchworth. 

Richardson Long (Suthey) . 

Dick Long. 

McNeice. 

Wesley Martin. 

Eli Murray. 

Dewilton Mosby. 

James McGee. 

John J. Moore. 

Abraham Miller. 

Benj. W. Marsh. 

Albert McQuidely. 

Richard A. Neeley. 

John Nash. 

John Neal. 

Edward Owens. 

Jesse Price. 



Wm. Pence. 
Josiah Pence. 
Peter C. Pixlee. 
Ben. Pendleton. 

Pendegrass. 

Martin Ringo. 
Alonzo Rudd. 

Robt. Sherer. 
John Shouse. 
John Story. 

James Sites. 

Cunningham Scott. 

James Saunders. 

Thos. Stephenson. 

Obadiad Sullivan. 

Addison Smith. 

Shelton Samuels. 

Jos. Sanderson. 

Wm. P. Snowden. 

Riley Stoutt. 

Joshua Tillery. 

Henry Tillery". 

Thompson. 

And. Tracy. 

Thos. Waller. 

Wm. Wells. 

James Wills. 

Hardin Warren. 

John Warren. 

Gideon Wood. 

James York. 

John York. 

Jack Laidlow. (Col'd.) 
Capt. Serv't. 



For some time it had been understood that one of Clay county's 
honored and most honorable citizens, Gen. Alex. W. Doniphan, would 
in all probability be the colonel of the regiment making up at Leaven- 
worth. He was pushed forward for the position by the people of Clay 
of all parties and shades of opinion, and nothing was left undone by 



HISTORY OF CLAT COUNTY. 143 

them to attain for him this distinction. The colonel of the regiment 
was to be designated by election, every member having a vote. 
All the electioneering therefore had to be among the volunteers. 
One specimen of how this was done may here be given. 

Capt. John W. Reid's company, of Saline county, marched through 
to Leavenworth, via Liberty. When they reached Liberty the citizens 
received them and took excellent care of them. In a journal of M. B. 
Edwards, a member of the company, published a year or two since, ^ and 
detailing the experiences of his company, appears the following: — 

Sunday, June 7, Liberty, Clay county, was reached. Here the 
company was well entertained, given suppers, beds, and breakfast at 
the hotels, excellent pasture and forage for the horses, and shown 
every attention. But although it may be wrong to impugn the good 
actions of the people of Lil)erty, I was rather disposed to attribute 
their conduct more to policy tlian to patriotism, for Hon. A. W. 
Doniphan, a prominent and popular citizen of the place, has declared 
himself a candidate for colonel of the regiment to which we are to be 
attached ! 

The election of field officers came off at Leavenworth, July 19 ; Gen. 
Doniphan was elected colonel, C. F. Ruff, lieutenant-colonel, and 
Wni. Gilpin, major. Doniphan and Ruff were both of Clay county; 
Gilpin was from Jackson. Col. Ruff resigned September 17, following 
his election, and was appointed captain in the regular army. He was 
a rigid disciplinarian, too strict for the volunteers, and on that account 
very unpopular with them. Col. Congreve Jackson, of Howard 
county, succeeded Ruff as lieutenant-colonel. 

At the time of his election as commander of the First Missouri Col. 
Doniphan was 38 years of age. He had, however, commanded it bri- 
gade of militia during the Mormon War, and unlike many another 
" colonel," had before " set a squadron in the field," and knew gun- 
powder from black sand. He, too, was a Whig, but his Democratic 
soldiers voted for him, and Gov. Edwards and President Polk gladly 
commissioned him. It was a singular fact, moreover, that while the 
Whigs, as a party, opposed the Mexican War, perhaps a majority of 
the Americans who fought in it were Whigs. It came to be called a 
Democratic war, and a AVhig fight. Gens. Scott and Taylor were 
prominent Whigs, as were other general officers. Of the 114 men 
which at fii'st composed the Clay county company, 90 were Whigs and 
oniv 24 were Democrats. 



1 History of Saline county, p. 240. 



144 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

June 23, a delegation of citizens of the county, a large number of 
whom were ladies, went up from Libert^', on the steamer Missouri 
Mail, to Forth Leavenworth and presented the Clay county company 
with a beautiful flag. Mrs. Hannah O. Cunningham, wife of Prof. 
Oliver Cunningham, made the presentation address, and Capt. O. P. 
Moss responded. The flag was of silk, made by the ladies them- 
selves, and bore the motto : " 77<e love of country is the love of God." 
As the day was rainy and the ground where the company had assem- 
bled was unfavorable, the presentation was made on the hurricane' 
deck of the boat. 

The flag was carried safely through the war, brought home, and was 
unfortunately consumed in the fire which destroyed the court-house, 
in 1857. The flag had been deposited in the building for safe keeping. 

The services rendered the country by Col. Doniphan and his regi- 
ment need not here be enumerated. Other volumes have been de- 
voted to them, and they are read and known by every school boy who 
studies the history of his country, The remarkable expedition to 
Santa Fe and thence to Chihuahua won tiie plaudits of the American 
people, the commendations of military chieftains and the admiration 
of mankind.^ 

After a stay of 20 days Doniphan's regiment left Fort Leavenworth 
Friday, June 26, 1846, for Santa Fe, New Mexico, which place it 
reached August 18. En route, two Clay county men, James Choru 
and Hon. Thos. McCarty, took prisoner a son of the Mexican General 
Salazar, a remarkable feat under the circumstances. At Santa Fe 
Willard P. Hall (then member of Congress elect) volunteered in 
Capt. Hudson's company, and accompanied Gen. Kearney to Cali- 
fornia. 

The Clay company took part in the engagements at the Bracito, 
December 25, 1846, and at Sacramento, February 28, 1847, and then 
marched on into old Mexico. 

Of the engagement at Sacramento, wherein, as is reported, and has 
been frequently published, only two Americans were killed (Maj. 
Samuel Owens, of Independence, who was not a soldier, and A. A. 
Kirkpatrick, of Capt. Walton's Lafayette company), while more than 
tliree hundred Mexicans were slain, — of this phenomenal battle, Gcu. 
Taylor was pleased to say in orders : — 

* * * The commanding general would at the same time an- 
nounce another signal success won by the gallantry of our troops on 



' For further mention of Doniphan's regiment, see p. 57 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 145 

the 28th of February, near the city-of Chihuahua. A columu of Mis- 
souri volunteers, less than a thousand strong, with a light field battery, 
attacked a Mexican force, many times their superior in numbers, in 
an entrenched position, captured its artillery and baggage, and de- 
feated it with great loss. * * * By command of 

Major General Taylor. 

The vast superiority of tiie Anglo-Saxon race, though only one to 
four, carried all before them, and the battle was decided, though not 
finished, in an hour after it began. The battle of Sacramento was 
fought on the 28th of February, 1847. After the battle Doniphan 
took possession of the city of Chihuahua, and capital of the State, 
containing a population of 25,000 souls. 

On the 24th of April, 1847, after remaining in Chihuahua two 
months, the regiment was ordered home, which news was received joy- 
fully, and the men began their march for Missouri on the 26th of April, 
1847, moving down into Mexico, to Gen. Wool's headquarters, where 
they were dischai-ged, their yearof service having expired. Upon being 
mustered out and receiving their pay, they marched to the seaboard. 

On the 5th of June, 1847, Doniphan's regiment left Mexico for the 
United States, arriving at New Orleans on the 15th. Before it left 
Mexico it received the following very complimentary mention from 
Brig. Geu. Wool, cojumanding division : — 

Headquarters at Buena Vista, May 22, 1847. 
Special Orders No. 273. 

I. The general commanding takes great pleasure in expressing the 
gratification he has received this afternoon in meeting the Missouri 
volunteei"s. They are about to close their present term of military 
service, after having rendered, in the course of the arduous duties they 
have been called upon to perform, a series of highly important serv- 
ices, crowned by decisive and glorious victories. No troops can point 
to a more brdliant career than those commanded by Col. Doniphan, 
and none will ever hear of the l)attles of Bracito and Sacramento with- 
out a feeling of admiration for the men who gained them. The State 
of Missouri has just cause to be proud of tiie achievements of the men 
who represented her in the army against Mexico, and she will, no 
doubt, receive them on their return with all the joy and satisfaction 
to which a due appreciation of their merits and services so justly en- 
titles them. In bidding them adieu, the general wishes to Col. Don- 
iphan, his oflicers and men, a happy return to their families and 
homes. By command of 

Irvin McDowell,' A. A. Gen. Brio. Gen. John E. Wool. 



' General in command of the Federal array at the tlrst battle of Bull Run, Va., July 
21, 1861. 



146 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

After an interesting experience of a homeward voyage, a grand re- 
ception at St. Louis, the survivors reached their Missouri homes. 
The Clay county company arrived at home about the 1st of Jul}', and 
on the 15th were given a grand public reception and dinner in a grove, 
a little southeast of Liberty. There was a large procession in charge 
of Col. J. T. v. Thompson as marshal. Col. H. L. Routt delivered 
an address of welcome to the soldiers, and this address was responded 
to by Col. Doniphan. Other speakers were Gen. David R. Atchison 
and Hon. James H. Birch. The dinner was a magniticent affair. One' 
cake was five feet in height, and the baker was Miss Mary Dale, now 
Mrs. John Morris. There were present thousands of people, one of 
the largest concourses that ever assembled in Libert}'. 

Not all of the volunteers returned. John M. Finley died at El 
Paso, of typhoid fever, aged 21. Wm. Duncan was another that died 
in New Mexico, at Bent's Fort. John D. Leard was shot by Ben. 
W. Marsh at the Valverde crossing of the Rio del Norte. Marsh was 
tried by court-martial but acquitted. James Wills died en route to 
Chihuahua, below El Paso. Gideon Wood was slightly wounded at 
the battle of Bracito. 

THE POLITICAL CANVASS OF 1848. 

This being the year of a Presidential election, politics engrossed a 
considerable portion of the attention of our people, and Whigs and 
" Locofocos," — as the Democrats were nicknamed — were vigilant 
and enthusiastic in the support of their parties. 

The candidates for Governor were James S. Rollins, Whig, and 
Austin A. King, Democrat ; for Congress, Edward M. Samuel, Whig, 
of Clay, and AVillard P. Hall, Democrat, of Buchanan. The vote at the 
August election in this county was as follows : — 

Governor — Rollins, 745; King, 531. 
Congress — Samuel, 570; Hall, 578. 

Legislature — Thos. F. Swetnam, Whig, 739 ; H. L. Routt, Dem- 
ocrat, 478. 

Sherirt"— O. P. Moss, Whig, 654; Samuel Hadley, Democrat, (545. 

Hall was I'e-elected to Congi-ess by a large majority, and in the 
State the vote for Governor was : King, 48,921 ; Rollins, 33,968. 

Early in the year 1847 a movement was started in the country by 
the Whigs to make Gen. Zachary Taylor, then commanding the armies 
of the United States in Mexico, a candidate for President. The move- 
ment was popular, grew in public favor month by month, and at the 
Whig national convention in 1848 he was nominated without opposi-> 
tion. The AVhigs were greatly delighted. Gen. Taylor was given the 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 147 

sobriquet of "Rough and Ready," or " Old Zach," and a campaign 
of fuss and fustian was inaugurated, similar to that of 1840. 

The fight on the part of the Whigs, or Taylor and Fillmore men, was 
spirited and vigorous. They were determined not to lose the battle this 
year through inaction on their part. A verse of one of their cam- 
paign songs ran : — 

Jimmy Polk we thought a joke in eighteen forty-four, 
When he was made the nominee 'way down at Baltimore. 
But we'll look out what we're about before it is too late, 
And we'll have no such cruel tricks played off in 'forty-eight. 

In this district Col. Doniphan was at first elected by the Whigs as 
"their candidate for election, but he declined, and William A. Witcher, 
also of Clay, was selected in his stead. Several meetings were held 
in the county this year, and at the November election, though there 
was a reduced vote, the Whigs easily carried the county, the follow- 
ing being the vote of the townships : — 

Toionships. Taylor. Cass. 

Gallatiu 46 43 

Liberty 413 224 

Fishing River 36 65 

Washington 52 4G 

Platte 79 40 

Total 626 418 

At this election Mordecai Oliver, of Ray, was elected circuit attor- 
ney over Chas. J. Hughes, of Caldwell. 

On the 9th of December the Whigs had a grand celebration at Lib- 
erty over the election of Gen. Taylor. A large meeting was presided 
over by Madison Miller, and Col. Doniphan, Mr. Witcher and Col. Pitt 
made speeches. 

CENSUS OF 1848. 

By the census of 1848 the county's population aggregated 9,426, as 
follows : — 

Total white population 6,882 

Total slave population 2,530 

Total free negroes 14 

Total 9,426 

The population of Liberty was 728. 



148 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 



THE JACKSON RESOLUTIONS. 



Early in the year 1849 there began a series of discussions in the 
Missouri Legislature concerning the slavery question, or, rather, the 
power of Congress over slavery in the Territories. On the 15th of Jan- 
uary Hon. C. F. Jackson, Senator from Howard, afterward Governor 
of the State, introduced into the Legislature a series of resolutions, 
as follows : — 

Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri: That 
the Federal constitution was the result of a compromise between the 
conflicting interests of the States which formed it, and in no part of 
that instrument is to be found any delegation of power to Congress to 
legislate on the subject of slavery, excepting some special provisions, 
having in view the prospective abolition of the African slave trade, 
made for securing the recovery of fugitive slaves ; any attemjjt there- 
fore on the part of Congiess to legislate on tlie subject, so as to aft'ect 
the institution of slavery in the States, in the District of Columl)ia, 
or in the Territories, is, to say the least, a violation of the j)rinciples 
upon which that instrument was founded. 

2. That the Territories, acquired by the blood and treasure of the 
whole nation, ougiit to be governed for the common lieneflt of the 
people of all the States, and any organization of the territorial govern- 
ments excluding the citizens of any part of the Union from removing 
to such Territories with their property, would be an exercise of power 
by Congress inconsistent with the spirit upon which our Federal com- 
pact was based, insulting to the sovereignty and dignity of the States 
thus afl'ected, calculated to alienate one portion of the Union from the 
other, and tending ultimately to disunion. 

3. Tliat this General Assembly regard the conduct of the Northern 
States on the subject of slavery as releasing the slave-holding States 
from all further adherence to the basis of compromise, fixed on bv the 
act of Congress of March (i, 1820, even if such act ever did impose 
any obligation upon the slave-holding States, and authorizes them to 
insist upon their rights under the constitution ; but for the sake of 
harmony and for the preservation of our Federal Union, they will still 
sanction the application of the principles of the Missouri Compromise 
to the recent territorial acquisitions, if by such concession future ag- 
gressions upon the equal rights of the States may be arrested and the 
spirit of anti-slavery fanaticism be extinguished. 

4. The right to prohibit slavery in any Territory belongs exclusively 
to the people thereof, and can only be exercised i)y them in forming 
their constitution for a State government, or in their sovereign capacity 
as an independent State. 

5. That in the event of the passage of any act of Congress conflict- 
ing with the principles herein expressed, Missouri will be found in 
hearty co-operation with the slave-holding States, in such measures as 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 149 

may be deemed necessary for our mutual protection against the en- 
croachments of Northern fanaticism. 

6. That our Senators in Congress he instructed and our Represent- 
atives be requested to act in conformity to these resolutions. 

The foregoing resolutions were known as the " Jackson Resolu- 
tions," from the name of their mover, but their real author was Hon. 
W. B. Napton, of Saline county, latterly a Judge of the Supreme 
Court, who admitted tiie fiict to the writer. Space is given to an ac- 
count of the Jackson resolutions in this volume from the fact that at 
the time they engaged a large share of the attention of the leading 
politicians and prominent men of the county. The Representative of 
the county voted against them, and the sentiments of but few of his 
constituents were in their favor. There were many who thought their 
passage untimely, unwise, and that they foreboded eventually a dis- 
solution of the Union. Many yet regard them as the beginning of the 
Civil War. 

Col. Thomas H. Benton, Missouri's distinguished Senator, was 
especially opposed to the resolutions. He thought (and correctly, 
too,) that they were aimed at him, and designed to deprive him of 
his seat in the United States Senate, which he had held for nearly 
thirty consecutive years. The last section commanded him to act in 
accordance with the resolutions, the spirit of wiiich he had often vig- 
orously opposed. 

In the House, Hon. Wm. T. Swetnam, the Representative from 
Clay, voted against every one of the resolutions, but they were 
adopted by a vote of 53 to 27 in the Lower House, and 24 to 6 in the 
Senate. Hon. Lewis Burns, of Platte, then the Senator from this 
district, voted for the resolutions. 

Col. Benton appealed from the action of the Legislature to the 
people of Missouri,^ and canvassed the State against the Jackson reso- 
lutions. 



■ SENATOR BENTON'S AITEAL. 

To the People of Missouri: The General Assembly of our State at its last session 
adopted certain resolutions on the subject of slavery, and gave me instructions to 
obey them. From this command I appeal to the people of Missouri — the whole body 
of the people; and if they confirm the instructions I shall give them an opportunity 
to find a Senator to carry their vpill into effect, as I can not do anything to dissolve 
this Union, or to array one-half of it against the other. 

I do not admit the dissolution of the Union to be a remedy, to be prescribed by 
statesmen, for diseases of the body politic, any more than I admit death and suicide 
to be a remedy, to be prescribed by physicians for the natural body. Cure, and not 
kill, is the only remedy which my mind can contemplate in either case. 



150 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

lu the prosecution of his appeal he visited Clay county, and on 
Monday, July 1(3, addressed a meeting in a grove half a mile from 
Liberty, having reached the town the previous Saturday. He in- 
tended speaking in the court-house, but the anti-Benton Democrats 
had gotten up a counter demonstration and procured the attendance 
of Col. James H. Birch, who was to reply to whatever Benton might 
say, ai\d the latter declared he would not countenance " Jim Birch " 
in any manner whatever — would not speak iu the same room 
where he had spoken, or was to speak. Col. J. T. V. Thompson, 
Howard Everett, F. Givinner, and other anti-Benton men got up a 
meeting in the forenoon, and so Benton spoke in the afternoon at 2 
o'clock. 

There were present to hear Benton's speech an audience of at least 
1,000 persons, many of whom, however, were Whigs. Stimulated 
by the opposition he had met elsewhere, and goaded by the hostility 
of his enemies here. Col. Benton made a caustic but powerful etlbrt. 
Rising b}' degrees to something of majestic denunciation he churacter- 



I think it probable, from what I observe, that tliere are many citizens — good 
friends to the harmony and stability of this Union — who do not see the Missouri in- 
structions and their prototype, the Calhoun address, iu the same light in which I see 
it, and in the light which it is seen by others who best understand it. For the infor- 
mation of such citizens, and to let them see the next step in this movement, and where 
it is intended to end, I hereby subjoin a copy of the Accomac resolutions, lately 
adopted by a county in Virginia, and fully indorsed by the Richmond Enquirer as the 
voice of the South. I do not produce these resolutions for the purpose of arraigning 
them; on the contrary, I see something in them to admire, as being bold and open, 
and to the true interpretation and legitimate sequence of the Calhoun movement. I 
consider the Calhoun address and its offspring, the Missouri instructions, as funda- 
mentally wrong; but to those whotiiink them right, the Accomac resolutions are also 
right, and should be immediately imitated by similar resolutions in Missouri. I pro- 
duce them to enable the people of Missouri to see what it is to which their Legislature 
would commit the State, and what it is they have instructed me to do. 

I appeal from these instructions to the people of Missouri — the whole body of the 
people — and in due time will give ray reasons for so doing. It is a question above 
party, and goes to the whole people. In that point of view the Accomac resolutions 
present it, and present it truly; and I shall do the same. I shall abide the decision of 
the people, and nothing else. Respectfully, 

St. Louis, Jlay 9, 1849. Thom.is H. Bextox. 

Note. — The Accomac resolutions referred to by Col. Benton were a series of reso- 
lutions adopted at a public meeting at Accomac C. II., Virginia, March 20, 1849. Their 
author and mover was Henry A. Wise. The resolutions hinted strongly at secession or 
revolution in resistance to the " encroachment by the Federal government, and by the 
people of the North on the institution of slavery iu the States, Territories and dis- 
tricts of the United States." Such expressions as "the time for action has arrived," 
" no time should be lost iu preparing for the impending crisis," were common in these 
resolutions. — Compiler. 



HISTOKY OF CLAY COlf^TY". \. 151 

ized the aiiti-Bentou men as "nullifiers " and " incipient secession- 
ists," ' who would, if unsubdued, yet drag Missouri into civil war. 

Adverting to the principal part of his speech he maintained that the 
spirit of nullification and treason lurked in the Jackson resolutions, 
especially in the fifth ; that they were a mere copy of the Calhoun 
resolutions, otl'ered in the United States Senate, Februafy 19, 1847, 
and denounced by him (Benton) at the time as fire-brands, and in- 
tended for disunion and electioneering purposes. He said he could 
see no difl'erence between them-, except as to the time contemplated 
for dissolving the Union, as^'^he claimed that Mr. Calhoun's tended 
directly, and the Jacksor/i'esolutions ultimately, to that point. Col. 
Benton further argued llhat the Jackson resolutions were in conflict 
with the Missouri Compromise of 1820, and with the resolutions passed' 
by tiie Missouri Legislature, February 15, 1847, wherein it was dc- 
fhired that " the peace, permanency and welfare of our national 
union depended upon a strict adherence to the letter and sj^irit " of 
that compromise, and which instructed the Missouri Senators and 
Representatives to vote in accordance with its provisions. In conclu- 
sion. Col. Benton warned his hearers that the Jackson resolutions 
were intended to mislead them into aiding the scheme of ultimately 
disrupting the national union, and entreated them to remain aloof 
from them. 

After the conclusion of Benton's speech in the grove, the anti-Ben- 
ton men reassembled in the court-house and Col. Birch addressed 
them in reply to " Old Bullion." At the close of Birch's speech, 
resolutions condemning Col. Benton for his refusal to obey the in- 
structions of the Legislature, and denunciatory of his course generally, 
were adopted. But Col. H. L. Routt, Dr. W. A. Morton, F. C. 
Hughes, \Vm. D. Hubble, J. M. Litchworth, J. M. Keller, and other 
friends of the old Senator published a card in the I'ribune, alleEfing 
that these resolutions were adopted by a " packed " audience, late in 
the evening, after nearly everybody had gone home. 

A few days after the Benton meeting Gen. David R. Atchison, then 
Col. Benton's colleague in the Senate, spoke in Liberty in opposition 
to Benton and Bentonism, declaring that he (Atchison) was ready at 
all times to either obey the instructions of the Legislature of Missouri 
or resign and come home and allow some one else to be sent to the 
Senate who would obey. 



1 According to the Tribtine's report. 



C H A P T E E y . 

FROM 1850 TO THE TROUBLES IN KANSAS. 

The California Gold Fever — The Political Canvass of 1850 — The Attempted Murder 
of Mrs. Dinah Allen — Lynching of Her Would-be Assassins — The Cholera — Elec- 
tions of 1852, 1854, 185G and 1858 — The Know Nothings — Tragedies — The Great 
Smithville Melee and Mob in 1854 — Murder of Wm. O. Russell, Esq., by "Pete" 
Lightburne — Lynching of " Pete." 

THE CALIFORNIA GOLD FEVER. 

The Ciilifoiniia gold fever, which broke out early iu the year 1849, 
greatly excited the people of the West, and Clay county was one of 
the first communities to take the infection. In the earl}' spring of 
this year many of our people prepared to set out for the new Eldorado, 
of whose abundant and easily acquired riches such marvelous tales 
were told — where, it was said, even the wave of the river and the 
spi'ay of the fountain were bright with the glitter of drops of virgin 
gold. 

On the 1st of May three wagons and eight men set out from Clay 
county, undeterred by the long distance to the Pactolian land, and 
not afraid of the terrible contagion, the cholera, which had broken 
out at diflerent points in Missouri, and raged among the gold seekers 
from Independence to Fort Kearney, claiming each day its victims 
and dotting the route with their graves. These eight Clay county 
Argonauts were Maj. Lane, Jasper M. Hixson, Dr. Henry B. Hix- 
.son, J. H. Hixson, Daniel Mosley, Paley Carpenter, Thos. Conington 
and James York. 

Among the other Clay county " '49ers," who went at difilerent 
periods during the spring and summer, were W. W. Estes, "Big 
Tom '' Estes, Albert Davis, Taylor Dougherty, John Minter, John W. 
Collins, Wm. Pixler, John Waller, Jas. Withers, Anderson Chanslor, 
Wm. Davenport, Perry Keith, Henry Amnions, Edward Crabster, and 
two or three of the Longs. 

In 1850 there was a larger emigration. Tiie stories of bad luck 
that came back were unheeded ; the stories of fortunate finds and 
lucky strikes were greedily listened to, and the desire for sudden 
wealth tempted many to the perilous journeys and sore hardships 
undergone in that period by those who crossed the plains. Of those 
(152) 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 153 

who set out ill the spring of 1850 was a Uifge party among whose 
members was Rev. Robert James, the fother then of two little prat- 
tling boys, who afterwards became the noted bandits, Frank and Jesse. 
En route Mr. James wrote one letter to the Liberty Tribune, which is 
still preserved in the files of that paper. Not long after his arrival in 
California, Rev. James died. 

Mr. Jasper Hixson was a regular correspondent of the Tribune, 
and, while the burden of his letters was the advice to friends and 
neighbors to let well enough alone and stay at home, yet the " one 
chance in a thousand " was quite sufficient to induce many to try their 
luck. Some of these made great sacrifices in order to obtain the 
necessary " outfit," and afterward had good cause to regret that they 
did so. Others fared much worse. For after divers hardships and 
privations, perils among Indians and false brethren, suflerings from 
hunger and thirst, and from heat and cold, the exhaustion of long and 
arduous travel, and the ravages of diseases, many of the Clay county 
gold seekers died in a strange land and never saw their homes again. ^ 
Only comparatively a few bettered their condition. Yet the emigra- 
tion continued until about 1855. 

THE POLITICAL CANVASS OF 1850. 

Never since the admission of Missouri into the Union has there 
been a more exciting political canvass than that of 1850. It was an 
exciting period in the history of the United States that year. The 
question of the admission of California into the Union with a constitu- 
tion prohibiting slavery ; the compromise or " omnibus bill" under 
discussion in the U. S. Senate ; the passage of a fugitive slave bill by 
Congress, and of " personal lil)erty " l)ills by certain Northern 
States, calculated to interfere with the operation of the fugitive slave 



1 The following are the names of those of the Clay county emigrants who died in 
California during the year 1850: — 

Abel King, at Weber, in January ; Randolph King, atllangtown, in February; Daniel 
Moseby, at Sacramento, in June; Ben. Keyser, at Hangtown, in July; Benj. Clark, at 

Sacramento, in August; Rev. Robert James, Thos. Pence, Albright, and 

Maxwell, at Rough and Ready, in August; John Brock, killed at Hangtown, in August; 

McCrory, at Weber, in Novei\»ber; Jas. A. Walker, at Weber, in Octoljer; Jas. 

EUet, at Weber, in November; Benj. Carpenter, at Hangtown, in October;iWm. Mor- 
ton, at Greenwood, in November; Geo. W. Wallis and Samuel M. Grant, at Nevada, in 
November; John H. Moseby, near Sacramento, of cholera; John McCrory, at Weber, 
in August; Henry Gill, at Johnston's Ranch, in September; Anderson Estes, at Ne- 
vada, in August; Geo. Estes, at Hangtown, in August; Wm. Homer, Samuel McKneiss, 
Sanford Bell, Geo. W. Huffaker, Washington Huffaker, two EUises, and three Graggs, 
at various times and places, 



154 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

law — these and other questions caused great agitation throughout the 
country. 

In the early part of the year 184!), South Carolina — always a State 
"touchy" in the extreme, proposing nothing and never satisfied with 
anything — wanted to secede from the Union, and invited the other 
Soutliern States to go with her. A convention of the Southern States 
was called to meet at Nashville, Tenn., in June, 1850, to consider 
the situation and to take action " to preserve the rights and protect 
the interests of the South " — whatever that may have meant. The 
passage of the "Jackson resolutions" by the Missouri Legislature, 
in 1849, in some sense committed the State to sympathy and co-ope- 
ration with the Nashville convention, but no delegates were authorita- 
tively sent. 

The Democratic party of the State was divided into two factions — 
the Benton Democrats, or the " hards," who indorsed Col. Benton's 
course and views, and favored his re-election to the U. S. Senate for 
the sixth term of six years, and the anti-Benton Democrats, or 
" softs," who opposed him, and were bent ou defeating him in his 
contest for re-election. The Whigs — "the wily Whigs" — consti- 
tuted the third party, and, taking advantage of the bitter and uncom- 
promising warfare between the Democratic factions, made shrewd 
and careful preparations to capture the senatorial, certain legis- 
lative, and other prizes for themselves — and in the end they were 
successful. 

It is a mistake to suppose tliat political canvasses were conducted 
thirty years ago with more of courtesy, more of gentleness, more of 
mild words, than they are to-day. The crimination and recrimination 
were as common with party papers as they have ever been or are likely 
to be. The Benton men charged the anti-Bentous with being " disun- 
ionists," " nuUitiors," " aiders and abettors of treason and traitorous 
schemes," and bestowed upon them a choice lot of epithets calculated 
to bring them into the contempt of all classes of patriotic i)eoi)le. They 
extolled their leader, Mr. Benton, "to the skies," and denounced all 
his opposers, from his colleague in the Senate, David K. Atchison, to 
the humblest voter in the ranks. 

The anti-Benton men were as severe on their opponents. They 
denounced Col. Benton as a " boss " — at least that would have been 
the term employed in these days — ■ of whose imperious, domineering 
conduct and bullying spirit they had become thoroughly tired, and 
with whose record on the subject of slavery the\' had become thor- 
oughly disgusted. The Benton men were called "lick-spittles," 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 155 

" Benton's slaves," " iVce-soiler^," and even " abolitionists," and to 
call a man an abolitionist at that day in Missouri was to bestow upon 
iiim the sum of opprobious epithets. The Benton men, for the most 
part, denied that they were disunionists under all the existing circum- 
stances, and professed unreserved loyalty to " the government estab- 
lished by Washington and Jefferson." 

The Whigs kept aloof from the Democratic quarrel, occasionally 
patting each side on tiie back when they could do so without being 
observed by the other side, and all the time remaining in an attitude as 
if the}' stood with tiieir arms folded and saying very meekly of their 
own party : " Behold how great an institution is Whiggery ! See those 
unfortunate Democrats ; how angry they are ! We Whigs never quan-el, 
for Whigism means peace on earth and good will to men." 

THK UNION MEETING OF 1>S.5(). 

Early in the spring the following call for a public meeting was pub- 
lished in the Liberty Tribune: — 

The friends of the Union of these States, without regard to party, 
will hold a public meeting on the first Monday in May, 18.50, to con- 
gratulate Messrs. Clay, Webster, Cass, and other friends of the Union 
in Congress, for the n()l)le stand they have taken against the spirit of 
secession and disunion. Let there be a full turn-out. 

The meeting was quite numerously attended, and both Democrats 
and Whigs participated in the delil)erati()ns. Addresses were made 
by Col. Doniphan and others. A committee on resolutions was ap- 
pointed, consisting of Col. J. T. V. Thompson, Howard Everett, Dr. 
W. A. Morton, Winfrey E. Price, Benj. Rieketts, Wm. Thomasson, 
Sr., Dr. F. Garlichs and E. M. Samuel. Whigs, Bentons and anti- 
Bentous were represented on this committee. However widely the 
members of the meeting may have differed at the time on minor polit- 
ical questions, they were each and all unconditionally for the Union — 
there was but one party on that issue. The Secessionists of South 
Carolina and other States had no sympathizers here then ; neither hail 
the fanatical abolitionists of the North. 

The committee reported the following resolutions, which were 
unanimously adopted by the meeting: — 

Whereas, A crisis has ari-ived in the history of these United States 
of North America, and chmds of fearful omen are rolling along the 
political skies, threatening not only the peace and harmony of the 
people, but even the destruction of the glorious Union under which 



156 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

we have so long been sheltered from the storms which have wrecked 
other Republics ; 

Whereas, We believe that this state of things has been chiefly 
produced by the ultraism of party spirit, and that want of charity 
amongst political parties which fails to regard men to be as honest in 
political as they are in social, moral, pecuniary and religious duties, 
we are further of opinion that this unhappy state of things has been 
greatly accelerated by the courting propensities of both the W^hig and 
Democratic parties towards a dirt}', wicked, unprincipled party called 
Abolitionists, who, instead of being courted by either party, should 
have been, from the first, denounced as dishonest by both. 

We believe that, in this country, there never will be but two honest 
parties, and they are the AVhig and Democratic ; and we regard it as 
the solemn duty of both to treat all who leave their connection, 
(in order to the formation of new parties, whether called Abolition- 
ists, Native Americans, Anti-Masons, Free Soilers, Secessionists, Dis- 
unionists, or what not) as too contemptible to woo or win. There is 
no other way to break up the new parties that we can conceive of, and 
we are decidedly of opinion that, in order to be courted, many of the 
factious parties with which our country has been afliicted have been 
organized. 

We hope the day is at hand when the Whig and Democratic par- 
ties, each for itself, will repudiate all other aid except that of reason 
and honesty. We are rejoiced, however, to find that now, as hereto- 
fore in our history, when we have fallen upon times that " try men's 
souls," we have the men, in both the Whig and Democratic parties, 
who can be trusted. 

We, therefore, the people of Clay county, in the State of Missouri, 
now assembled together, as W^higs and Democrats, do 

Resolve, That our thanks are especially due, and are hereby ten- 
dered to Henry Clay, of Kentucky ; Daniel Webster, of Massachusetts ; 
Lewis Cass, of Michigan ; Daniel S. Dickinson, of New York, and 
John Bell, of Tennessee, for the noble and patriotic stand they have 
taken in defense of the Union, and the noble spirit of compromise 
which they have evinced in the settlement of the agitating question of 
slavery. 

Resolved, That we regard non-interference in reference to slavery in 
the Territories and elsewhere as the safe course for both North and 
South, believing as we do that an All-wise Controlling Providence 
can, and .will, regulate the whole matter so as to promote His own 
glory and the best interests of both whites and blacks. 

Resolved, That we are in favor of the Union under any and nil 
circumstances, yet we regard the Wilmot proviso and all kindred 
measures with the most perfect abhorrence. 

Resolved, That we are in favor of the early admission of California 
as a free and sovereign State of the Union. 

Resolved, That we regard the calling of the Nashville convention as 
))remature, believing that so long as Congress discharges its duty there 
is no danger to the Slave States. W^e will send no delegates to it. 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 157 

Resolved, That the proceedings of this meeting he published in the 
Liberty Tribune, and that the papers in Wasiiington City and St. 
Louis be requested to copy them, and that the secretary enclose 
copies to Mr. Chiy, Mr. Webster, Mr. Cass, Mr. Dickinson, and Mr. 
Bell. 

The result of the August election in this county in 1850 was as 
follows : — 

Congress — Charles E. Bowman, Whig, 584; Willard P. Hall, anti- 
Benton Democrat, 445 ; J. B. Gardenhire, Benton Democrat, 54. 

Legislature — Thos. T. Swetnani, Whig, 615; Ryland Shackelford, 
Whig, 639. 

Sheriff— O. P. Moss, Whig, 438 ; Samuel Hadley, Democrat, 656. 

There was no opposition to Messrs. Swetnam and Shackelford, both 
Whigs. The Democrats concentrated all their efforts on the election 
of Samuel Hadley as sheriff, and it was feared that should they nomi- 
nate candidates for the Legislature, it would draw party lines, and as 
the county was strongly Whig, would endanger his chances. At 
that time Clay county was entitled to two representatives in the Leg- 
islature. 

At the ensuing session of the Legislature (January, 1851,) there 
was intense interest over the election of the United States Senator. 
Col. Benton was, of course, a candidate for re-election, but as the Dem- 
ocrats were divided on the question of his indorsement, the Whigs 
held the balance of power and by the adroit management of their 
leadei'S succeeded at last, by the help of the anti-Benton Democrats, 
in choosing the Senator themselves — Hon. Henry S. Geyer, of 
St. Louis, who was chosen on the fortieth ballot, the vote stand- 
ing, Geyer, 80; Benton, 55; B. F. Stringfellow, 18, and 4 scat- 
tering. 

THE ATTEMPT TO MURDER MRS. DINAH ALLEN LYNCHING OF THE 

ASSASSINS. 

In the early morning of April 1, 1850, an attempt was made to 
murder Mrs. Dinah A. Allen, widow of Col. Shubael Allen, at her 
residence, in Liberty. The family had retired for the night, and the 
doors were all secured. About three o'clock in the morning Mrs. 
Allen was aroused from her sleep by a painful stinging sensation on 
the cheek, and rising from her bed stepped into the room of her sons 
and awakened them, telling them she was bleeding to death. She had 
been struck across the face with some sharp instrument, apparently 



1")8 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

either a knife or an axo, and the wonnd was at first believed to be 
mortal,' but did not prove so. 

Mrs. Allen was a lady without a known eneni}' and was held in uni- 
versal esteem. No conjecture could be ventured for the motive 
prompting the deed. The citizens generally made persistent eftbrts 
to discover the perpetrators, and at last they were found out. 

A slave woman, named Anice, belonging to Mrs. Allen was sus- 
picioned and thrown into jail. In a few days she confessed her guilt 
and implicated as her partner in the crime a white man, a citizen of 
Liberty, named McClintock. The confession reduced to writing and 
published in the Tribune of May 17, 1850, was as follows: — 

Four days before the commission of the act McClintock told me 
that there was a good deal of money in the house of my mistress, and 
that I ought to kill her ; that he would assist me ; that we would get 
the money, and with that we would go to California, and that I would 
be his wife and be free. On Sunday night, the night of the commis- 
sion of the crime, he came to the kitchen where 1 was sleeping, waked 
me up and we proceeded to the house. McClintock hoisted the win- 
dow and got in the house, and pulled me through the window after 
him. He approached the bed, found my mistress asleep, and said to 
me, " She lays right." I took the ax, which belonged to McClintock, 
and made the lick. McClintock had the ax in his hand when I took 
hold. My mistress made a noise and we both ran out of the house; 
he went to his own house, a few hundred yards oft', and I went back 
to the kitchen and laid down on the bed. 

Upon hearing this statement from Anice, the slave women, her 
partner, McClintock, was secured and placed in jail. There was in- 
tense excitement. A few weeks before, but subsequent to the attempt 
on Mrs. Allen's life, an attempt had been made by a negro servant 
woman to iK)ison the family of Wade Moseby, of this county. Pre- 
vious attacks had been made by slaves on their masters. An example 
was called for to remedy if possible this condition of affairs. 

Thursday, May 9, a considerable number of the citizens of the 
county met at the court-house to take action in the premises. The 
meeting had among its members some of the best men of the county, 
and the proceedings (though of course wholly illegal) were quiet and or- 
derly. That morning Anice had sent for the Kev. Moses E. Lard to 
come to the jail, and to him she repeated her confession. She was 
brought before the meeting, as was McClintock, and in the presence 
of the entire assemblage she reiterated what she had twice previously 



Liberty Tribune. 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 159 

i^tiitcd ill reference to the crime, uiul told McClintock fairly to his 
face that he was the sole instigator and planner of the crime, and the 
cause of her participation therein. McClintock stoutly and indignantly 
denied any sort of participation or complicity in the outrage, and de- 
nounced the negress as a liar, unmitigated and shameless. 

Under the law of Missouri at that time a slave was not allowed to 
testify in court against a white person, and as there was no other evi- 
dence of McClintock's guilt save what could be furnished by Aiiicc, 
tiiere was no prospect of his legal conviction and i)unishment. Even 
though ills accoinplice, the bondwoman, should offer to turn State's 
evidence, slu; would not be allowed to do so. The theory was that a 
slave was irresponsii)le, and could not be trusted to swear to the 
truth, where the life or liberty of a wiiitc person was involved. 

But, curiously enough, while the oath of Anice would not have been 
received in court against McClintock, her unsworn statements were 
readily accepted, and there was but little expressed doubt of his guilt. 
The question as to what should be done in reference to Anice's case 
was argued by several able and respectalde citizens. A motion was 
made that she should be hung, and this motion carried unanimously. 
1'here were persons in the house opposed to hanging her, but the}' did 
not vote. Then there were cries of ^^ Hang them both." '■^ Hang 
McClintock, too! " It was agreed, therefore, to hang them both on 
tiic same tree, nem. con. 

The meeting was composed f)f all classes of citizens, farmers, me- 
chanics, nicrciiants, lawyers, physicians and others. Its proceedings 
were generally indorsed by the best classes of citizens, though they 
were admitted to have been irregular and illegal, and no attempt was 
made to interfere with them. 

The hanging came off half a mile north or northwest of the public 
square, on the then Plattsburg road. McClintock denied to the last 
that he was guilty, init the negro woman asserted that her confession 
was true. 

THK chom;ua. 

The overflow of the Missouri river in the spring of 1851 did con- 
siderable damage to farms in the bottom lands, and the subsidence of 
the flood was followed by a few cases of cholera in the count}'. An- 
derson Edwards and another citizen and three slaves died in Liberty 
in July. The contagion was severe that year at Independence, Wes- 
ton and elsewhere. 

In the latter part of May and the first part of June, 18.54, cholera 
liroke out in Richfield, and seven persons died in one day. It was 



160 HISTORY- OF CLAY COUNTY. 

thought the disease was fostered by a rotting pile of potatoes near the 
viHage. At least eleven died during the period of the disease — 
Dent. Violett and his wife and two children, Wm. M. Barrett, Vin- 
cent S. Crawford, Mrs. Rogers, Mrs. Canach, Mrs. Brown, a daughter 
of Thos. C. Rood, and a daughter of James Reed. 

ELECTIONS OF 1852. 

Col. A. \V. Doniphan, of Clay county, was nominated for Governor 
by the Whigs of Missouri in 1852, but declined owing to ill healt]i, 
and James Winston, of Benton count}' (who had been nominated for 
Lieutenant-Governor), was selected in his stead, with Andrew King, of 
St. Charles, for second place. Sterling Price was the Democratic 
candidate. The vote in this county at the August election resulted : — 

Governor — Winston, 732; Price, 401. 

Congress — Mordecai Oliver, Whig, 840; -las. H. Birch, Dem., 
311 ; Austin A. King, Dem., 73. 

Legislature — O. P. Moss and Nathaniel Vincent, both Whigs, 
elected without opposition. 

Sherirt" — Samuel Hadley, Democrat defeated J. D. Skaggs, by 
some 300 majority, but the latter contested, and the next fall Judge 
Dunn decided that Hadley had not received a constitutional majority . 

As there were two Democratic candidates for Congress, Mordecai 
Oliver, the Whig, *' running between " them, was elected, the vote 
in the district standing: Oliver, 7,598 ; Birch, 4,399 ; King, 4,107. 

At the November election the Whig electoral ticket carried the 
county by a reduced majority. Gen. Wintield Scott and Wm. A. 
Graham were the Whig candidates for President and Vice-President, 
against Franklin Pierce and Wm. R. King, Democrats. The vote in 
Clay county stood: Scott and Graham, t)2l) ; Pierce and King, 40(5. 

1854. 
Mordecai Oliver was re-elected to Congress this year over Leon- 
ard, Lowe and John E. Pitt. 

1856. 

Governor — R. C. Ewing, Know Nothing, 775 ; Trusten Polk, Dem- 
ocrat, 831. Thos. H. Benton, Independent, none. 

Congress — James H. Moss, K. N., 802; James Craig, D., 824; 
Joel Turnham, Dem., 808. 

Representative — Robert G. Gilmer, K. N., 799. 

Sheriff— Trigg T. Allen, K. N., 800; Samuel Hadley, Dem., 830. 

James H. Moss, the Whig, or " American " candidate for Congress, 
was a resident of Liberty. He was defeated in the district by Gen. 
James Craig, of St. Joseph, by 2,500 votes. 



HISTORY or (LAY COUNTY. I'll 

At tlic Presidential election the Know Nothings eiirried the county 
for Fillmore and Donelson, tlui vote standing, Fillmore, 75*) ; Bu- 
chanan, liTf). 

January 12, 1857, Gov. 'J'rusten Polk was elected U. S. Senator, 
to succeed Senator Geyer. A new Governor was to he chosen. The 
anti-Benton.s, or regular Democrats, nominated Hon. Robert M. 
Stewart, of Buchanan county. The " Americans " brought out Hon. 
James S. Rollins, of Boone county, who was indorsed and supported 
by a majority of the Benton Democrats. Col. Benton had written a 
letter from Washington to his friends in Missouri, urging them to 
vote for Rollins. The vote in the county was : For Rollins, 643 ; 
Stewart, 585. In the State as canvassed, it stood : Stewart, 
47,;»75 ; Rollins, 47,641 ; Stewart's majority, 334. The Rollins men 
declared that their candidate was fairly elected, but was cheated in 
the count ()y "doctoring " the returns from certain counties in the 
southwest part of the State, hut the truth of this declaration was 
never fully established. 

1858. 

Congress — James H. Adams, Whig and American, 993; .lames 
Craig, Dem., 82(». 

State Senator— J. H. Layton, W. and A., 929; J. T. V. Thomp- 
son, Dem., 837. 

Legislature — John Dougherty, W. and A., 877; B. L. Lampton, 
Dem., 895. 

Sheriff— R. A. Neely, Whig, 939 ; Samuel Hadley, Dem., 882. 

Craig was elected to Congress and Thompson to the State Senate. 

Tin; KNOW NOTHINGS. 

The Native American, or as it was called, the "Know Nothing" 
party deserves particular mention in these pages, as at one time it 
was a political organization very formidable in its character, and 
largely in the majority in this county. It was formed in the United 
States some time before the year 1840, but did not become strong or 
very prominent until the dissolution of the Whig party, in 1853. 

The l)arty was a strange one, as it was a secret political order, 
whose members were oath-bound, and which had its lodges or " coun- 
cils," its signs, grips, and pass-words, and worked secretly to accom- 
plish its openly professed objects. It was composed chiefly of old 
Whigs, although there were many ex-Democrats in its ranks. Its 
great basic principle was that " Americans must rule America ; " in 



Ifi2 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

other words, tluit none but native-born citizens ot" the United States, 
and non-Catholics ' ought to hold office. It also favored a radical 
change in the naturalization laws, insisting on a foreigner's twenty 
years' residence in this country as a prerequisite to citizenship. 

The following resolutions constituted the first platform of the 
American party in Missouri : — 

2. A full recognition of the rights of the several States, as expressed 
and reserved in the Constitution, and a careful avoidance by the gen- 
eral government of all interference with their rights by legislative or 
executive action. 

3. Obedience to the Constitution of these United States as the su- 
preme law of the land, sacredly obligatory in all its parts and mem- 
bers — a strict construction thereof, and steadfast resistance to the 
spirit of innovation of its principles — avowing that in all doubtful or 
disputed i)oints, it may only l)e legally ascertained and expounded i)y 
the judicial powers of the United States. 

4. That no person should be selected for political station, whether 
native or foreign prince, potentate or power, or who refuses to recog- 
nize the Federal or State constitutions (each within its sphere) as 
paramount to all other laws or rules of political action. 

5. Americans must rule America ; and to this end native born citi- 
zens should be selected for all State and Federal offices in preference 
to naturalized citizens. 

6. A change in the laws of naturalization, making a continual resi- 
dence of twenty-one years an indispensable requisite for citizenship, 
and excluding all paupers and persons convicted of crime, from laud- 
ing on our shores ; but no interference with the vestcti rights of for- 
eigners. 

7. Persons that arc born of American parents, residing temporariiv 
abroad, are entitled to all the rights of native born citizens. 

8. An enforcement of the principle that no State or Territory can 
admit otlicrs than native born citizens to the rights of suffrage, or of 
holding political office, unless such persons have been naturalized ac- 
cording to the laws of the United States. 

y. That Congress possessed no power under the Constitution to 
legislate upon the subject of slavery in the States where it does or 
may exist, or to exclude any State from admission into the Union, be- 
cause its constitution does or does not recognize the institution 
of slavery as a part of its social system and expressly pretermitting 
any expression of ojnnion upon the power of Congress to establish or 
])rohil)it slavery in any territory ; it is the sense of this meeting that 
tlie territories of the United States and that any inflence by Congress 
with slavery as it exists in the District of Columbia, would be a viola- 



* After a time tlie clause in the platform agaiust Catliolics was striclceuout, except 
in regard to those wlio held to the supremacy of the Pope in temporal affairs. 



HISTUKY OF CLAY COUNTY. Id;} 

tion of the spirit uiid intention of the compact by which the State of 
Maryhmd ceded the District to the United States, and a breach of the 
national fuitli. 

10. That wc will al)i(le hy and maintain tiie existing laws on the 
siil)ject of shivery as a final and conclusive settlement of the subject 
on spirit, and in substance, believing this course to be the best guar- 
antee of future peace and IVateriial amity. 

The organization of tin; Know Nothing [)arty was begun in Clay 
county in the fall of 1><55. On the 1st of January, 185(3, a meeting 
of the party was held at the court-house in Liberty. Hon. James H. 
Moss addressed a large audience in e.Kplanation of the principles of 
the new organization. Dr. W. A. Morton was chairman. A commit- 
tee comijosed of Thos. McCarty, Simpson McGaugherty, T. R. Dale, 
Nathaniel Vincent and J. B. Talbott, refjorted a series of resolutions 
indorsing the National and State platforms, ' and adding the follow- 
ing:— 

That the Union of these States is the paramount object of pati'iotic 
desire. That we re-afBrm and most cordially and unchangeably in- 
dorse the declaration of the lamented hero, sage, and statesman, 
Andrew Jackson, that, " T/ie Union lanst and Khali he preserved.'' 
That, with equal ardor and aftection, we re-afErni and indorse the 
answer of that great national statesman and patriot, Henry Clav, who, 
when asked when he would be ready for a dissolution of this Union, 
said, " Never! never! n>'i:er!" 

The lodges of the Know Nolhinirs were called "councils." In 
this county, among others, there were councils at Liberty, Richfield, 
Smithvillo, Gilead, and in Washington township. In March, 18.5fi, 
Liberty Council endorsed the nominations of Fillmore and Donelson, 
and the other councils subsequc^ntly took similar action. 

It is said that one of the hailing signs of the Know Nothings was 
" Have you seen Sam? "meaning, it is presumed, " Uncle Sam," tiic 
mythical personage supposed to represent the Govermiient of the 
United States. The American flag was always i)resent in the council 
rooms, and the Federal constitution was a part of the constitution of 
thp order. 

For some years the native American party was a prominciit and 
important factor in politics, but the influence and strength of the 
foreign and Catholic vote of the country were of course always 
against it ; the Republican and Democratic platforms condemned its 



' Oil tlie Kansas question the National platform declared that " none but those who 
have aflj-nd residence in the Territory," ought to vote. 



104 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

principles, and so it grew smaller by degrees until 1861. Then the 
Civil War came on and broke it up. And came near breaking up the 
country as well. 

TRAGEDIES. 

In an affray between two brothers-in-law named Farr and Wool- 
bridge, at Barry, about the 1st of September, 18.54, Farr killed Wool- 
bridge, giving him five pistol shots and several knife wounds. 

February 4, 1858, Solomon Binswanger was stabbed and killed in 
a drunken quarrel at Missouri City. Dr. Geo. C. Tuley, Geo. H. 
Wall is and Geo. W. Withers were arrested and indicted for murder 
in the second degree. The case against Withers was dismissed. In 
May, 1858, Tuley was tried at Liberty, convicted of manslaughter in 
the third degree, and sentenced to three months' imprisonment in the 
county jail and to pay a fine of $100. In April, 1859, Wallis was 
tried, l)ut the jury disagreed, and he was allowed to plead guilty of 
manslaughter and received the same sentence as Dr. Tuley, but in 
October ibllowing he was pardoned by Gov. Stewart. 

September 7, 1858, J. A. S. Major shot and killed Samuel R. Trabue, 
at Centerviile. There was great excitement and indignation in the 
community over the tragedy. A public meeting condemned it, and 
extolled the character of Mr. Trabue as that of a " most worthy, tem- 
perate, mild, peaceful and order-loving citizen." 

Richard Moore stabbed and killed Pat Cusick in a drinking house 
in Liberty, in June, 1859. 

THE SMITHVILLE TUADEGY OF 1854. 

Monday, August 7, 1854, a terrible melee occurred in Smithville, 
this county, which resulted in the death of two citizens of the place, 
John W. Douglass and S. J. Ross, and the lynching of three men ac- 
cused of their murder, Samuel Shackelford, Wm. Siiackelford and 
John W. Callaway. The following statement of the affair was fur- 
nished by the suruiving (?) citizens of Smithville and pul)lished in 
the Liberty Tribune: — 

There had been a gang of thieves and outlaws quartered in this 
vicinity, which fact had been established by a court of inquiry, ac- 
cording to the laws of the country. These thieves and incendiaries 
were notified to leave Clay and adjoining counties by more than 100 
respectable citizens of this vicinity. Their answers were that they 
would not leave, and that 50 armed men could not make them leave. 
Thus the matter passed on until Monday, August 7, the day of the 
election, when they sent word that they intended to clean out the 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 165 

town, commencing on those who had used the most exertions in pro- 
secuting them with tlie Uxw, even telling their friends where they 
wished to l)e buried if they fell in the conflict. 

They tiien armed themselves with two revolvers each and bowie- 
knives and dirks. Thus equipi)ed, they made their appearance in 
town. Their leader, Samuel yiiackeU'ord, commencing a conversa- 
tion, in an insulting manner, with John W. Douglass, and alluded to 
Wni. Ross, both res[)ectable citizens of this community. Mr. Ross 
replied in a calm manner, but was dared to the onset by Samuel 
Shackelford, and at that moment a person, a relation of Shackel- 
ford's, passed i)etween them for a moment. Shackelford drew a re- 
volver, the i)ersoi! passed on, and Shackelford shot Win. Ross twice, 
wounding him severely, perhaps mortally. Shackelford then turned 
and shot Mr. Douglass twice, and then shot at M. Iinhoff twice. 
Douglass then returned the fire on Shackelford twice, wounding him, 
and then Douglass drew a bowie-knife, he being the only citizen on 
the ground who was armed. Wm. Shackelford seized Douglass and 
got his knife and pistol, and then commenced the work of destruction 
on Douglass, inflicting several wounds, of which Douglass fell dead. 
He then shot twice or three times at M. Imhoff", but without effect. 

Persons then interfered to stop the efl'usion of blood. Saml. Shack- 
elford stabbed every person whom he suspected as his enemy, inflict- 
ing a mortal wound on S. J. Ross, and also cutting and stabbing Ira 
Witt, who was a stranger, and only engaged for peace, as also 3'oung 
Ross. John W. Callaway ran in and shot at M. Imhort' and missed 
him, as did Samuel Shackelford. Callaway then shot Wm. Slater, 
wounding him slightly in the leg. 

By this time the fight became general. Stones and clubs were in 
order. 'J'he Shackelfords and Callaway retreated, and in doing so 
attempted to kill others whom they considered their enemies. Samuel 
Shackelford's pistol, which he drew with the intention of shooting 
Mr. Payne, missed fire, and he then threw the pistol at him. They 
then entered a drug store and locked themselves uj) for defense ; but 
owing to Samuel Shackelford being wounded, and the people threaten- 
ing to fire the house, they surrendered to the populace. 

The people were frenzied. Ropes were called for, guns and pistols 
procured, and all hands calling for immediate vengeance on the mur- 
derers. Thus it passed on, until the people were alarmed in all di- 
rections, and notified of the circumstances. They came from Platte 
county. Ridgeley was a precinct, and it being a public day the people 
flocked in gangs to the place. 

The cry was " Lynch them I hang the thieves and murderers!" 
Two or three hundred persons were present. Wm. Shackelford was 
then hung. John W. Callaway was next hung. He stated, before his 
death, that Samuel Shackelford was to blame for all the trouble ; that 
Sam. Shackelford had induced him into stealing horses; that Sam. 
Shackelford stole the mule that he was arrested for, and he took it 
and sold it in St. Joseph ; that they had concluded not to kill the 
people of Smithville and vicinity [and would not have made the at- 



166 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

tempt] hut for the over-persuasion of that he woukl stand 

up to them and see them through. The same was atfirmcd by Mrs. 
Shackelford, although they had agreed among themselves to go into 

the massacre before came. Sam. Shackelford was hung next, 

all to the same limb. 

The peace officers made speeches against mob law, and used every 
exertion for the civil authority to have its proper course, but all to no 
eflect. Order was confounded ; confusion reigned. Men paraded the 
streets like dragoons in military service. The whole of this resulted 
from an efibrt on the part of the citizens to l)ring these thieves to 
justice according to law, for the commission of crime, their guilt Of 
which they acknowledged. The people are satisfied with what they 
have done, so far as civil authority is concerned. 

Many Citizens. 

P. S. — There had been an attempt made to assassinate Douglass at 
the dead hour of night, supposed to have been by these murderers, 
and he was threatened by them, which was the reason why he was 
armed. 

Callaway, at the time of his lynching, was under $1,000 bond to 
answer a charge of stealing a mule from Calvin Smith, in the fall of 
1852. The Shackelfords and Callaway were hung on a sugar tree, near 
the bridge across Smith's fork ; the tree is still standing. The mother 
of the Shackelfords, and the wives of Callaway and one of the Shack- 
elfords were present and witnessed the execution. They wailed, 
moaned, screamed, entreated, cursed and prayed by turns, striking 
the lynchers with their hands and with sticks, and striving frantically 
with all their might to rescue them. At the time he was hung, Sam. 
Shackelford's skull was crushed in, the wound having been inflicted 
some time previously, but he was " game " to the last. 

MURDER OF WJI. O. RUSSELL BY " PETE " LIOIITBURNE LYNCHING OF 

" PETE." 

On the night of February 12, 1855, Mr. Wm. O. Russell, a citizen 
of the county, living three miles southeast of Liberty, was mortally 
wounded by a negro slave named "Peter," the property of'Maj. A. 
Lightburne. The circumstances, as best remembered, arc that Mr. 
Russell owned Pete's wife, and for some ofiense she had given, had 
whipped her severely. This she told her husband and he vowed 
revenge. On the night and question " Pete " called at Mr. Russell's, 
after the latter had retired, and calling him up said he had been sent 
for a bill of lumber. Russell admitted the negro and asked him if he 
had brought a bill. The latter answered " yes." Mr. Russell stooped 
over to stir up his smoldering fire, when suddenly the negro drew a 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 



1G7 



short but heav}' coni-kiiife, which he had concealed in his bosom, and 
assaulted Mr. Russell so savagely and with such effect that he died 
two weeks later from his wounds. 

"Pete" was arrested and imprisoned in jail. A mob of excited 
men gathered and were about to hang him, but his owner, Maj. Light- 
burne, spoke to them in such an earnest, remonstrating manner, that 
the design was abandoned at the time. March 5, the crowd reassem- 
bled, determined to lynch the criminal. Rev. Moses E. Lard and 
others addressed them, and urged them to allow the wretch to be pun- 
ished according to law, but they dragged him from his cell and hung 
him to a tree in the court-house yard, before the sound of the speak- 
ers' voices had hardly died away. 

6 



CHAPTEK VI. 

DURING THE KANSAS TROUBLES UP TO 1861. 

The Kansas Troubles — Clay County's Interest in Kansas Affairs — Sketcii of the 
Situation in Kansas Territory Upon its Organization — Tlie Election in 1854 — Clay 
Furnislies Her Quota of Voters— Tiie "Sons of the South" — Election in the' 
Spring of 1855 — The Parliville Mob Indorsed — The " Wakarusa War " — Seizure 
of the Liberty Arsenal by the Clay County Volunteers — Maj. Leonard's Report — 
The Arms Returned Minus What Were Retained — County Seat Fight in Kansas — 
Emigrants to Kansas Turned Back — End of the Fight — The Free Soilers Win — 
Explanation of the Course of Clay County. Up to 1S61 — Census — Miscellan- 
eous — The Present Court-House — The Kansas City and Cameron Railroad — The 
Presidential and Gubernatorial Campaigns of 1860 — After the Election — Trouble 
Brewing. 

DURING THE TROUBLES IN KANSAS. 

From the first to the last of the troubles in the Territory of Kansas, 
the result of an attempt at a decision of the question whether or not 
slavery should exist in the State upon its admission into the Union, 
the people of Clay county took a conspicuous part therein upon the 
pro-slavery side. The proximity of that Territory to this county, its 
likeness of soil and climate, made it a desirable objective point of emi- 
gration for people here when they should become tired of their homes, 
and those who had slaves wished of course to take them along. Then 
there was a strong desire to have Kansas made a slave State among 
slaveholders everywhere ; and the politicians of the South had made 
this desire the measure of the devotion of Southern men to " South- 
ern rights." Much was expected from Missouri generally, and a great 
deal from Clay and other border counties. 

In the summer of 1853, when the Kansas-Neljraska bill was under 
discussion, the border counties of Missouri prejjared for the contlict — 
for the conflict of ballots, and the conflict of bullets if necessary. A 
military company was organized in Liberty in July, with A. J. Cal- 
houn as captain, John Dunn, N. S. Prentiss, Lewis Bennett, lieuten- 
ants, and R. Fisher, orderly sergeant. There was not much attempt 
at concealing the fact that the services of this company were to be 
called into requisition if necessary in the settlement of the political 
questions in Kansas. 

By the provisions of the Kansas-Nel)raska bill, which repealed the 
Missouri Compromise of 1820, slaveholders might or might not be per- 
(168) 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. IfiO 

mitted in Kansas, as tlie people thereof should decide. " The true 
intent and meaning of the act " was declared to be " not to legislate 
slavery into any State or Territory, or exclude it therefrom," hut to 
leave the people thereof free to form and regulate their domestic in- 
stitutions in their own way, subject only to the Constitution of the 
United States." Under tiiis declaration the pro-slavery men claimed 
they had a right to settle in the Territory with their slaves; but this 
was denied by the anti-slavery men or Free Soilers, who claimed that 
"the normal condition of the public territories was freedom." 

The full history of the Kansas troubles belongs to other volumes ; 
but it will l)e necessary to refer to certain incidents in that history in 
order to understand clearly the part taken by Clay county. Under 
the first Territorial government an election for delegate to Congress 
was ordered to be held November 29, 1854. The candidates were : 
Whitfield, Pro-Slavery, and Flenniken, Free Soil. Andrew H. 
Reeder, of Pennsylvania, had been appointed Territorial Governor by 
President Pierce, and arrived in Octoi)er. It was decided that all the 
voters on the border of Missouri who could possibly do so should go 
over to Kansas and vote ! The law regarding the eligibility of voters 
was diflerently construed ; the Free State men claimed that only hojia 
fide settlers could vote, and the Pro-Slavery men that any man was 
entitled to vote if he had been in the Territory " an hour." 

The people along the Missouri border from Andrew county to 
Jasper, and as far east in the State as Randolph, Callaway, and Cole, 
organized and prepared to set out for Kansas to cast their votes. 
Numerous meetings were held in this quarter. Senator David R. 
Atchison and others stumped the counties of Buchanan, Clay, Platte, 
and Jackson. A few days before the election Atchison spoke in 
Liberty. He had previously addressed the people of Platte county at 
Platte City, and said to them : " When you reside in one day's journey 
of the Territory you can, without exertion, send .500 of your young 
men who will vote in favor of your institutions." This he repeated 
to the people of Clay in his speech at Liberty. 

There was the most intense excitement throughout the country, and 
it was tiiought that the interests of Missouri, and especially the inter- 
ests of slavery, demanded the most radical efforts to prevent the 
Abolitionists from winning the first battle in the conflict over Kansas. 
Whatever the means employed, it was believed that the ends would 
justify them. Scores of citizens of this county, well armed and furn- 
ished with provisions and money by those who " could not go," went 
over into the Territory, voted " early and often," and returned home 



170 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

within a few days ! Hundreds of other Missoiirians did the same, and 
Whitfield was elected 1)}' a iarse niajority ' 

All through the winter of 1854-55 nothing much was talked of in the 
county but the Kansas question. A regular organization of the Pro- 
Slaver}' men — a secret order called the " Blue Lodge," the " Social 
Band," the "Friends' Society," or the " Sons of the South," 
being known by difl'erent names — had been organized in Missouri and 
other Slave States, and "camps" were established in Clay county. 
The object was the preservation, perpetuation, and extension of the 
" peculiar institution," and the order had its hailing signs, grips, and 
passwords, and was near of kin and auxiliary to the " Knights of the 
Golden Circle." It took a leading part in the Kansas question. 

March 30, 1855, an election was held in Kansas to choose members 
of the Territorial Legislature, or Council. Extraordinary eSbrts were 
made by both parties to carry this election. The Free Soilers had 
come in in considerable numbers the previous year, under the aus- 
pices of the " Emigrant Aid Societies " of the North, and fears were 
felt among the Pro-Slavery men that by some chance a majority of 
Free State men might be chosen to the Council, and a Constitution 
forbidding slavery chosen by that body. All Western Missouri was on 
the stir. The following notice was printed on handbills and circu- 
lated through this county, and published in the Liberty Tribune: — 

Friends of the South! — The first election of members of the Terri- 
torial Legislature in. Kansas comes ofi" Friday next, the 30th inst. 
Friends of the South, the crisis has arrived, and now is the time for 
you to determine whether or not that rich and fertile Territory shall be 
governed by the miserable hirelings sent thither from the dens of 
Abolitionism in the East to rob you of your rights and your property. 
We must act! We^nust act! A meeting will be held at Liberty on 
Thursda\-, the 29th inst., to take such measures as may be considered 
proper under the circumstances. Let every friend of the South and 
her institutions attend. 

A large and enthusiastic meeting was held at the court-house pur- 
suant to the call, and numbers of our best citizens eni'olled themselves 
into companies, and set out at once for Kansas. Those who could not 
<ro furnished arms, provisions, horses, and monej' to those who needed 
such assistance and were willing to go. All the men were armed. 

At this election the men from Clay went into the Sixteenth district 
( immediately across the river, or in which Leavenworth was situated ) , or 
into the Third district — Tecumsch. Some were in other districts and 
at various polling places. A considerable company that went into the 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 171 

Sixteenth district did not arrive until late in the day of the election. At 
Stinson's, or Tecumseh, the Missourians were under the leadership 
chieHy of Hon. S. H. Woodson, of Independence. The pro-slavery 
men were armed and organized, but not uniformed ; many wore 
Ijadges of hemp or white tape tied in their l)utton-holes to designate 
them from the Free State men. A great deal of jiromiscuous voting 
was done, and the Pro-Slavery candidates were declared elected hy 
overwhelming majorities. On the face of the returns this was true.' 

U]iou the return of the Clay county "voters" their acts were 
universally approved and indorsed. It was determined to keep in 
readiness a strong force of " minute men " for future emergencies. 

April 14, 1855, alarge force of the citizens of Platte county assembled 
at Parkville, threw into the river the press and material of the Indus- 
trial Luminnry, a newspaper owned and published hy George S. Park 
and W. J. Patterson, and with decided Free Soil tendencies. Its first 
issue after the. Kansas election had contained an article severely 
denunciatory of the proceedings of the Missouriaus in their interfer- 
ence with the election. Mr. Park was absent at the time, but Mr. 
Patterson was seized, and was about to be tarred and cottoned (or as 
some say lynched) when his wife threw her arms about him and could 
not be prevailed upon to leave him, and by a small majority it was 
voted to release him on condition that he leave the State and never 
return. 

The citizens then held a meeting and jjassed a set of resolutions, 
declaring, among other sentiments, " That George S. Park and W.J. 
Patterson are traitors to the State and county in which they live, and 
should be dealt with as such ; that we meet here again on this day 
three weeks, and if we find G. S. Park or W. J. Patterson in this 
town then, or at any subsequent time, we will throw them into the 
Missouri river; and if they go to Kansas to reside we pledge our 
honor as men to follow and hang them wherever we can take them." 
It was further declared that no Northern Methodist preachers should 
be allowed to preach in the county under penalty of '* tar and feathers 
for the first offense and hemp rope for the second," and the meetin<r 
declared its intention to " attend to some other Free Soilers not far 
off." 9 

On April 21 a large meeting of the citizens of Chi}' convened in 
Liberty, at the court-house, to consider the; proceedings had and done 



1 At Leavenworth the vote was Pro-Slavery, S'J'.I ; Free State, 00 ; at Tecumseh, Pro- 
Slavery, 306; Free State, 4. The total vote in the Territory was, Pro-Slavery, 5,427; 
Free State, 7'.)1. 



172 IIISTOKV OF CLAY COUNTY. 

at Parkvillc. The following is the official report of the proceedings 
of this meeting, as published in the Liberty Tribune: — 

KANSAS MEETING. 

At a large and enthusiastic meeting of the citizens of Clay county, 
assembled at the court-house for the purpose of indorsing the action 
of the citizens of our neighboring county of Platte, in the destruction 
of the Parkvillc Industrial Luminary, Maj. John Dougherty was 
called to the chair, and Geo. W. Morris appointed secretary. 

On motion, Henry L. Routt, Geo. W. Withers, Maj. Joel Turnharp, 
Asa T. Foree, Wm. H. Kerr and Fountain Waller were appointed a 
committee to draft resolutions expressing the sense of the meeting. 
After a short absence the committee reported the following reso- 
tions : — 

Whereas, We have seen the proceedings of a meeting of the citi- 
zens of Platte county, held in Parkvillc on the 14th inst., and feel 
tiiat the time has come when it becomes the duty of every man in our 
State that there may no longer be any misapprehension on the part of 
any of the citizens of our sister States ; therefore. 

Resolved, 1. That the action of the non-slavcholding States in set- 
ting at defiance the laws for the protection of our property, in not 
only countenancing t)ut justifying and abetting b}' their legislation, its 
systematic and pul)lic highway robbery of Southerners, by the insults 
and outrages heaped ni)on them whenever compelled to i)ass through 
or over to land upon the borders of the non-slavcholding States ; the 
declared purpose of those who perpetrate these outrages, not only to 
plant their hosts of felons upon our borders but to invade our State, 
strip us and drive us from our homes, demand the adoption of the 
most efficient means for our protection. 

2. We will l)egin at home, and rid ourselves of the traitors harbored 
in our midst. 

3. To speak or i^ublish in a slaveholding community sentiments 
calculated to render slaves discontented, to irritate them to escai)e or 
rebel, is not an exercise of the " liberty of speech," but is an act of 
positive crime of the highest grade, and should receive summary and 
exemplary punishment. 

4. Those who in our State would give aid and encouragement to the 
Abolitionists by inducing or assisting them to settle in Kansas, or 
throw oi)stacles in the way of our friends by false anil slanderous mis- 
representations of the acts of those who took part in and contributed 
to the gratifying results in the late election in that Territory, should 
be driven from among us as traitors f their country. 

5. We fully approve the action of our friends in Platte in destroy- 
ing the press of the Industrial Luminary and their resolutions to 
expel the traitors. Park and Patterson. 

. (!. That we regard the ellbrts of the Northern division of the Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church to establish itself in our State, as a violation of 
its plighted faith — and pledged as must be its ministers to the anti- 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 173 

slavery principles of that church, we are forced to regard them as ene- 
mies to our institutions. We therefore fully concur with our friends 
in resolving to permit no person belonging to the Northern Methodist 
Church to preach in our county. 

7. We urge the citizens of other counties, and pledge ourselves to 
act coi'dially and efficiently in executing the principles of the forego- 
ing resolutions. 

8. To show our full approval of the proceedings of our friends in 
Platte, we will attend at Parkville on the 5th day of May next, and in 
person indorse their action. 

The resolutions were unanimously adopted. 

The meeting was then addressed by Gen. B. F. Stringfellow, Maj. 
John Dougherty, W. E. Price, Judge Thompson, Geo. W. Withers, 
Henry L. Routt and Maj. James H. Adams. 

On motion of Geo. W. Withers, 100 delegates from each township 
were appointed to meet our fellow-citizens of Platte in council in 
Parkville on the 5th day of May next. 

On motion of J. H. Adams, a committee of five from each township 
were appointed by the chair to wait on all persons in the least sus- 
pected of Free Soilism or Abolitionism, and notify them to leave the 
county immediately. 

The chairman appointed the following persons under the last mo- 
tion : James T. V. Thompson, Joel Turnham, A. G. Reed, O. P. Moss, 
D. J. Adkins, J. H. Adams, G. H. Wallis, W. E. Price, 8. Levi, 
Geo. W. Withers, David Morris, Thos. M. Gosney, L. J. Wood, 
Thos. J. Young, Edmund Tilman, A. T. Force, Wm. Austin, A. C. 
Courtney, Ryland Shackelford, Henry Estes, Maj. John Dougherty, 
Wyatt Wills, Willis Winn, Fountain Waller, A. Murray. 

On motion of H. L. Routt, all persons of this county who are sub- 
scribers for papers in (he least tinctured with Free Soil or Aboli- 
tionism, are requested to discontinue them immediately. 

On motion, the Liberty Tribune, Richfield Unferprise and St. 
Louis Republican were requested to publish the proceedings of this 
meeting. 

On motion, the meeting adjourned. 

John Dougherty, Chairman. 

Geo. W. Mouiiis, Secretary. 

There was such intense and long continued excitement in the county 
over the Kansas question that our people became intolerant to a de- 
gree that they have since regretted. It was not safe to disapprove the 
measures adopted by the Pro-Slavery party to make Kansas a slave 
State. Even Editor Miller, of the Tribune, who mildly protested 
against the violent destruction of the Luminary, saying the better 
way to have suppressed it would have been " to let it die for want of 
patronage," had his orthodoxy on the slavery question openly doubted, 
and the Richfield Monitor assailed him savagely. 



174 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

Clay county was not alone in 'indorsing the proceedings at Park- 
ville. Other counties, by resolutions adopted at large meetings, ap- 
proved them. But in Johnson county, at an assemblage of the citi- 
zens at Warrensburg, in May, the people excepted to the proscription 
of the Northern Methodists, saying: — 

The constitution and laws guaranteeing to us the right to wor- 
ship God according to the dictates of conscience we regard as sacred, 
and the course pursued at meetings held in our own and sister counties 
in proscribing ministers of the Gospel of certain denominations, is 
tyrannical, arbitrary, illegal, and unjust, and unworthy the intelli- 
gence of an enlightened community. 

Throughout the war in Kansas during the year 1855 this county 
furnished men and means to aid the Pro-Slavery cause whenever called 
upon. At the time of the " Wakarusa War," in December, Mayor 
Payne, of Kansas City, came over to Liberty and raised 200 men and 
$1,000 for the purpose of aiding Sheriff Jones and the other officers 
under Gov. Wilson Shannon, in capturing the Free State town of 
Lawrence, whose inhabitants were in rebellion against the acknowl- 
edged authorities of the Territorj'. Lawrence at that time was virtu- 
ally in a state of siege, with men in arms and breastworks to resist a 
process in the hands of the sheriff'. 

The Clay county volunteers, to the number of 100 or more, under 
the leadership of Maj. Ebenezer Price, moved upon the Liberty Ar- 
senal, then in charge of Maj. Luther Leonard, seized it, put Leonard 
and the employes under arrest, and took out three pieces of artillery, 
brass six-pounders, mounted ; 55 rifles, 67 cavalry sabers, 100 dragoon 
pistols, 20 Colt's revolvers, besides all the necessary equipments, ac- 
coutermeuts, and a large amount of ammunition, including shot and 
shell for the cannon, thousands of cartridges for the small arms, etc., 
all of which belonged to the Government. The following report of 
this seizure was made by Maj. Leonard to the Department at Wash- 
ington : — 

REPORT OF GAIT. LUTHER LEONARD OF THE ROBBERY OP LIBERTY 
ARSENAL, DECEMBER 4, 1855. 

Missouri Depot, Liberty, Dec. 4, 1855, (5 p. m.) 
Col. H. C. Craig, Ordna7ice Department, Washington City: 

Sir — I improve the first moments of liberty to report that to-dav, 
about 3 o'clock p. m., this depot was surprised by al)out 100 armed 
men, who placed me under an armed guard, as also the operatives at 
the post, and proceeded to take possession of public property to a large 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 175 

amount, consisting in part of three six-pounder brass guns, mounted ; 
artillery harness, artillery implements, rifies, pistols, Colt's revolvers, 
sabers, fixed ammunition, accouterments, etc., etc. The exact amount 
can not be ascertained until an inventory is taken of the property re- 
maining. Resistance was useless, and I could only protest against 
this violent and unlawful seizure of the public property in my charge. 

From the best information I can obtain, the parties to this robbeiy 
have taken the property to Kansas Territory, to engase in some dis- 
turbances said to exist among the inhabitants thereof. I have reported 
these facts to Col. E. V. Sumner, commanding Fort Leavenworth, 
asking his advice and assistance. 

This unparalleled outrage leaves me in doubt how to proceed in the 
absence of special authority, and I shall, therefore, anxiously await 
your orders. 

I am, sir, very respectfully, your ol)edient servant, 

L. Leonard, 
Military Storekeeper. 

Being well armed and well mounted the Clay county volunteers set 
out for the " seat of war." One party with five wagons and a cannon 
bore a large flag in the center of which was a large purple star. Upon 
their arrival at the Pro-Slaver}' camp on the Wakarusa they were re- 
ceived with hearty cheers, and their flag was hoisted on a tree in the 
center of the camp. The campaign was soon over and the men re- 
turned home. 

iMeantime, in May, the Free State men, claiming that the March 
election was a fraud, had held an election and chosen members of a 
Territorial convention, which met at Topeka in October and adopted 
a Free State constitution. The Pro-Slavery delegates chosen in March 
had assembled at first at Pawnee and then at the Shawnee mission, one 
mile from the Missouri line and four miles from Westport, where, 
sitting as a Territorial Legislature, a formidable Pro-Slavery code of 
laws, modeled upon, if not taken almost entirely from, the Missouri 
Statutes, was adopted. But these statutes were decided to be valid 
by two of the three judges of the Supreme Court of the Territory, S. 
D. Lecompt and Rush Elmore. The enactments were, however, 
uniformly disregarded and defied by the Free State men. It was 
to enforce these laws that the Clay county men marched to the 
Wakarusa. 

On the 10th of December, Capt. Wm. N. R. Beall, of the First U. 
S. Cavalry, came over from Ft. Leavenworth with a company of cav- 
alry to guard the arsenal from another threatened raid, and to try 
to recover the property that had been taken. The same day he re- 
ported that " the robbery was on a large scale," and that he had 



176 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

notified certain prominent citizens that the property must be returned. 
The next day he reported as follows : — 

Missouri Depot, Dec. 11, 1855. 
Sir — I have the honor to state that Judge Thompson, one of the 
leading men of Liberty, called on me to-day and informed me that 
the arms, stores, and ammunition taken from this place on the 4th 
inst. are in this vicinity, and that the parties who took them are an- 
xious to return them. I informed him that if they were brought to 
the arsenal gate, I would iJiere receive them. They are now being 
delivered, and I presume that within two days from this time I wfll 
have possession of all that the}' have to return. I have au accurate 
inventory taken of them as they arrive. 

I am, sir, verv respectfuUv, your obedient servant, 

W. N. R. Beall, 
Captain First Cavalry Commanding. 
Lieut. Adjt. R.Ransom, First Regt. Cav., Ft. Leavenworth, K. T. 

About $400 worth of arms and ammunition were never restored. 
Jefferson Davis was then Secretary of War, and no further efforts 
were made to obtain them, and no arrests were ever offered to be 
made of those who took them. 

One rather humorous incident connected with this " free for all" 
balloting in Kansas occurred in October, 1855. An election was to 
l)e held October 8, in Leavenworth county, to select a county seat. 
Three towns were aspirants for the distinction — Leavenworth, Dela- 
ware and Kickapoo,all three on the Missouri. Leavenworth, in pop- 
ulation and number of resident voters, outnumbered both Delaware 
and Kickapoo two to one, and it was of course believed by the people 
ot the first named town that it was sure to win. But the people of 
Delaware and Kickapoo had learned how elections might be carried, 
from seeing the Leavenworth men manage territorial contests. So on 
election day the ferry-boat ran free between "Weston and Kickapoo 
and hundreds of Missourians from Platte county crossed over and 
voted ou the county seat question in favor of Kickapoo, and while 
Leavenworth cast 600 votes Kickapoo came smilingly to the fore 
with 800 ! 

But Delaware was yet to hear from. Situated eight miles below 
Leavenworth, it was near to both Platte and Clay counties, in Mis- 
souri. A few days before the election notices of the election were 
posted in different parts of this county and published in the Tribune. 
These notices closed as follows: " Pro-Slavery men will find it to 
their interest to make Delaware the county seat. The ferry at Del- 
aware will be free that day ; there will also be a big barbecue there 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 177 

Oil that day, and a big ball at night." The Delawareans kept the 
polls open tJiree days, until after they heard from both Kickapoo and 
Leavenworth, and then came up triumphantly bearing their poll- 
books which showed a vote of more than nine hundred for Delaware ! 
At that time there were not more than 60 actual resident voters in 
the place. To say that Leavenworth was disgusted is to very imper- 
fectly state the prevalent feeling. The first authority to which the 
case of the election was submitted decided in favor of Kickapoo, but 
the territorial court waived all " irregularities," and ruled on the side 
of Delaware. 

In March, 185(), a large meeting was held at the court-house, and a 
considerable sum of money subscribed in aid of the cause. In June 
an organization, called the Pro-Slavery Aid Association, was formed, 
with Michael Arthur, president; David Roberts, secretary and treas- 
urer, and T. C. Gordon, D. J. Adkins, J. T. V. Thompson, A. W. 
Doniphan, and others, as directors. This association sent men and 
means into Kansas during the year from time to time as they were 
needed, and performed important work for the Pro-Slavery cause. 

Some of the Clay county men took part in various skirmishes with 
the Free State men in Kansas in 1856, and were at Ossawattomie, 
Tnrkey Creek and elsewhere. One man, R. M. G. Price, was killed 
by the accidental discharge of a gun of a comrade, J. M. Sullivan. 

In the spring and summer of 1856 numerous Ijodies of emigrants 
bound for Kansas from the Northern States were stopped in Western 
Missouri, not allowed to enter the Territory, andmany of them forced 
back to their old homes. At Weston and Leavenworth one or two 
boat loads of Eastern emigrants were stopped and turned back, and 
similar action was taken with others at Lexington, Wellington and 
elsewhere. In May eight families, with 12 teams from Illinois, trav- 
eling overland, were stopped in Platte county, and brought to Liberty 
by a guard of eight men headed by Robert Pate. Here they were 
turned over to the citizens, and Judge Thompson took charge of them. 
They were permitted to camp near town for two days, and then sent 
10 miles east where they rented houses and lived until the troubles in 
Kansas were over. These Illinoisans were John Veteto, his two sons 
and their families, and Beiij. Draper, John Wooster, James Hancock, 
R. Roberts and M. Dibble, and their families. 

h\ June, 1856, an attempt was made in Liberty to mob Darius 
Sessions, who was a prominent member of the Know Nothing 
party, but accused of holding anti-slavery sentiments. Ses- 
sions was rescued with some difficulty, and a public meeting indorsed 



178 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

him as a true fiiend of Southern institutions, and condemned the as- 
sault upon him as unmerited and unwarranted. Hon. L. VV. Burris 
was prominent in the rescue of Sessions, who was killed by the bush- 
whackers at Missouri City during the Civil War. 

After a time, along in the latter part of the year 1856, although 
the Government authorities virtually took sides with the Pro-Slavery 
men, and dispersed the Free State Legislature at Topeka with Col. 
Sumner's dragoons, it became apparent that the Northerners would 
win, and that Kansas would never become a Slave State. A congress- 
ional committee, composed of John Sherman, of Ohio ; Howard, of 
Michigan, Republicans, and Mordecai Oliver, the member of Congress 
from this district, a Pro-Slavery man — was sent out to investigate 
matters in Kansas, and the report of Sherman and Howard, one-sided 
though it was, stimulated the Northerners to renewed exertions, and 
they poured into the Territory in such numbers and made so many 
permanent settlements, that they soon controlled nearly every- 
thing. 

A sort of treaty of peace was made between Senator Atchison and 
Gov. Charles Robinson, and though there were diver tragic episodes 
in 1857 and 1858, yet no serious difficulties occurred after the fall of 
1856. The Free State men won as much by their generalship as by 
their numbers. 

In exi)lanation of the course taken by the Pro-Slavery people of tliis 
county during the troublous times of the settlement of Kansas it is, 
perhaps, but the simple truth to say that whatever was done generally 
in that period was deemed to be done in a spirit more of self-defense 
than in wantonness or recklessness. Situated as Clay county was, it 
was by no means desirable that Kansas should become a free State. 
Runaway slaves were common enough then when Iowa was the nearest 
goal of freedom to be reached. Let Kansas become free and filled 
with Northern and Eastern Abolitionists, who counted it God's ser- 
vice to encourage and assist runaway slaves, and there would be no 
security or safety for slave property in this county ; the 3,500 slaves 
belonging to our citizens would be held only as long as it pleased them 
to remain in a state of slavery. 

Eternal vigilance was the price of slavery. The very nature of 
the institution made this so. Very many ofthe slaves were constantly 
on the watch for a chance to escape, and improve every opportunity 
to run away. Their masters owned them and they were and had been 
recognized as property. They represented so much money, which 
the masters could illy atford to lose, in many instances, and it be- 



HISTORY Ol^ CLAY COUNTY. 179 

hooved them to guard well their own at all times. There was a con- 
stant state of apprehension and uneasiness among most slave owners — 
a fear not alone of an exodus, l)iit of an insurrection on the part of the 
negroes. The horrible scenes of St. Domingo and Jamaica it was 
feared might be repeated here some time. The negro could not be 
always under lock and ke}' or in chains, or under watch, and yet he 
could not be trusted to go about the most ordinary avocation un- 
guarded. Hence there arose a proverb that a " white man is uncer- 
tain and a nigger will run away? " 

The Abolitionists were continually meddling with the slaves and 
inciting them to mischief. They visited the Slave States in various 
guises and disguises. Sometimes as preachers, sometimes as peddlers, 
sometimes as travelers. A fair speaking, meek looking individual 
would visit a slave-holding community on a plausible errand, and a 
week after he left a dozen negroes would have absconded and struck 
out for the North Star ! To imprison them did no good ; to flog them 
did not discourage them; to hang one occasionally only multiplied 
tliem. There was law in plenty to protect slavery, but it seemed in- 
effective and was ofteuer inoperative and a dead letter. 

Hence it was that our people were forced to adopt the most vigor- 
ous policy in dealing with Abolitionists, and to become distrustful, 
suspicious and afraid of all strangers, and Northerners especially. 
We grew even inhospitable toward those we did not know, for fre- 
quently when we received into our houses a man whom we thought a 
gentleman, it turned out that he was a " nigger thief," who had 
come among us to entice away what all the laws and courts in the 
land said was our ^jro/jer^y, and which we had acquired honestly, as 
we believed. 

Of a trutii eternal vigilance was the price of slaveiy. So long as 
slave labor was a recognized factor in our political and commercial 
economy, it had to be protected and watched over. This could have 
been done by our people quietly and without a resort to extraordinary 
measures, but for the exasperating conduct of the Abolitionists, who 
took delight in irritating the slave owners in every possible way. Not 
only did they steal or entice away the slaves, but after the fugitives 
were well on the road to Canada, the liberators would often send to 
the masters taunting and insulting letters, full of sarcasm, denuncia- 
tion and contempt. Pamphlets and circulars were distributed liber- 
ally, denouncing slavery and slaveholders in the vilest terms. The 
former was described as " the sum of human villainies ; " the latter 
wore termed " trafEckers in human flesh," "brutes who breed up 



180 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

their own children for the slave market, and sell their own daughters 
to become the concubines of other slave-breeders," etc., etc. It was 
but natural, therefore, that the slaveholding population of the South 
should have but small regai'd for Abolitionists, and should resort to 
severe means and methods in dealing with them. A few Abolitionists, 
zealous and earnest, were capable of an infinite deal of mischief. In 
the language of the Abolition song, old John Brown — 

"Captured Harper's Ferry with but nineteen men so true, 
And frightened old Virginia till she trembled through and through." 

And one fanatical, working " liberator " could set an entire county 
agog, and have whole neighl)orhoods up in ai'ms ; and so the greatest 
care and extremest vigilance were required and exercised to keep that 
one Abolitionist out of the country, or to make his reception such 
that he would not care to return after being expelled. 

Then the legislation of many of the Northern States against the in- 
stitution, especially in regard to the execution of the fugitive slave law, 
the speeches of Free Soil orators and the utterances of the Free Soil 
press, all excited and embittered the people, and led tiiem to do certain 
things which it would have been better to have left undone. 

In explanation of the severity with which Northern Methodists were 
dealt, it is to be said that upon the division of the Methodist Church, 
in 1844-45, an exciting controversy arose, and as the division resulted 
from a discussion of the slavery question, the Northern wing opposing 
the institution, animosities were engendered against that organization 
which required many years of time to extinguish. Abolitionists were 
not wanted in Missouri, and as every Northern Methodist was akin in 
sentiment to, if not altogether, an Abolitionist, his room iiere was pre- 
ferable to his company. 

As to the dubious and really reprehcnsil)le policy of exporting 
voters to Kansas who were not and so far as they really knew did not 
intend to become actual residents of the Territory, who went over one 
day and returned the next, it is only the truth to state that the Free 
Soilers were pursuing practically the same tactics. In New England 
and New York the Abolitionists and their sympathizers organized 
"emigrant aid societies," regularly incorporated associations, with 
thousands of dollars of capital, and these societies sent hundreds and 
thousands of men into Kansas to be and remain there, so far as the 
societies expected or cared, only until after the election. True, these 
importations of the aid societies remained longer in Kansas than our 
Missouri voters, but the principle that governed them in coming to the 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 181 

Territory was the same — they came " to help our side." The early 
elections in Kansas were nearly all farcical and fraudulent anyhow. 
Where the Pro-Slavery men had the upper hand they regulated mat- 
ters their own way ; where the Free State men were in the majority 
they did the same. 

Coming to the circumstance of the raising of money and means to 
help along the slavery cause, to arm and equip men and sustain them 
in the field, did not even the Republicans the same? Collections were 
taken up throughout New England and in New York and Ohio, even 
in the churches, to buy aruis for and generally assist the men who went 
to Kansas " to consecrate the soil to freedom." Powder and shot 
were bought with the receipts of mite societies to assist in this " con- 
secration ; " ministers of the gospel prayed God from their pulpits to 
assist the Free State army, and Henry Ward Beecher distributed 
among some of the " cohorts of freedom " Sharpe's rifles which had 
been purchased with the contents of the contril)ution boxes of Ply- 
mouth Church. 

Jim Lane marched through Southern Iowa into Nebraska and then 
down into Kansas at the head of a small army of mounted men, hav- 
ing with them cannon and a goodly supply of shot and .shell. Cannon 
were smuggled into the Territory and mounted at Lawrence and 
Topeka. To meet these, the Missourians carried over other pieces of 
artillery taking them wherever they could find them. 

The whole matter of the Kansas question, when viewed fairly and 
impartially, and when the elements of fraud and violence are contem- 
plated, resolves itself into the homely expressed case of " six of one 
and half a dozen of the other." Many things were done by each side 
which were very discreditable, but the faults were nearly, if not quite, 
equally divided, and the honors and dishonors were easy. 

CENSUS OF 1850. 

The total population of Clay county in 1850 was 10,332, as fol- 
lows : Whites, 7,590; blacks, 2,732. The number of heads of fami- 
lies was 1,352 ; number of school children, 2,403 ; number of ftirms, 
1,000; number of deaths during the year, 151; amount of hemp 
raised in the county during the year, 1,232 tons. The population of 
Liberty was 827. 

CENSUS OF 185(). 

White males, 4,856 ; females, 4,327 ; total whites, 9,183. Slaves, 
3,353; free negroes, 45; total colored, 3,398. Total population, 



182 ' HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

12,581. Number of whites able to read and write, 5,395. Number 
of horses, 4,410; cattle, 9,585; mules, 1,495. Valuation of slave 
property, $1,496,(530 ; total valuation, $5,456,595. Amount of tax 
for the year, $11,543.17. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

From 1850 to 1855, steauiboating was ver}^ active on the Missouri. 
Frequently four or five fine l)oats passed up and down dail}'. Some 
of the steamers of 1853 making trips regularlj' l)etween St. Louis and 
Weston, Leavenworth and St. Joseph were the Banner State, Isabel, F. 
X. Aubrey, Robert Campbell, Timour No. 2, Polar Star, Clara, Ben 
West and Sonora. In August, 1853, the Polar Star made one trip 
from St. Louis to Liberty Lauding in 52 hours and 47 minutes, mak- 
ing all intervening landings and losing three and a half hours. This 
was regarded as exceptionally fast time. 

Upon the death of Dr. Wm. Jewell, in Liberty, August 7, 1852, a 
large public meeting was held and eulogistic resolutions of the philan- 
thropist's character adopted. A very large funeral procession 
paraded the streets. 

In October, 1853, the Clay County Agricultural Societ3' was formed. 
W. E. Price was the first president, and W. T. Withers, secretary. 
The first fair of the society was held on the grounds, near Liberty, 
October 12, 13, and 14, 1854. Exhibitors from all the adjoining 
counties competed. 

A teacher's institute was formed at Liberty, June 10, 1854. Prof. 
James Love was the first president ; R. W. Fleming, vice-president ; 
N. R. Stone, recording secretary ; O. H. O'Neal, corresponding secre- 
tary; B. F. Woods, treasurer; L. M. Lawson, librarian and A. W. 
Doniphan, R. C. Morton, David Brown, A. D. Brooks and B. F. Haw- 
kins the board of managers. The organization existed some years 
and held numerous interesting meetings. 

The drouth in the year 1854 was quite severe in this county, and 
the following October wheat was quoted at from $1.37 to $1.72 per 
l)ushel, and corn was worth 60 cents. 

When the financial distress of 1857 came upon Clay county the 
people had their pockets filled with free bank paper, much of which 
proved worthless, and many men were pretty badh' injured by the 
crash. However, there was plenty of good money in the country, 
and it was not long until the county had well recovered. 

In January, 1859, there was $20,000 worth of slaves sold in Liberty 
in one day, the greater number belonging to the estates of John Capps 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 183 

and Joel Estes. Of the Capps negroes Sarah, aged 47, brought 
$447, Gincey, aged 28, and her children aged three years and fourteen 
months, $1,200 ; George, aged 22, $1,265"; Howard, aged 19, $1,280. 
Of the Estes negroes, Margaret, aged 17, sold for $1,025; Mack, 
aged 9, $601 ; Canny, 15 (unsound), $600. 

Some time in June, 1859, a meeting was held in Liberty, in aid of 
a railroad " from Kansas City to the North Missouri, at some point in 
Randolph county." The road then contemplated was to pursue sub- 
stantially the route over which now runs the Kansas Cicy uianco of 
the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific, from Moberly, in Randolph county, 
to Kansas City. A large meeting in favor of a road on this line was 
held at Richmond in July. 

Prof. Oliver H. Cunningham, the well known teacher, whose 
schools in Liberty from 1844 to about 1858 were attended by so many 
Clay county people, died in Richmond, in the spring of 1859. 

BUILDING OF THE PRESENT COURT-HOUSE. 

May 19, 1857, the county court decided to build the present court- 
house, on the site of the old building, and appropriated $35,000 there- 
for. The plan was furnished by Peter McDuff, of Weston, who was 
appointed commissioner and paid $G per day. 

The contractors were Crump & Thompson, and the linilding was 
finally completed and accepted November 9, 1859, but it bad been oc- 
cupied by the courts and clerks for some time previously. The jail 
had also been used for the confinement of prisoners. The total cost 
of the building was about $41,000. 

Aside from the holding of courts the first public use to which the 
circuit court room was put was when, in the spring of 1860, Prof. T. 
S. Rarey, the renowned horse-tamer, was allowed to use it for a series 
of lectures. 

THE KANSAS CITY AND CAMERON RAILROAD. 

Upon the completion of the Hannibal and St. Joseph railroad, in 
February, 1859 — and even before — a project had been on foot to 
build a branch of that road from Cameron to Kansas City via Lib- 
erty. The new town of Cameron hjid been laid out by E. M. Samuel 
and other Liberty men, who were interested in its prosperity almost 
to the extent that they were in their home town, and the enterprise 
was pushed vigorously. 

In the early summer of 1860 the county was thoroughly canvassed 
on the question of the county court's making a subscription of $200,- 

7 



For. 


Against. 


595 


43 


286 


46 


62 


400 


232 


67 


25 


282 



184 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

000 to the proposed branch road. The sense of the people was to be 
ascertained at a special election held June 11. The towns of Missouri 
City and Smithville opposed the subscription, but the vote was largely 
in its favor, as follows : — 

Toxonships. 

Liberty ........ 

Gallatin 

Fishing River ....... 

Washington ....... 

Platte 

Total 1,200 832 

The county court duly made the subscription, and a month or two 
later (in August) an additional appropriation of $25,000. Private 
subscriptions were also obtained to the amount of nearly $25,000 
more. 

In August the contract was let for the building of the road to J. A. 
Quealey, of Hannibal, for $300,000. This included the grading, 
bridging, tieing and laying down the iron. The leading officers of the 
Kansas City and Cameron road at this time were Dr. G. ]M. B, 
Maughas, president ; S. W. Bouton, secretary, and E. M. Samuel, 
treasurer. 

THF PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF 1860. 

In very many respects the Presidential campaign of i860 was the 
most remarkable, not only iu the history of Clay county, but of the 
United S tates. Its character was affected not only by preceding but suc- 
ceeding events. Among the former were the excited and exciting de- 
bates in Congress over the repeal of the Missouri Compromise and the 
Kansas-Neb raska controversy ; the passage by the Legislatures of 
various Northern States of the "personal liberty bills," which ren- 
dered inoperative in those States the fugitive slave law ; the John 
Brown raid on Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, iu the fall of 1859, and 
various inflammatory speeches of prominent leaders of the Republican 
and Democratic parties iu the North and in the South. 

There was the greatest excitement throughout the country, and 
when it was in full tide the Presidential canvass opened. The slaveiy 
question was the all-absorbing one among the people. The Republi- 
can part}-, while it had not received a single vote iu Clay county, had 
carried a large majority of the Northern States iu the canvass of 1856, 
and every year since had received large accessions to its ranks, and 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 185 

under the circumstances, there beins ^reat dissensions in the Demo- 
cratic party, projinosticating a sjjlit, bade fair to elect its candidates. 
The Democratic Convention at Cliarleston, South Carolina, April 23, 
after a stormy and inharmonious session of some days, divided, and 
the result was the nomination of two sets of candidates — Stephen A. 
Douglas and Herschel V. Johnson for President and Vice-President, 
by the " regulars," and John C. Breckinridge and Joseph Lane by 
the Southern or States rights wing of the party. 

The "Constitutional Union " party, made up of old Whigs, Know 
Nothings, and some conservative men of all parties, nominated John 
Bell, of Tennessee, and Edward Everett, of Massachusetts, on a plat- 
form composed of a single line — "The Union, the constitution and 
the enforcement of the laws." 

The Republican party was the last to bring out its candidates. It 
presented Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin, on a platform 
declaring, among other things, that each State had the absolute right 
to control and manage its own domestic institutions; denying that the 
constitution, of its own force, carried slavery into the territories whose 
normal condition was said to be that of freedom. Epitomized, the 
platform meant hostility toward the extension of slavery, non-inter- 
ference where it really existed. 

It was to be expected that Missouri, being the only border Slave 
State lying contiguous to the territories of Kansas and Neljraska, 
should be deeply concerned in the settlement of the slavery question. 
Her people or their ancestors were very largely from Kentucky, Ten- 
nessee, Virginia and other slaveholding States, and many of them 
owned slaves or were otherwise interested in the preservation of 
slavery, to which institution the success of the Republican party, it 
was believed, would be destructive. There were manj' of this class in 
Clay county. There was not only a selfish motive for the friendliness 
toward the '•peculiar institution," but a sentimental one. It was 
thought that it would be unmanly to yield to Northern sentiment of a 
threatening shape or coercive character. If slavery was wrong (which 
was denied) it must not be assailed at the dictations of Northern 
Abolitionists. 

The canvass in the State was veiy spirited. The division in the 
Democi-atic party extended into Missouri. The Democratic State 
convention nominated Claiborne F. Jackson, of Saline county, for 
Governor. The Bell and Everett party nominated at first Robert 
Wilson, of Andrew, and, on his withdrawal, Hon. Sample Orr, of 



186 HiSTonir of clay county. 

Greene county. Judge Orr was selected in the room of Mr. Wilson 
by the central committee. 

Very soon the politicians began a series of maneuvers designed to 
develop Jackson's views on the main question before the country, and 
especially as to which of the two Democratic presidential candidates 
he favored. For a long time the wily Saline county statesman suc- 
ceeded in evading the question and defining his position ; but at last 
the Missouri Republican and other Douglas organs " smoked him 
out." He announced in a well written communication that he was far 
Douglas, because he believed him to be the regular and fairly chosen 
nominee of the party; but at the same time he announced himself in 
favor of many of the principles of the Breckinridge party. He was 
called by some who disliked him " a Douglas man with Breckinritlge 
tendencies," " a squatter sovereign on an anti-squatter sovereignty 
platform," etc. 

When Jackson's letter appeared soon thereafter tiie Breckinridge 
men called a State convention and put in nomination Hancock Jacks'on, 
of Howard, for Governor, and Monroe M. Parsons, of Cole, for 
Lieutenant-Governor. 

Being encouraged by the feuds in the Democratic party, the Bell 
and Everett men had high hopes of electing their gubernatorial can- 
didate at the August election, and carrying the State for " Bell, of 
Tennessee," the ensuing November. To this end they did everything 
]jossible to foment additional discord and widen the breach between 
the two wings of their opponents ; but they overdid the business. 
The Democrats saw through their tactics, and agreeing to disagree as 
to presidential candidates, practically united in the support of Jackson 
and Reynolds at the August election, and triumphantly elected them 
by a plurality of about 10,000. The vote stood: C. F. Jackson, 
Douglas Democrat, 74,446 ; Sample Orr, Bell and Everett, 64,583 ; 
Hancock Jackson, Breckinridge Democrat, 11,415; J. B: Gardeiihire, 
Republican, 6,135. 

In Clay county at the August election the vote was as follows : — 

Governor — Sample Orr, 943; C. F. Jackson, 586 ; Hancock Jack- 
sen, 134. 

Congress — John Scott, "Union," 977; E. H. Norton, Democrat, 
710. 

Legislature — L. W. Burris, "Union," 887; J. C. Garner, 
" Union," 29 ; A. Harsell, " Union," 199 ; J. S. Huston, Democrat, 
540 ; G. W. Withers, Democrat, 88. 

Sheriff — R. A. Neeley, "Union," 1,640; no opposition. 

Norton was elected to Congress by a majority of 5,000. 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 187 



PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. 



Nothing daunted by their defeat in August, the Bell and Everett 
men in Missouri kept up the fight for their Presidential candidates, 
and came within a few hundred votes of currying the State for them 
in November, the vote standing : — 

For the Douglas electors, 58,801 ; for the Bell electors, 58,372 ; 
for the Breckinridge electors, 31,317; for the Lincoln electors, 
17,028. Douglas' majority over Bell 429, over Breckinridge, 27,484. 

It is said that many Democrats voted for Bell Ijecause they thought 
he was the only candidate that could beat Lincoln. In the October 
elections the Republicans had carried Pennsylvania, Ohio and In- 
diana, and Lincoln's election was almost inevitable. Fusion tickets 
against the Republicans had been formed in New York, New Jersey, 
and other States, and many thought the Tennessee statesman might 
be elected after all. 

Following was the vote in Clay at the Presidential election, 18(50: 
Bell, 1,036; Douglas, 524; Breckinridge, 304; Lincoln, none. For 
circuit attorney D. C. Allen received 782 ; Samuel Hardwick, 662 ; 
John W. Otey, 212; A. C. Ellis, 20. Mr. Allen was elected. 

During the campaign, October 22, there was a large meeting of all 
parties at Liberty. Gen. David R. Atchison, Senator James S. Green 
and Col. Samuel Churchill spoke for Breckinridge ; Messrs. Hovey 
and J. H. Moss for Bell, and Col. Jones for Douglas. A day or 
two later Hon. Henry Clay Dean, of Iowa, spoke for Douglas. 

AFTER THE ELECTION OF LINCOLN. 

The news of the election of Lincoln and Hamlin was received by 
the people of Clay county generally with considerable dissatisfaction ; 
but, aside from the utterances of some ultra pro-slavery men, there 
were general expressions of a willingness to accept and abide by the 
result — at least to watch and wait. A number of citizens avowed 
themselves unconditional union men from the first — as they had 
every year since 1850, when they met in convention from time to 
time, and these were men who voted for Bell, and men who had voted 
for Douglas, and even men who had voted for Breckinridge. Upon the 
secession of South Carolina and other Southern States, however, many 
changed their views. Indeed, there was nothing certain about the senti- 
ments of men in those days, but one thing — they were liable to change ! 
Secessionists one week became Union men the next, and vice versa. 
There was withal a universal hope that civil war might be averted. 



188 - HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

Already the best men of the country feared for the fate of the re- 
public. Northern fanatics and Southern fire-eaters were striving to 
rend it asunder. The former did not want to live in a country ( so 
they said) whereof one-half depended on the begetting and bringing 
up of children for the slave market, and so the constitution which 
permitted slavery was denominated an instrument of infamy, and the 
flag of the stars and stripes was denounced as a flaunting lie. The 
fire-eaters of the South were blustering and complaining that their 
" rights" had been or were about to be trampled on by the North, 
and therefore they were for seceding and breaking up a government 
which they could not absolutely control. 

A majority of the people of the county, it is safe to say, believed 
that the interests of Missouri were identical with those of the other 
slave-holding States, but they were in favor of waiting for the devel- 
opment of the policy of the new administration before taking any 
steps leading to the withdrawal of the State from the Federal Union. 
"Let us wait and see what Lincoln will do," was the sentiment and 
expression of a large number. A respectable minority were in favor 
of immediate secession, and so declared publicly. 

"Missouri is a peninsula of slavery running out into a sea of free- 
dom," said Gov. Bob Stewart, in 1861. It was bounded on three 
sides by Free States, and " Black Republican " States at that — Kan- 
sas, Iowa and Illinois. Should she secede and become a part of a 
foreign nation her condition, as suffering from Northern Abolitionists 
and slave liberators, would be aggravated. When one negro ran 
away while the State remained a part of the Union, ten might be ex- 
pected to "skedaddle" if she seceded. Thus argued many Pro- 
Slavery men at the time. 

The Liberty Tribune said that Lincoln had been fairly elected Presi- 
dent, and that there was no ground whatever for secession. " Lincoln 
is powei'less to do harm if he would," argued the Tribune, " since 
both houses of Congress and the Supreme Court are against him, and 
he can have no legal power to interfere against the institutions of the 
South. Let the Union men stand firm." 

Always attached to the Union, editor Miller was especially zealous 
in its defense at this critical juncture. The Tribune of December 7 
contained reflections and aspersions against the motives that actuated 
the Secessionists of the Cotton States. A leading editorial charged 
that the Secessionists were taking steps to lead their States into seces- 
sion : — 

Not because they feci their rights to be endangered by the election 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 189 

and consequent inauguration of Lincoln, but because of deep-seated 
and long-clierished hostility to the Government in which we live. 
They have long desired a dismemberment of the Union ; their desire 
to secede existed long before the establishment of the Black Republi- 
can party. Their actions are not based on the apprehension of danger 
from Lincoln, but they urge prompt action at this time because they 
lielieve other States, incensed at the result of the late presidential 
election, are now prepared to go with them. If they were satisfied 
that a justifiable cause for disunion would be furnished by any act of 
Lincoln's administration, they would wait for its occurrence, because 
they know that then there would be no division in the South. 

A financial crash was imminent in this State and throughout the 
West, owing to the disturbed and menacing condition of affairs, and a 
pul>lic meeting at Liberty, November 28, declared in favor of a sus 
pension of specie payments on the part of the banks, especially of the 
State bank and its branches at Lexington, Paris and Liberty. 

As time passed, the spirit of alarm diffused itself more and more 
among the people. At a public meeting at Liberty, December 24, 
Col. H. L. Routt and Hon. J. T. V. Thompson were the speakers. 
They bade their hearers to prepare for action, for there was no proph- 
esying then what they might be called . upon to do. Thirty men 
enrolled themselves as " minute men," and elected H. L. Routt, cap- 
tain ; L. L. Talbott, John C. Dunn and G. W. Morris, lieutenants, 
and A. Gillespie, orderly sergeant. There was considerable comment 
on this action, many deeming it untimely, others unwise, but there 
were many who approved it. 

The close of the year 1860 found the county in a highly prosperous 
condition. Crops had been fairly abundant, money was reasonably 
plenty, the country was finely improved and teemed with wealth, good 
schools and churches were plenty, enterprises were opening on every 
hand, a new railroad had been begun and was certain of completion, 
and altogether it would have seemed that the temporal future of our 
people was of the highest promise. 

But a fell spirit of distrust and malevolence toward that vast section 
of our common country called the North had found lodgment in the 
minds of many. Prophecies of evil were continually shouted in the 
ears of the unwary. Memories of injuries suffered at the hands of 
the anti-slavery ites were revived, and every Northern gale and every 
Southern breeze fanned into flame the fires of sectional hate which 
had for a time been smoldering. The clear sky was overcast with 
clouds, and they were dark and lowering. 



CHAPTEE YII. 

HISTORY OF THE COUNTY DURING 1861. 

The Legislature of IStU — Election of Delegates to the State Convention — The Work 
of the Convention — After Fort Sumpter — Capture of the Liberty Arsenal — Maj. 
Grant's Reports — After the Arsenal's Seizure — Preparing for War in Earnest — 
Organization of Military Companies — Gen. Doniphan Declines a Military Appoint- 
ment — Departure of the Secession Companies for the War — The First Federal 
Troops — Events of the Summer and Early Fall of 1861 — Proclamation of Gen. 
Stein — Rallying to His Standard — The Battle of Blue Mills — The Killed and 
Wounded — Reports of the Leaders — Col. Saunders, Hon. D. R. .\tchison, Col. 
Scott — List of Killed and Wounded inf the Third Iowa— War Incidents of the Fall 
and Winter of 1861 — The Neosho Secession Ordinance. 

THE LEGISLATURE OF 1861. 

On the last day of December, 1861, the Twenty-first General As- 
sembly met at Jefferson City. The retiring Governor, Eobt. M. 
Stewart, delivered a ver}'^ conservative message, taking the middle 
ground between secession antl abolition, and pleading strenuously for 
peace and moderation. He declared, among other propositions, that 
the people of INIissouri " ought not to be frightened from their pro- 
priety by the past unfriendly legislation of the North, or dragooned 
into secession by the restrictive legislation of the extreme South." 
He concluded with a thrilling appeal for the maintenance of the Union, 
depicting the inevitable result of secession, revolution and war. Many 
of Gov. Stewart's predictions were afterwards fulfilled with startling 
and fearful exactness. 

The inaugural of the new Governor, Claiborne Fox Jackson, in- 
dorsed the doctrine enunciated in his famous resolutions of 1849 — 
that the interests and destiny of the slaveholding States were the 
same; that the State was in favor of remaining in the Union so long 
as there was any hope of maintaining the guarantees of the constitu- 
tion, but that in the event of a failure to reconcile the differences 
which then threatened the disruption of the Union, it would be the 
duty of Missouri "to stand by the South ; " and that he was opposed 
to the doctrine of coercion in any event. Gov. Jackson concluded by 
recommending tiie immediate call of a State convention, in order 
that " the will of the people may be ascertained and effectuated." 

lu accordance with the Governor's recommendation, the Legisla- 
(190) 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 191 

tiire, on Januuiy 17, passed a hill calling a convention, to be composed 
of three times as many members as in the aggregate each senatorial 
district was entitled to State Senators — that is, three delegates from 
each senatorial district in the State — and appointing February 18 as 
the day on which they were to l)e elected, and February 28 the day on 
which the convention should assemble. Hon. J. T. V. Thompson 
and Hon. Luke W. Burris, respectively the State Senator from this 
district and Representative from this county, voted for the convention 
bill. The tenth section of this bill contained the following important 
provision : — 

No act, ordinance or resolution of said convention shall he deemed 
to he valid to change or dissolve the political relations of this State 
to the government of the United States, or any other State, until a 
majority of the qualified voters of this State, voting upon the ques- 
tion, shall ratify the same. 

Mr. Thompson voted especially for this section, which was intro- 
duced in the Senate by Hon. Charles H. Hardin, then the Senator 
from the Boone and Callaway district, and afterward Governor of 
Missouri in 1874-76. Thus the secession of the State was made an 
impossibility without the consent of a majority of the voters, al- 
though Hardin's amendment was adopted by the close vote of 17 to 
15. After a much disturbed and very turbulent session the Legisla- 
ture adjourned March 28. 

ELECTION OF DELEGATES TO THE STATE CONVENTION. 

The Thirteenth Senatorial District was composed of the counties of 
Clay and Platte. On the 28th of January the Unconditional Union 
men of Clay met in convention at Liberty, with Dr. W. A. Morton 
chairman. Resolutions favoring the Crittenden compromise and 
opposing coercion were unanimously adopted and Col. A. W. Doniphan 
and James H. Moss, of Clay, and Elijah H. Norton, of Platte, nomi- 
nated for delegates to the State convention. 

February 1 a "Southern Rights" meeting was held at Liberty. 
John R. Killer presided. Col. H. L. Routt spoke and was replied to 
by James H. Moss. Resolutions looking to secession in certain con- 
tingencies were introduced, and though the chairman declared them 
adopted, it was the general expression that they had been rejected by 
the meeting, a majority of whose member's were Union men who, 
under the leadership of Mr. Moss, had come in and " captured " it. 

Delegates from Clay and Platte met at Barry February 7, and regu- 



192 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

lai'ly nominated, though not without dissent, Messrs. Doniphan, Moss 
and Norton. Certain " Southern Rights" candidates were announced 
independently. 

On election day, February 18, there was much interest manifested 
in this county. At Missouri City even the ladies were interested. 
They assembled in a public meeting, indorsed the Crittenden com- 
promise, declared for the Union and then, carrying the old flag, with 
34 stars and 13 stripes, mai'ched in procession to the polls and urged 
and entreated the voters to cast their ballots for the Union candidates, 
Doniphan, Moss and Norton, and assist in preventing civil war with 
all its enormities and horrors. Never before had the ladies of Clay 
county abandoned their domestic duties to engage even indirectly in 
politics, and their action on this occasion indicates what must have 
Ijeen the prevalent feeling among our people. 

The election in this district resulted in an overwhelming majority 
for the Union candidates, as follows : — 

Candidates . 

A. W. Doniphan, Union . . . • , 

James H. Moss " . . . , 

Elijah H. Norton " .... 

J. F. Farbis, Secession .... 

Kemp M. Woods " .... 

The selection of Doniphan, Moss and Norton by a vote of nearly 
ten to one againt the Secession candidates, clearly and unmistakably 
shows that a large majority of the people of Clay and Platte were for 
the Union in the winter of 1861 — at least were opposed to secession 
at that time. But it is just as true, although not shown by official 
records, that they were strenuously opposed to coercion. There must 
be no war. It was folly and unwise for the Cotton States to secede, 
but there must be no attempt on the part of the General Government 
to l)ring them back into the Union by force of arms. In such an 
event, many openly declared, " we will stand by our Southern 
brethren . ' ' 

THE WORK OF THE CONVENTION. 

The convention assembled at Jefferson City, February 28, 18(51. 
Sterling Price, of Chariton county, afterward the distinguished Con- 
fedei'ate general, was chosen president. On the second day it ad- 
journed to meet at St. Louis, where it re-convened March 4, contin- 
ued in session until the 22d, when it adjourned to meet on the third 
Monday in December, subject, however, to a call of a majority of a 



Clay. 


Platte. 


. 1,578 


2,275 


. 1,468 


1,928 


. 1,480 


1,891 


166 


503 


66 


134 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 193 

committee of seven. Betbi'e adjourning, a series of resolutions was 
adopted, two of whicli wei'e of superior importance, and here proper 
to be noted : 1. Containing the explicit declaration that there was no 
adequate cause to impel Missouri to dissolve her connection with the 
Federal union. 2. Taking unmistakable ground against the employ- 
ment of military force by the Federal government to coerce the seced- 
ing States, or the employment of military force by the seceding States, 
to assail the government of the United States. 

Mr. John F. Redd, of Marion, and Mr. Harrison Hough, of Missis- 
sippi, presented a minority rejjort, declaring the Abolitionists of the 
North responsible for the then condition of aflairs and favoring the 
holding of a convention by the non-seceding Slave States at 
Nashville, Tennessee, for the adoption of a plan of settlement of the 
existing difficulties on the basis of the Crittenden compromise. 

The resolutions from the committee on Federal Relations being 
under consideration, Mr. Moss, of Chiy, moved to amend the fifth of 
the majority (Gaml)le) series by adding the following: — 

And further. Believing that the fate of Missouri depends upon a 
peaceable atljustment of our present difficulties, she will never count- 
enance or aid a seceding State in making war on the General Govern- 
ment, nor will she furnish men or money for the purpose of aiding tlie 
General Government in any attempt to coerce a seceding State. 

The Moss amendment was under discussion in the convention for 
several days, during which period several si>eeches were made upon it 
by the ablest and most prominent members. Mr. Moss himself de- 
ilivered an able argument in its favor, at the same time avowing him- 
self an unconditional Union man, opposed to fanatical Abolitionists and 
coercionists alike ; declaring that he verily believed a majority of the 
people of the seceded States were really Union men, but that a " reign 
of terror" existed among them, stifling their voices and awing them 
into submission.' Following was the conclusion of his speech: — 

In conclusion, I only desire to state that I hail from a county where 
Lincoln did not get a vote, and where the Secessionists got only less 
than two hundred. My constituents are Union men, and they indorse 
my position, and they believe that all Missouri has is staked on the 
die — that she must have a peaceable settlement. They do not want 
to go out of the Union, but they ask that their honor shall be safe in 
your hands. We occupy the middle ground, and we can extend to 
both sections a friendly hand, and say we want peace, and our salva- 
tion depends upon it. 



' See Journal of Proceedings of State Convention, first session, 18G1, p. 76. For the 
entire speech, p. 68 to 75. 



194 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

On the fourteenth day of the convention Mr. Moss' amendment was 
voted down by the following vote : — 

Ayes — Eli E. Bass, of Boone ; Geo. Y. Bast, of Montgomery ; R. 
A. Brown, of Cass; J. R. Chenault, of Jasper; Samuel C. Collier, 
of Madison ; A. Comingo, of Jackson ; R. W. Crawford, of Law- 
rence ; R. W. Donnell, of Buchanan ; Geo. W. Dunn, of Ray ; R. B. 
Frayser, of St. Charles ; Joseph Flood, of Callaway ; N. F. Givens, of 
Clark: H. M. Gorin,-of Scotland; A. S. Harbin, of Barry; R. A. 
Hatcher, of New Madrid ; V. B. Hill, of Pulaski ; W. J. Howell, of 
Monroe ; Prince L. Hudgins, of Andrew ; J. Proctor Knott, of Cole ; 
J. T. Matson, of Ralls; J. H. Moss, of Clav ; E. H. Norton, of 
Platte ; R. D. Ray, of Carroll ; J. T. Redd, of Marion ; S. L. Sawyer, 
of Lafayette ; E. K. Sayre, of Lewis ; J. K. Sheeley, of Jackson ; J. 
G. Waller, of Warren; N. AV. Watkins, Cape Girardeau; Warren 
Woodson, of Boone — 30. 

J^oeg — J. S. Allen, of Harrison ; Orson Bartlett, of Stoddard ; J. 
H. Birch, of Clinton; Joseph Bogy, of St. Genevieve; S. M. Breck- 
inridge, of St. Louis ; J. O. Broadhead, of St. Louis ; H. E. Bridge, 
of St. Louis; Isidor Bush, of St. Louis; Robert Calhoun, of Calla- 
way ; M. P. Cayce, of St. Francois ; Wm. Douglass, of Cooper ; 
Charles Drake, of Moniteau ; John D. Foster, of Adair ; H. R. 
Gamble, of St. Louis ; T. T. Gantt, of St. Louis ; J. J. Gravelly, of 
Cedar; Willard P. Hall, of Buchanan; Wra. A. Hall, of Randolph: 
John B. Henderson, of Pike ; Littleberry Heudrick, of Greene ; Henry 
Hitchcock, of St. Louis ; Robert Holmes, of St. Louis ; John Holt, 
of Dent ; Harrison Hough, of Mississippi ; John How, of St. Louis ; 
J. M. Irwin, of Shelby ; Z. Isbell, of Osage ; Wm. Jackson, of Put- 
nam ; R. W. Jamison, of Webster; J. W. Johnson, of Polk; C. G. 
Kidd, of Henry ; W. T. Leeper, of Waj-ne ; M. L. L. Linton, of 
St. Louis ; John F. Long, of St. Louis ; Vincent Marmaduke, 
of Saline ; A. C. Marvin, of Henry; J. W. McClurg, of Camden; J. 
R. McCormack, of Perry; Nelson McDowell, of Dade; James Mo- 
Ferran, of Daviess ; Ferd. Myer, of St. Louis : W. L. Morrow, of 
Dallas; J. C. Noell, of Bollinger; Sample Orr, of Greene; John F. 
Phillips, of Pettis ; Wm. G. Pomeroy, of Crawford ; C. G. Rankin, of 
Jefferson ; M. H. Ritchey, of Newton ; Fred. RoAvland, of Mann ; 
Thos. Scott, of Miller ; Thos. Shackelford, of Howard ; J. H. Shackel- 
ford, of St. Louis; Jacob Smith, of Linn ; Sol. Smith, of St. Louis; 
J. T. Tindall, of Grundy ; W. W. Turner, of Laclede ; A. M. Wool- 
folk, of Livingston; Uriel Wright, of St. Louis; Ellzey Van Bus- 
kirk, of Holt; G. W. Zimmerman, of Lincoln, and the President, 
Sterling Price, of Chariton — 6L 

Absent — A. W. Doniphan, of Clay; C. D. Eitzen, of Gasconade; 
A. W. Maupin, of Franklin ; J. P. Ross, of Morgan ; Robt. M. 
Stewart, of Buchanan ; Aiknian Welch, of Johnson; Robt. Wilson, of 
Buchanan . 

Sick — Philip Pipkin, of Iron. 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 195 

The convention juljourned March 22, to meet the third Monday in 
the following December, but was called together October 10, 18(51. 
Messrs. Moss and Doniphan attended subsequent sessions, and voted 
with the other conservative members against the test oaths. Doni- 
phan voted for the emancipation ordinance, adopted July 1, 18(53, 
providing for the abolition of slavery in the State July 4, 1870. This 
ordinance was adopted by a vote of 51 to 30, but its provisions were 
rendered of no force l)y the adoption of the thirteenth amendment. 

AFTER FORT SUMPTER. 

The firing on Fort Sumpter by the Confederates, April 12, 1861 ; 
the proclamation of President Lincoln calling for 75,000 volunteers ; 
Gov. Jackson's indignant refusal to respond to the requisition on Mis- 
souri ; the excitement throughout the South ; the uprising in the 
North, these are incidents in the history of the country, the particulars 
of which need not be set forth in these pages. 

The reception of the news of the firing on Sumpter caused the most 
intense excitement in Clay county. Cheers for South Carolina and 
Gen. Beauregard rang out, and secession Hags fluttered in the breezes 
at Liberty and Smithville. When Lincoln's proclamation was heard 
of, a great storm of indignation swept over the county, bearing down 
all but the staunchest Union men. Many who had opposed secession 
up till now, changed their views suddenly, denounced the administra- 
tion, and avowed themselves " on the side of the South." The " snb- 
missionists," as the unconditional Union men were termed, were few 
and undemonstrative; the Secessionists were numerous and noisy. 

CAPTURE OF THE LIBERTY ARSENAL. 

The Missouri border was ablaze. In Clay county a long meditated 
act — an act forming an incident of a grand scheme — was accom- 
plished, highly important in its results to the Secession cause. This 
was the capture of what was generally known as the Liberty arsenal, 
although it was really four miles from Liberty, and was called by the 
U. S. authorities the Missouri Depot. It is altogether probable — 
theugh the evidence can not be had, owing to the reluctance of cer- 
tain parties to give it in such clear terms as is desirable — that a plan 
had been organized by leading Secessionists of the State, Gov. Jack- 
son among the number, to seize not only Liberty arsenal, but the St. 
Louis arsenal, and even Ft. Leavenworth. 

There is evidence, and the statement has been published, that while 
these captures or seizures were not to be made by the authority of 



196 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

Gov. Jackson, yet they received his personal sanction and approval, 
and that of other prominent gentlemen of Secession proclivities in 
the State, as M. Jeli" Thompson, John W. Reid, James S. Rains, S. 
H. Woodson and certain St. Louisans. Col. Peckham, of St. Louis, 
states that Col. Marmaduke (now Governor) was sent to Ft. Leaven- 
worth and that the sum of $25,000, of which $5,000 was drawn from 
the bank at Arrow Rock, was placed at his disposal for the purpose of 
bribing Maj. Haguer, the officer in command, to surrender the post 
when called upon by an invading force from Missouri.^ A letter 
written by the compiler of this volume to Gov. Marmaduke, and ask- 
ing for an affirmation or denial of this statement of Peckham's, re- 
ceived no answer. 

Saturday morning, April 20, as Maj. Nathaniel Grant, in charge of 
the arsenal, was at breakfast, a negro boy entered hastily and handed 
him a note. The note was not signed, but was written by a Union 
man, then living near the lauding and read substantially as follows: — 

A company of men from across the river camped in the bottom 
last night. I understand that another company is at or near Liberty, 
and that the destination of both is the arsenal. Look out. If you 
want to make a speech, get it ready. 

A few minutes later about 200 armed and mounted Secessionists 
rode up to the arsenal gate, forced admission and demanded of Grant 
the surrender of the post and its contents. There was but little need 
of this demand, since the post was already in their possession. No 
thought of resistance was entertained at any time, for the force at the 
arsenal consisted of Maj. Grant and two employes. Armorer Giros 
and Wm. L. Madden. Had the note of warning come earlier it 
would have made no diflerence in this respect. Grant contented him- 
self by protesting vigorously against the seizure, and this was allowed 
him with great good humor, and amid laughter and raillery. 

The force that captured and seized the arsenal was about 200 Seces- 
sionists, composed of one company ft'om Jackson county commanded 
by Capt. McMurray, of Independence, and a strong company from 
Liberty and Clay county under Col. Henry L. Routt, the whole under 
command of Col. Routt. The Jackson county company had crossed 
the river the previous evening. No authority was presented by Routt 
implicating Gov.^Jackson or any other officials, but he significantly 
stated that he knew what he was about. Asked if he didn't fear that 
the Governor would order the arms returned, he replied, '■^ Never!'' 



' Lyon and Missouri, p. 112 



HISTORY OF (LAY COUNTY. 1H7 

The Secessionists held possession of the arsenal for a weeic, until 
all the stores and munitions hatl been removed. The Jackson county 
men took away some cannon, muskets, etc., with them and sent i)ack 
for more. Lieut. J. W. Gillespie was guarding the stores that had 
not been removed and refused to give any portion of them up. Where- 
upon a fight over the spoils was imminent, and only prevented by a 
concession on the part of Lieut. Gillespie, who gave the delegation 
from Cracker's Neck half of what they demanded. 

The property taken consisted of three six-pounder brass cannon, 
each weighing 882 pounds, mounted on field carriages ; 12 six-pounder 
iron guns, unmounted ; one three-pounder iron gun ; five caissons, two 
battery wagons, two forges, besides all the ordinary artillery equipments 
and accompaniments, and several hundred rounds of artillery ammuni- 
tion, chiefly solid shot and canister ; l,180percussion muskets, complete ; 
243 percussion rifles, 121 rifle carbines, 923 percussion pistols, 419 cav- 
alry sabers, 39 artillery swords, 20 cavalry and artillery musketoons, 
1,000 pounds cannon powder, 9,900 pounds of musket powder, 1,800 of 
rifle powder, about 400,000 cartridges, besides accoutcrments and equij)- 
nients for all small arms in great number, and in excess of the arms 
taken. 

By far the greatest portion of the arms and munitions were taken 
possession of and hauled in wagons, provided for the purpose, to 
Liberty. Here they were distributed to the " minute men " of Clay 
and surrounding counties. Col. Routt's ice-house was converted into 
an armory, and here the military companies repaired from time to 
time and received their guns and other munitions of war, which in 
time did eflective service against the Government to which they be- 
longed. The powder in barrels amounted to thousands of pounds,' 
was hidden away in difl'erent portions of the country — in haystacks, 
hollow logs, and elsewhere, and long after much of it gave its custo- 
dians uo end of uneasiness, anxiety and trouble, for fear of its dis- 
covery by the Federal soldiery. 

The day following Maj. Grant sent this report of the capture of the 
arsenal to the chief of ordnance at Washington : — 

Missouri Depot, Sunday, April 21, 1801. 
Sir — I embi'ace the first opportunity to inform you that the depot 
was taken yesterday, about 10 o'clock, by a body of armed men from 
this and the adjacent counties. While I am writing the depot yard 



1 In February, I8G2, ten of these barrels were returned by D. S. Miller, who found 
them hidden in his straw stacl:. 



198 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

and grounds ai-e filled with men, who are i-apidly moving the ordnance 
and ordnance stores from the post. Having no means of resistance, 
my protest against the forcible and unlawful seizure of the public 
property was of no avail, and I was informed that all the military 
stores would be taken. I send this to Saint Louis by boat to be 
mailed, and so soon as it can be done a detailed report of all the facts, 
so far as they can be ascertained, will be forwarded. Very respect- 
fully, I am, sir, your obedient servant. 

N.\THANiEi. Grant, 

In charge of Depot. 
CoL. H. K. Craig, 

Chief of Ordnance, Washington City. 

The following dispatch was sent from East St. Louis to the Secre- 
tary of War : — 

East St. Louis, III., April 21, 18(31. 
Hon. Simon Cameron, Secretary of War: 

Liberty Arsenal, in Missouri, was taken possession of by Secession- 
ists yesterday, and 1,500 arms and a few cannons distributed to citi- 
zens of Clay county. The Missouri river is blockaded at Independence. 
All quiet here at present. 

Benjamin Farrar. 

Two days later Maj. Grant made the following detailed report of 
the seizure : — 

detailed report of maj. grant. 

Missouri Depot, April 27th, 18G1. 
Col. H. K. Craig, Chief of Ordnance, Washington, D. C . : 

Sir — On the 21st inst. I informed you — by letter sent to St. Louis 
by boat to be mailed — that this depot had been seized by armed men 
from this and adjoining counties, and that the arms, ammunition, etc., 
were being rapidly removed. The only reason assigned for this act 
was that the property was considered essential to the safety of the 
frontier ; and they assumed that the State would eventually become 
responsible for it to the General Government, and they to the State. 
Having no force to repel them, nor to prevent the removal of the 
stores, I was compelled to submit. 

The post was evacuated by the insurgents to-day, and during the 
period of their possession they removed all the cannon, gun carriages, 
caissons, battery wagons, forges, arms, accountermeiits, implements, 
ammunition and part of the tools, etc., from the depot. The post was 
occupied by a force varying from 100 to 200 men during the first 
three days, and was then left under a guard of about 20 men to re- 
move the balance of the stores. 

The Union feeling had been so strong in Missouri, and particularly 
in this county, that I had no apprehension that the post would be dis- 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 199 

turbed ; but it appears that the late telegraphic dispatches from other 
States produced much excitement among the people, and meetings 
have been held and Secession flags raised in almost every town during 
the past week — this state of things being inaugurated by the seizure 
of the depot. 

I understand, however, that this feeling is by no means universal, 
and that a majority of the citizens here disapprove the seizure of the 
public property ; but this feeling of disapproval, being simply nega- 
tive in its character, is powerless to prevent the violent measures 
advocated by those holding extreme political views, and the Conserva- 
tives, or Union men, who have done their utmost to preserve the 
peace and the Union, begin to despair, and are of the opinion that 
the State is fast drifting into the current of secession. 

The exact condition of the property at the depot can not be accur- 
ately reported until I can make an inventory of the stores not taken, 
and this will I)e done with as little delay as possible. The forcilile 
seizure of the public projjcrty in my charge leaves me at a loss how 
to proceed in the absence of special instructions. 

I learn that the property has been distributed through several of the 
border counties. 

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obt. servt., 

Nathl. Grant, 

In charge of Depot. 

AFTER THE ARSENAL's SEIZURE. 

News of the capture of the arsenal was telegraphed to the outer 
world the same day, and created considerable sensation throughout 
the country, North, South, East, and West. It was the first overt act 
of citizens of Missouri against the Federal government. Lincoln 
heard of it and telegraphed to Leavenworth for an explanation. 
Harney heard of it at St. Louis and refused to believe it, but Lyon 
and Sweeney at the St. Louis Arsenal doubled their guards, planted 
two cannon at the gate, and sat up all night to watch the movements 
of a large crowd of Secessionists at the Berthold mansion, who were 
dispersed at a late hour by Mayor Daniel Taylor. 

Among those who believed in secession tlie tidings were received 
with great joy and exultation. Clay count}^ was cheered heartily ; the 
act itself was applauded, and Routt and his men were the heroes of the 
hour. There can be no question that the capture or seizure was of 
inestimable advantage to the Secession cause, and so far was a success. 
In this county it decided, or helped to decide, the course of hundreds 
of men in twenty-four hours ! 

Monday following the seizure a large and enthusiastic Secession 
meeting was held at the court-house. Circuit court was in session, 
Judge Dunn on the bench. Eloquent and impassioned speeches were 



200 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

delivered by S. H. Woodson, Aaron H. Conrow, J. H. Adams, John 
T. Hughes, Dr. Maughas, G. S. Withers, J. C. C. Thornton, J. E. 
Pitt *ind J. W. Gillespie, of Clay, Jackson, Ray, Platte, and 
Buchanan counties. A fine Secession flasr was raised amid the firing 
of the captured cannon and the cheers of the multitude, men and 
women. 

Resolutions were adopted condemning President Lincoln for the 
call for troops, and indorsing Gov. Jackson for his " noble reply ; " 
declaring that the State Convention did not represent the will of the 
people when it said that Missouri would remain in the Union, even if 
the Crittenden compromise was refused ; favoring a new convention, 
and resolving — 

That in the event there should be a new convention ordered, we 
pledge ourselves to support no man for delegate for said convention 
who will not aver himself a Southern Rights man, and that we will 
use all honorable means for the immediate secession of Missouri. 

The stream of secession had swollen from insignificance to a mighty 
and almost resistless torrent, and was bearing down upon its current 
hundreds who had aforetime declared that, in the language of Henry 
Clay, the time could "7iever, never,'" come for secession and disunion. 
Two months before the vote was ten to one against secession; now, 
if an expression could be had the vote would be largely in its favor. 
So much had old gray-haired Edmond RutEn done for Clay county 
when he pulled the lanyard that sent the first shot against Sumpter. 

But many of the conservative Union men were not demoralized or 
dismayed, by what had occurred elsewhere, and what had occurred in 
their midst. The next day after the Secession meeting they assem- 
bled at the court-house and held a meeting of their own. Dr. W. A. 
Morton was chairman. Col. Doniphan and James H. Moss addressed 
the audience in speeches full of fervor and feeling, pleading still for 
the Union, and crying peace, " when there was no^cace." Doni- 
phan said he could not take part in the war. He would not fight 
against the flag under which he fought and conquered in the war 
with Mexico, and he would not draw his sword against his neigh- 
bors, his kinsmen, and his friends in the South. The sentiment of 
the meeting was alike opposed to secession and coercion. 

The proceedings of this meeting were niarkcd with befitting gravity 
and deliberation. Resolutions were passed declaring that "secession 
is a remedy for no evil," approving Jackson's reply to Lincoln, 
and asserting that " the true policy of Missouri at jiresent is to main- 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 201 

tain an independent position within tlie Union, holding her soil and 
institntions ai^ainst invasion or liostile interference from any 
quarter." 

PREPARING FOR WAR IN EARNEST ORGANIZATION OF MILITARY 

COMPANIES. 

And now in the season of spring, when the winter was over and 
gone, and the time of tlie singing of birds and the blooming of flowers 
had come, there was the note of preparation for bloody and deadly 
conflict heard in our county of Clay, and the fancy of the young 
men did not turn to thoughts of love. There was mustering and 
there was forming and tlie setting of squadrons in the field. 
Military companies were organized everywhere throughout the 
county. 

In Liberty the first company w;is organized. This, as distinctly 
announced, was for " home protection," and was called the " Lilterty 
Home Guards." The members were to defend the town against 
everything hostile, but to assail nothing. It was composed largely of 
Union men. Capt. O. P. Moss, an unconditional Union man, and the 
veteran commander of the Clay county company in the Mexican War 
was elected captain ; James H. Moss, Wm. G. Garth, and John Dunn, 
lieutenants, and Larkin Bradford, orderly sergeant. The Liberty 
Home Guards numbered 107 men, and the company was organized 
April 24. 

But other companies were organized whose objects were not so pa- 
cific. A company at Liberty called the "Mounted Eangers," was 
formed contemporaneously with the Home Guards. Its members were 
" Southern Rights" men. H. L. Routt, like Moss, a Mexican War 
veteran, was captain, and L. S. Tall)ott, George W. Morris and J. W. 
Gillespie, the lieutenants. The men were well armed with the arsenal 
arms. 

A cavalry company at Smithville was composed of 120 men, well 
mounted and armed. Theodore Duncan was captain, P. M. Savery, 
Wm. Davenport, J. E. Brooks, lieutenants, and J. W. Duncan, or- 
derly sergeant. 

In Gallatin township an infantry company of 80 men was ofBceretl 
by G. W. Crowley, captain, Amos Stout and R. H. Stout, lieutenants, 
and John Neal, orderly sergeant. 

May 1, the " Washington Guards," 43 men, were organized at 
Greenville. L. i\L Lewis, captain ; G. W. Mothcrshead, M. D. 
Scruggs, Richard Lattbon, lieutenants; John A. Perry, orderly. 



202 HISTORY or CLAY COUNTY. 

At Gilead, on the 11th of May, a company for " home defeuse" was 
organized at a public meeting, of which Anthony Harseli was chair- 
man. The officers were O. H. Harris, captain ; W. W. Smith and 
Samuel Henderson, lieutenants, and Tapp Soper, oi-derly. 

Some of these companies were afterwards broken up, and reorgan- 
ized ; others changed their officers, but nearly all of the members did 
more or less service for the Confederate cause, at one period or an- 
other, during the war. 

About the 1st of May, Col. M. Jeff. Thompson, of St. Joseph, 
military inspector for this district under Gov. Jackson, came to Lib- 
erty, clad in full military uniform, with sword, sash, epaulets, etc., 
to look after the compau}^ organizations in this quarter. He made a 
speech at the court-house in which he said that in capturing the Lib- 
erty arsenal the Clay county men, though meaning well, had " acted 
the fool," as they had prevented the capture of the larger and more 
important arsenal at St. Louis ! News of the seizure here, he said, 
had been telegraphed to St. Louis in time to put Gen. Lyon on his 
guard. 

Upon the news of the capture of Camp Jackson the Missouri Legis- 
lature hastily ^jassed the famous" military bill" and adjourned. Gov. 
Jackson ordered several companies of the Missouri State Guard to 
assemble at the capital for its defeuse, and on the 20th of May, Capt. 
Koutt's company of " Mounted Rangers " and Capt. Theo. Duncan's 
Smithville cavalry company left the county, pursuant to orders, for 
Jeft'ersou City. Before leaving Libert}^ Capt. Eoutt's company was 
presented with a beautiful Missouri flag l)y a number of ladies. Miss 
Minnie Withers making the presentation. 

Notwithstanding what had already occurred, and the fact that 
preparations for war were still making everywhere, mau}^ yet strove 
for peace. Numbers of citizens protested against the enrollment of 
companies openly and boldly, and Capt. O. P. Moss declared that 
Col. Routt had no more right to capture the Liberty arsenal, with its 
government arms and munitions, than John Brown had to seize the 
arsenal at Harper's Ferr}^ The Tribune still opposed secession and 
war, and denounced the " military bill " in unstinted terms. 

GEN. DONIPHAN DECLINES A MILITARY APPOINTMENT. 

Under the provisions of the " militaiy bill " the State of Missouri 
was divided into militaty districts. Clay county was in the fifth dis- 
trict, composed of the counties of Atchison, Nodaway, Holt, Andrew, 
Buchanan, Platte and Cla}'. Gov. Jackson tendered the appointment 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 203 

of brigadier-general of this district to Col. A. W. Doniphan, of Clay, 
but he refused it, saying that he did not desire the honors of a briga- 
dier at that time, as he had held that rank at the age of 29, and 
besides he had learned that Gens. Harney and Price had made a 
" treaty " by the terms of which peace was to be secured to the State 
anyhow.^ Governor Jackson then appointed Gen. A. E. Stein, an 
ex-lieutenant of the regular army, to the command. 

DEPARTURE OF THE SECESSION COMPANIES FOR THE WAR. 

Pursuant to the Harney-Price agreement Gov. Jackson ordered the 
companies of the State Guards to return to their respective counties 
from Jefferson. But May 31st Gen. Nathaniel Lyon succeeded G'en. 
Harney in command of the U. S. forces at St. Louis, and on the 11th 
of June, in an interview with Gen. Price and Gov. Jackson, he kicked 
over the agreement, and gave the Governor and his general two hours 
to leave St. Louis. Jackson and Price left for Jefferson City on a 
special train, burned the Osage river bridge behind them and cut the 
telegraph wires, and the next day the Governor issued a proclamation 
calling into the field 50,000 State militia " for the purpose of repell- 
ing invasion and for the protection of the lives, liberty and property 
of the citizens of this State." 

The Clay county companies had returned to their homes within a 
few days after their departure, but on the receipt of Jackson's re-call, 
Routt's, Duncan's and Mothershead's companies sprang into their sad- 
dles, and on the 13th departed for Independence, all well armed and 
well mounted, to assist the State Guards in driving out the Federal 
forces which had come to Kansas City under Capts. Sturgis and 
Prince. The same day occurred the skirmish at Rock Spring, in 
Jackson county, between the Missourians under Col. Halloway and 
the Federals under Lieut. D. S. Stanle}', and in which Halloway was 
killed. 

Sunday evening, "June 16, while in camp on the Blue, Capt. Theo. 
Duncan was shot by a member of another Secession company, who 
some aver was a half-insane man. A few days later the Smithville 
company returned home, owing to the wounding of their captain, ami 
to a misunderstanding and disagreement. Capt. Duncan died from 
his wound June 27, and was biu"ied at Liberty, the first victim of tlu; 
Civil AVar from Clay county. He had served in Moss' company in 



' See " Proceedings of the Rebel Legislature," published by authority of tlie Twen- 
ty-Third General Assembly. 



204 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

the Mexican War, and was not only a brave soldier, but a worthy 
citizen. Tlje man who shot Duncan was killed the next day by some 
of the Clay county men. 

A short time after the skirmish at Rock Spring the State Guards, 
Secession forces, were ordered to Lexington to perfect their organiza- 
tion. Lexington was in Gen. J. S. Rains' district, but hither many 
companies repaired from the north side of the river. In Clay Capt. 
Thos. McCarty organized a company of infantry, with A. J. Calhoun, 
J. C. Vertrees and R. P. Evans as lieutenants, and J. C. Dumi 
orderly. This company started for Lexington June 17, and on its 
arrival went into camp. Li a few days four other Clay county com- 
panies were at Lexington — Capt. Talhott's, Capt. Holt's, Capt. 
Mothershead's and Capt. Crowley's. Capt. Talbott succeeded H. L. 
Routt to the command of the " Mounted Rangers," Routt having been 
promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. 

THE FIRST FEDERAL TROOPS. 

On the morning of June 19th Clay county was first invaded by the 
Federal troops. A company of regulars, commanded b}^ Capt. W. E. 
Prince, came over from Kansas City to Liberty, taking the people 
somewhat bj' surprise and creating no little consternation. About 
20 of the State Guards were in town, mainly at the hotels, and were 
speedily made prisoners, and their arms and horses taken from them. 
They were released by taking an oath not to serve against the United 
States during the war, and mainly upon the solicitations of Capt. O. 
P. Moss, known to be a sound Union man, Capt. Prince gave them 
back their horses and private arms. 

Tlie Federals remained in town only a few hours. After cutting 
down the Secession flag which for some weeks had been floating undis- 
turbed, cheering for the Union, and " chaffing " the Secession people, 
they returned unmolested to Kansas City. A da_v or two previously 
Capt. Prince had sent over a spy, who on his return had fully apprised 
him of the situation. Some of the Secessionists believed that certain 
Unionists had been in communication with the Federals, and were 
responsible for their visit, and serious threats were made against the 
supposed informers. The paroled prisoners paid no regard to their 
paroles, but taking the same arms and horses which had been restored 
to them entered the Southern army within a few days. 

The next Federal soldiers that visited this quarter did not get off 
so easily and with equal success. Some time about the 12th of July 
Col. Stifel's regiment of St. Louis Germans (Fifth United States Re- 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 205 

serve Corps), which had been at Lfyin<;1<)ii for some days, came up 
the Missouri on the steamer White Chiud to destro}' the ferry-boats on 
the river and prevent the crossing of the State Guards from the north 
side to the south. At Blue Mills landing they were fired on from the 
Jackson county side by some State Guards in ambush, and had one 
man killed and twelve men wounded.^ The fen-y-boat was burned, 
as were a warehouse and store-room at the landing. At Missouri City 
the German Federals seized a number of fire-arms and carried 
them oft". 

A few days later the same force came up the river on the way 
to Leavenworth to procure a company for the reinforcement of the 
Federal garrison then being formed at Lexington. A number of 
young men of this county repaired to the bottom, and when the boat 
came up opened fire on it with their rifles and shot-guns. No serious 
damage was done, but the Federals returned the fire and the Seces- 
sion boys ran away. 

EVENTS OF THE SUMMER AND EARLY FALL OF 1861. 

From the middle of July until the first part of September, 1861, 
the peace of the county was scarcely disturbed, save by the exciting 
news from Southwest Missouri, whither the State Guards had retreated 
after the fight at Boonville, and whither they had been followed t)y 
the Federal forces under Lyons and Sturgis. 

July 5 Capt. McCarty's company took part in the battle of Car- 
thage, and lost one man, Albert Withers, killed, and a number 
wounded. At Wilson's Creek, August 10, the following men from 
Clay county, under Gen. Price, were killed : Sergts. A. W. Marshall, 
John W. Woods and Amos Stout ; Privates David Morris, John 
Grant and Richard Gates. The wounded were : Geo. Hollingsworth, 
mortally ; Capt. Thos. McCarty, seriously, and Lieut. T. K. Gash, 
James Miller, J. B. Winn, C. S. Stark, Richard Talbott, Wm. Hymer 
and L. B. Thompson, more or less severely. The Clay county troops 
were attached to Col. C. C. Thornton's " extra battalion." 

Some time after the battle of Wilson's Creek many of McCarthy's 
company returned home, and their stories of that desperate conflict 
were listened to with great eagerness and interest by their friends and 
neighbors. Recruiting for Price's army was greatly stimulated by the 
tidings of the Federal defeats at Carthage and Wilson's Creek, and 
many hastened to enlist before the war should be over ! The Federals 



1 Adjutant-Geueral's Report for 1SG5, p. 79. 



206 HISTORY or CLAY COUNTY. 

at Kansas City and Leavenworth were quiet and kept well at home, 
and hundreds of men passed to and from Gen. Price with nothing to 
molest them or make them afraid. 

About this time there was one Federal officer found who did not 
enfoi'ce the doctrine of the old maxim that in time of war the law is 
silent. In August it was learned that Henry Harrison, the abscond- 
ing railroad contractor, was a soldier in the Federal army at Leaven- 
worth. Harrison had escaped from the Liberty jail by knocking down 
his keeper and running away. Jailer Ford, himself a Secessionisj;, 
went to Ft. Leavenworth and demanded the fugitive, who thought, 
doubtless, that his enlistment would prevent his return to the well- 
known "rebel" county of Clay. But Capt. Prince, the commander 
of the post, gave him up without a word of objection or remonstrance, 
and even sent a strong guard with him to the river to prevent the pos- 
sibility of his rescue or escape. The jailer reached Liberty with his 
prisoner in safety. 

Near the 1st of September Col. Boaz Rol)erts and Majs. Tiiorntou 
and Morris came up from Price's army, and brought word that the 
Southern troops needed clothing and other supplies. An open, pub- 
lic meeting was held at the court-house to take measures for their re- 
lief. The contributions were considerable. Committees were 
appointed for each township to secure additional aid, and especially to 
furnish cloth to the jKitriotic Southern ladies, who gladly agreed to 
make it up into clothing for " the boys " in th^ tented field. 

In the latter part of August and during the. first week in September 
several Union men either left the county^ through fear or were driven 
out by armed Secessionists. In Liberty Capt. O. P. Moss, James H. 
Moss, E. M. Samuel and Judge James Jones were forced to flee under 
the penalty of being " put out of the way," and they made their way 
up to the Union settlement of Mirabile, Caldwell county, where they 
were safe for a time. There must have been a serious state of aSairs 
for the Unioifmen, when men of such undoubted personal courage as 
the Mosses could be induced to leave by threats and hostile mes- 
sages. 

PROCLAMATION OF GKN. STEIN RALLYING TO HIS STANDARD. 

In the latter part of August Gen. Stein,' the commander under 
Gov. Jackson of this military district, issued a proclamation to the 
people in order to stimulate them to enlistment in the Southern ser- 



1 Gen. Stein was killed at llie battle of Trairie Grove, Ark., December 6, 1862. 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 207 

vice. Hitherto Gen. Stein's division had existed chiefly on paper. 
It contained but few men. The Chiy county Secession troops were 
chiefly attached to Gen. Slack's division, and Stein was especially de- 
sirous of recruiting his command to something like respectable pro- 
portions. For some time it had been merely a laughing stock. 
Following is a copy of the proclamation referred to : — 

To the Peoph of the Fifth District. 

I, as your Brigadier-General, call on you to arouse and come to the 
rescue of your State. Your State has been invaded by a Northern 
army, your rights have been trampled on, the privacy of your firesides 
have {sic) been disregarded. Will you tamely submit to the dictates 
of a tyrant? JSfo! every man exclaims. Then come and meet the in- 
vader, transfer the war from 3'our own homes, meet them in other 
parts of the State, and never stop until the last foe has " bit the dust," 
or been driven from your State. 

Organize into companies of from 50 to 100. Come, and I will lead 
you to victory. Bring your shot-guns and rifles ; they have been 
tried on the plains of Carthage and Springfield, and they did good 
work. Come, and do not wait for the army to get to your homes 
before you come out. A. E. Stein, 

August 25, 1861. Brigadier-General. 

Stein's proclamation, albeit not seemingly a very spirited, thrilling 
or even well-worded document, was not altogether without effect. 
Soon after its appearance, or by the 10th of September, a considerable 
force of Secession troop rendezvoused at Lexington, under Col. H. L. 
Routt, of this county, encamping in the fair grounds in front of the 
Federals under Mulligan. In Clay L. B. Dougherty commanded a 
company, of which Lina Roberts, James A. Gillespie and L. A. 
Robertson were lieutenants. Two other companies raised in this 
county about the same time were Capt. John S. Gi'oom's and Capt. 
P. C. Pixlee's. All three of these companies repaired to Lexington 
to await the coming of Gen. Price's army, then known to be on its 
way up from Springfield. 

The following Clay county companies participated in the siege of 
Lexington and assisted in the capture of 2,800 Federals under Col. Mul- 
ligan, who surrendered September 20. Clay county men were present 
during the siege, which lasted eight days, and took a hand as mem- 
bers of other commands, but the regularly organized companies from 
this county were those of Capt. G. W. Mothershead, Gideon Thomp- 
son, L. B. Dougherty, Johh S. Groom and P. C. Pixlee. Out of 
perhaps 400 men engaged. Clay county had but two or three wounded 
at Lexinston. 



208 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 



THE BATTLE OF BLUE MILLS. 

Preliminary to an account of the battle of Blue Mills — if it he 
projoer to call that insignificant collision of hostile forces, unimportant 
in character and indecisive in results, a battle — it is proper to detail 
the situation preceding and the circumstances which led to it. 

When Gen. Price's army had reached the Osage river, on its way 
northward to Lexington, whei'e the Federals were under Mulligan, the 
general dispatched swift messengers ahead with orders to the State 
Guards and other Secession forces in Northeast and Northwest Mis- 
souri to meet him at Lexington. Gen. Thomas A. Harris and Col. 
Martin E. Green responded with a force of 2,500 or 3,000, crossing 
the Missouri at Glasgow, after a brief but rather creditable campaign 
against the Federals under Pope and Hurlbut and the then Col. U. S. 
Grant. 

In Northwest Missouri — in the counties of Gentry, Andrew, Nod- 
away, Holt, Buchanan and DeKalb — hundreds of men had organized 
for service in the Southern cause, but found it difficult and dangerous 
to get to the army of Gen. Price, where they must be in order to be 
effective ; for the Federals in this quarter, though not numerous, were 
vigilant and active and in addition to their being stationed in the prin- 
cipal towns they were keeping all the principal fords and crossings of 
the Missouri. But at last, about the 15th of September, these forces 
under their own leaders, having received the orders of Gen. Price, 
succeeded in uniting near St. Joseph, and set out at once for Lex- 
ington. 

All told the Northwest Missourians numbered about 3,500 men, as 
follows: From the fifth military district (Gen. Stein's), thei'e were 
five regiments of infantry, under Col. J. P. Saunders, and one regi- 
imeut of cavalry, under Col. Wilfley ; from the fourth district (Gen. 
Slack's), there were five regiments of infantry, under Col. Jefl'. Patton 
and one battalion of cavalry, under Col. Childs.^ There was also 
Capt. E. V. Kelly's battery of three guns. 

The total number is and was variously estimated. The Liberty 
Tribune, of September 20, 1861, said of the command : — 

About 4,000 State troops passed through the cit}' on Mondaj' last, 
on their way to Lexington. Most of them were mounted and tlie 
baggage train numl)ered over sixty wagons. They had three caniuni — 
two six-pounders and one nine-pounder. 



1 See D. R. Atchison's report. 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 209 

Col. Saunders, in his report, mentions but 1,500, aside from Col. 
Boyd's and some other commands. From the best evidence now to 
be had it is quite probable that the number did not exceed 3,500. 

On the evening of September 15th Geu. Price sent forward from 
Lexington Hon. D. R. Atchison, to hasten forward the recruits for 
whose arrival he was waiting to begin active operations against Mulli- 
gan and his cooped-up Federals. Atchison reached Liberty the next 
day, and met the troops and pushed them forward to Blue Mills Land- 
ing, where a considerable portion of them, including the artillery 
(Kelly's battery), crossed the same night. The remainder were wait- 
ing their turns. 

At this time the Federals had forces at Cameron and at the Hanni- 
bal and St. Joe railroad bridge across Platte river. Those at Platte 
river were the Sixteenth Illinois infantry. Col. R. F. Smith, and some 
companies of the Thirty-ninth Ohio, Col. Groesbeck. At Cameron 
there were the Third Iowa infantry, Lieut. Col. John Scott, and four 
companies of Missouri Home Guards ; of the latter, one company, 35 
strong, was from Adair county, under command of Capt. Cupp ; 
one — merely a squad — from Macon, under Capt. Winters ; two from 
Caldwell county, one under Capt. E. D. Johnson and the other under 
Capt. M. L. James. All the troops at Cameron were infantry, except 
Capt. James' homo guard company, which was mounted. 

Learning of the movement of the Northwest Missourians towards 
Gen. Price's army, Gen. Pope, then in command of the Federal troops 
in North Missouri, determined to intercept them. Accordingly, pur- 
suant to his orders, Col. Smith set out from Platte river bridge and 
Col. Scott from Cameron, with instructions to unite at Liberty the 
day before the Secession troops should reach that point. 

Col. Scott moved more rapidly and more continuously than Col. 
Smith, and reached Liberty early on the morning of the 17th, " the 
day after the fair," as the Secessionists had passed through the day 
before, and half of them were already across the river and safely on 
the way to Gen. Price at Lexington. 

Col. Scott was using the Caldwell county Home Guards, under com- 
mand of Capt. Moses L. James, as an advance guard, they being 
mounted. At about 8 o'clock an encounter occurred between a de- 
tachment of this company, numbering 40 men, under the command 
of Lieut. James Call, of the Third Iowa, and the rear guard of the 
Secession forces, commanded by Col. Childs, and consisting of his 
battalion of cavalry, 300 men. This encounter took place about three 
miles south of Liberty, on the road to Blue Mills, or Owens' Landing, 



210 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

and resulted ia the complete discomfiture of the Caklwell Home 
Guards, four of whom were killed outright and one wounded. The 
remainder retreated in some confusion, but all, or nearly all, ultimately 
joined Col. Scott at Liberty. 

Scott was in something of a quandary. He feared to attack the 
Missouriaus (who, as everybody informed him, largely outnumbered 
his forces) unless Smith would join him, and Smith was " long, long 
on the way." The lowan sent some of his mounted men out to meet. 
Smith and hurry him forward. He also sent out other scouts to dis- 
cover, if possible, the situation at the river. Some of these exchanffed 
shots with the enemy, but could learn nothing except that they were 
crossing as rapidly as possible and seemed more eager to get to Gen. 
Price than to fight. Col. Scott thought if they were attacked they 
would stop to fight, and that he could hold them until Smith came up. 
Accordingly he concluded to attack them. 

About 11 o'clock some of the fugitives from the skirmish with the 
Secession rear guard reached town and reported to Col. Scott, who 
now resolved to move his command down to the scene and if possible 
prevent the further crossing of the Missouriaus. He determined not 
to wait for Smith, but dispatched another messenger to him informing 
him of the situation. 

Accordingly, with some 500 men of the Third Iowa, the Adair 
county Home Guards, the Caldwell county company, and 15 volun- 
teer artillerists in charge of a six-pounder brass cannon — in all about 
600 men — Col. Scott moved toward Blue Mills Landing. Reaching 
the pickets of the State Guards, the Federals were fired on and halted. 
The State Guards fell back, and after some little time spent in recon- 
noitering, Col. Scott concluded they had retreated, and again ordered 
the advance. 

Col. Saunders, in command of the State Guards, had full knowl- 
edge of the movements of the Federals, and was well prepared to re- 
ceive them. The ground was well calculated for an amljush, each side 
of the narrow road being thickly wooded and filled with vines and 
rank shrul)bery, forming an almost impenetrable jungle, and well 
adapted for concealing a considerable armed force. Some years be- 
fore a cyclone had uprooted a number of trees, which now formed 
admiraljle vantage points for the riflemen, and on the west side of the 
road ran a then dry slough with a considerable eml)ankment, forming 
a good strong breastwork. Into this thicket Col. Jefl". Patton's regi- 
ment of Northwest Missouriaus was placed, on both sides of the road. 
Supporting them were other battalions and companies, and from the 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 211 

best iiiformatiou now to be obtained, the State Guards and the Fed- 
erals were about equal in numbers — 600 on each side; the State 
Guards may have numbered 700. 

As the Federals were marching gaily along, " eager for a fight," as 
they said, suddenly a galling fire was opened upon them from both 
sides of the road. A fierce little fight was begun and kept up for 
nearly an hour. But the advantage was with the Missourians from 
the start until the close, and the Federals were at last driven from the 
field, and retreated into Liberty in something like disorder and more 
of haste. Their artillery was of little service to them. The \)\ece, 
as stated, was manned by German volunteers, under a sergeant, whose 
name is best i*emembered as Waldeschmidt, and the surprise was so 
perfect that only a few rounds could l)e fired,' and they were not 
effective. The alleged artillerists abandoned the gun, and it would 
have been captured had not a few plucky lowans rallied to it and drawn 
it away. 

The Federals returned the Hre, but they declared they " saw noth- 
ing to shoot at," and so those of their shots which took effect were 
chance ones. Some of them were driven back into ]\Ir. Beauchamp's 
wheat field, and here it is said they saw their enemies. A wagon 
imi)rovised into a caisson and loaded with ammunition was left on the 
field. 

The fight took place about four miles east of south of Liberty, or 
between the wooden bridge across the town branch, a little below the 
arsenal, and Mr. Beauchamp's, though extending a little beyond 
(n. e. Visec. 33, tp. 51, range 31). The locality is a mile below where 
now (1885) the Wabash railroad crosses the comity road to the ferry 
landing. 

A few, and only a few. Clay county men took part in the Blue 
Mills fight, against the Federals, of course. These had joined Col. 
Saunders' forces as they passed through. 

Returning to Liberty Col. Scott found that Col. Smith had come 
up with about 2,500 troops, and was in camp about the square in Col. 
Lighlburne's orchard. Everything was now safe on the Federal side, 
and equally safe on the Secession side. Col. Saunders had not seen 
proper to follow up his victory, as it would seem he could have done — 
and if so should have done — and was content to get across the 
river without further molestation. 



Col. SauQders says the piece was fired sis times, but Col. Scott says it was dis- 
charged but twice. 



212 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

The Federals visited the field that night, and succeeded in remov- 
ing nearly all of thgir wonnded. The next day all were brought back 
and taken to ths William Jewell College building, which was con- 
verted into a hospital. The Federal surgeons had their hands full for 
a day or two, and were assisted by Dr. "\Y. A. Morton and perhaps 
another local sui-geon. 

The Federal dead were buried in the college grounds, a little north 
of the buildings, aud there yet all or nearly all of theui still lie, 

"Under the sod and the dew, waiting the judgment day." 

September 20 two companies of Home Guards from Kansas Citj'-, 
imder Capts. Hyde and Thomas, came down to Liberty Lauding on 
the steamer Majors, and mai'ching thence to Liberty, removed all the 
wounded able to be transported to Kansas City, where they were 
cared for till they I'ecovered. These companies also took away with 
them some blasting powder and a few tools that the Secessionists had 
left the previous April at the seizure. But there were no arms left 
for them to take. 

THE KILLED AND WOUNDED. 

According to the best information obtainable, discarding all wild 
and sensational repoi'ts made without grounds and never authenticated, 
the Federal loss in the Blue Mills fight amounted to 14 killed outright 
on the field — 7 in the Third Iowa, 1 of the German artillerists, and 
4 of the Caldwell county Home Guards, aud 2 of the Adair county 
Home Guards. In the Third Iowa there were mortally wounded : 
David H. Dill, Co. E, died September 28; Michael Wierna, Co. H, 
died November 19 ; Larian T. Washburn, Co. I, died next day, Sep- 
tember 18. This information is obtained from official records, muster 
rolls, etc., yet on file in the offices of the adjutant-generals of Iowa 
and Missouri, and agrees with the memory of Dr. W. A. Morton, who 
was at the Federal hospital. The Federal wounded amounted to 
about to about 80 — 74 in the Third Iowa, 3 of the Caldwell Home 
Guards, and 3 or 4 of the German artillerists and Adair Home 
Guards. 

The loss of the Missourians was 3 killed dead on the field — James 
W. Gillespie, of Patton's regiment; Dr. John Ross, of Wiltiey's 
regiment; and William Pope, unattached — and it is believed that 2 
more died of their wouuds within a week. The wounded numbered 
17 or 18. 

Of course other publications, biased in favor of one side or the 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 213 

other, have phiced the number of killed and wounded much larger. 
Immediately after the engagement each side grossly exaggerated the 
loss of the other — the wish fathering the thought in this particular — 
and each side, too, vastly over-estimated the forces of the other. 
The statements of the leading officers were seized upon by their 
respective partisans, and lost nothing in volume by their currency and 
circulation, until finally it came to be believed in certain quartei'S that 
100 or more Federals were killed and three times as many wounded, 
and in certain other quarters that four score " rebels " had bitten the 
dust and a proportionate number wounded. 

Happily official records, complete and perfectly authenticated, with 
no motive noio for prevaricating or concealing the truth, do not leave 
anything to be guessed. In the light of these, and in the face of 
other testimony corroborative, and with no design of disparaging the 
veracity of either Col. Scott or Col. Saunders, it is l)ut the plain 
simple truth that when one said, " the loss of the enemy (the Mis- 
sourians) * * * from accounts deemed reliable, is not less than 
160," and " his total force about 4,400," and the other said, "the 
enemy (the Federals) admitted a loss of 150 to 200 killed, wounded 
and missing," and that " 42 were left dead on the field," — both were 
mistaken. 

REPORTS OF THE LEADERS. 

The official records of Col. Scott, commanding the Federals, Col. 
Saunders, commanding the Missouri State Guards, or Secession 
forces, and Gen. D. E. Atchison, a volunteer ^JW tern., serving under 
the orders of Gen. Price, are herewith given as necesgar}' portions of 
an account of the engagement at Blue Mills. 

report of col. saunders. 

Regimental Headquarters, 1 
Lexington, September 21, 1861. ^ 

Brig.-Gex. a. E. Stein — I have the honor to submit to you the 
following report of an engagement on the 17th at Blue Mills ferry, 
between the State forces under my command, and a body of some 
1,100 Federal troops. From the hour of leaving St. Joseph until I 
reached the river at Blue Mills, reports of the enemy hanging on our 
rear were hourly received. But upon the night of the 16th relialjle 
information reached us of the enemy's presence in considerable force 
(estimated variously at from 1,.500 to 3,000) upon the Centerville 
road, some 12 miles distant. 

My command, consisting of my own regiment of infantry, embrac- 
ing 11 companies, numbering about 400 men ; Col. Jefl'. Patton's regi- 
ment of infantry of aljout the same number; Lieut. -Col. AVilflev's 



214 HISTOKT OF CLAY COUNTY. 

regiment of cavalry of an equal number; Col. Child's battalion of 
some 300 men reaclaed the Missouri river at about four o'clock on the 
16th, but could not commence crossing until 2 o'clock a. m. on 
the 17th, the boats being occupied by Major Boj'd's troops, who 
reached the ferry in advance of me. My orders being imperative to push 
on, I permitted no delay in crossing, with such facilities as were at 
my command. When about one-fourth of my train, consisting of 
about 100 wagons, were crossed about 8 o'clock a. m. my pickets 
were driven in. I had posted Col. Child's some four miles back upon 
the road with his battalion, and when his men were driven in, he took 
prompt steps to hold the enemy in check until I should be prepared to 
receive them. 

The ready and judicious disposition of this officer in the morning, 
as well as his gallantr}^ later in the day, deserves the highest com- 
mendation, and is especiall}' brought to your attention. 

After some sparring between pickets, Col. Childs succeeded in kill- 
ing four and severely wounding one man, who was left upon the road 
and was afterwards given up to his friends. 

After reconnoitering I concluded the enem}' had retired and marched 
my men — who had been formed in order of battle — back to the river 
and proceeded with the work of crossing, when, at 3 o'clock, about 
one-half had crossed, reducing my eliective force which could be 
ralli'ed, to about 600, our pickets were again driven in. 

I ordered Cols. Patton and Childs forward with such forces as could 
be hastil}' formed, and directed Lieut. -Col. Cundift'to go forward with 
the remainder of my regiment while I should rally and bring up all 
the available forces not yet over the river. 

The enemy opened on us with grape from a brass six-pounder, 
which my men silenced at the sixth round, killing all their artillery 
men (except one, who was slightlv wounded and taken prisoner) and 
their horses, f he men from the rear now commenced reaching the 
scene of action, and adding their cheers to those in front, the enera}' 
commenced flying, leaving their caisson on the ground containing 123 
shell and a large lot of canister, grape and round shot. My men ran 
them some three miles, and only desisted when quite exhausted. The 
officers and men under my commtind behaved most gallantly, and de- 
serve especial notice for their bravery, and coolness during the action. 

If I had had artillery, I doubt not I should have taken the piece 
opened upon us, with all the enemy's baggage. 

M}' loss was 1 killed and 17 wounded, as follows: OfCapt. Fisher's 
company, W. P. McGee, dangerously wounded; P. Smith Roberts, 
slightly wounded. 

Of Capt. Sidlivan's company, J. B. Still, slightly wounded. 

Of Capt. T. Owens' company, Wm. Willis, seriously wounded. 

Of Capt. Edmonson's company, Wm. L. Carson, dangerously 
wounded ; James White, slightly wounded. 

Of Capt. Petram's company, Conrad Sharp, seriously wounded. 

Of Capt. Finne3''s company, James York and Wheeler South, both 
sliiihtlv wounded. 



HISTORY OF CLAT COUNTY. 215 

Of Col. Patton's regiment, James W. Gillespie, killed ; Robert 
Austin, Geo. A. Bell, J. T. Thornton, slightly wounded. 

Of Col. Wilfley's regiment. Dr. John Ross, killed ; B. Allen, Chas. 
Thorp and Thos. Spencer, seriously wounded ; James A. Burnham, 
slightl}' wounded. 

The enemy admitted a loss of 150 to 200 killed, wounded and miss- 
ing; 42 were left dead on the field. We got the prisoners, who are 
still in my hands. Several gentlemen not in any company or of- 
ficial capacity deserve especial mention for gallantry and activity ; 
among those were G. W. Van Lear, of St. Joseph, and Win. Pope, 
of Buchanan county ; the latter fell mortally wounded in the very 
front of my advancing column. 

Respectfully, etc., J. P. Saunders, 

Col. Missouri Stiite Guards. 

HON. D. R. Atchison's report. 

Lexington, Mo., September 21, 1867. 
Sir — In pursuance of your orders I left this place on the evening 
of the 15th inst. and proceeded forthwith to Liberty, C\ay county. 
Mo., where I met the State Guard on the march from the Northwest — 
live regiments of infantry, under the command of Col. Saunders, and 
one regiment of cavalry, under the command of Col. Willley, from 
the fifth district ; five regiments of infantry, under command of Col. 
Jetf. Patton, and one battalion of cavalry, under Col. Childs, from the 
fourth district. I delivered your orders to the above connnands to 
hasten to this point (Lexington) with as much dis[)atch as possible. 
They marched forthwith, and arrived at the Missouri river about four 
o'clock in the evening, when Col. Boyd's artillery and battalion and 
baggage were crossed over to the south, where the colonel took his 
position, Capt. Kelly planting his artillery so as to completely com- 
mand the river. The crossing continued all night without interrup- 
tion, every officer and man using his best exertions. We received 
news during the night that the enemy would be in the town of Liberty, 
about six miles distant from Blue Mills ferry, at an early hour the 
ensuing morning. We were crossing in three small flats, and much 
time was necessary to move the large train of some hundred wagons. 
Col. Childs with his command had taken post for the night about two 
miles from Liberty on the road to the ferry. Here he engaged the 
enemy's advance or pickets in the morning, killing four and wound- 
ing one, with no loss on our side. The enemy fled and we heard no 
more of them until 3 or 4 o'clock, when their approach was announced 
in large force, supposed to be al)out 000 men, with one piece of artil- 
ery (a 6-pounder). The men of our command immediately formed. 
Col. Jefl". Patton leading the advance, to meet the enemy. After pro- 
ceeding about three miles from the river they met the advance guard 
of the enemy and the flght commenced. But the Federal troops al 
most immediately fled, our men pursuing rapidly, shooting them 
down until they annihilated the rear of their army, taking one cais- 

9 



216 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

>on, killing about 60, and wounding it is said, about 70. The Federal 
1 roops attempted two or three times to make a stand, but ran after 
<lelivering one fire. Our men followed them like hounds on a wolf 
<-hase, strewing the road with the dead and wounded, until they were 
(compelled to give over the chase from exhaustion, the evening being 
very warm. Col. Saunders, Col. Patton, Col. Childs, Col. Cundiff, 
Col. Wilfley, Maj. Gause, Adj. Shackelford, and all the other 
officers and men, as far as I know or could learn, behaved gallantly. 

D. K. Atchison. ' 
To Gen. Price. 

COL. scott's report. 

Hdqrs. Third Regiment Iowa Volunteers, 
Liberty, September 18, 1861. 

Sir: — In relation loan affair of 3'esterda3- whichoecurred near Blue 
Mills Landing, a!)Out five miles from this place, I have the honor to 
report : — 

Agreeably to your orders, I left Cameron at 3 p. m. of the 15th 
inst., and through a heavy ruin aud bad roads made but 7 miles dur- 
ing the afternoon. By a very active march on the 16th I reached 
Contrevillo, 10 miles north of Liberty, by sunset, where the firing of 
cannon was distinctly heard in the direction of Platte City, which was 
surmised to be from Col. Smith's Sixteenth Illinois command. Had 
sent a messenger to Col. Smith from Haynesville, and sent another 
from Centreville, apprising him of my movements, but got no re- 
sponse. On the 17th, at 2 a. m., started from Centreville for Liberty, 
and at daylight the advanced gnai'ds fell in with the enemy's pickets, 
which they drove in and closely followed. 

At 7 a. m. my command arrived at Liberty, and bivouacked on 
the hills north of and overlooking the town. I dispatched several 
scouts to examine the position of the enemy, but could gain no defi- 
nite information. They had passed through Liberty during the after- 
noon of the 16th to the number of about 4,000, and taken the road to 
Blue INIills Landing, and were reported as having four pieces of artil- 
lery. At 11 o'clock a. m. heard firing in the direction of the landing, 
which was reported as a conflict between the rebels and for disputing 
their passage over the river. 

At 12 m. moved the command, consisting of 500 of the Third Iowa, 
a squad of German artillerists and about 70 Home Guards, in the 
direction of Blue Mills Landing. On the route learned that a body 
of our sco'uts had fallen in with the enemy's pickets, and lost 2 killed 
and 1 wounded. Before starting dispatched courier to Col. Smith to 
hasten his command. 

About two miles from Liberty the advance guard drove in the 
enemy's pickets. Skirmishers closely examined the dense growth 
tlirough which our route hi}', and at 3 p. m. discovered the enemy 
in force, concealed on both sides of the road, and occupying the 
dry bed of a slough, his left resting on the river aud his right e x 



HISTORY or CLAY COUNTY. 217 

teiuling beyond our observation. He opened a heavy tire, which 
drove back our skirmishers, and made simultaneous attacks upon 
our front and right. These were well sustained, and he retired 
with loss to his position. lu the attack on our front the artillery 
suffered so severely that the only piece, a brass G-pounder, was left 
without suiScient force to man it, and I was only able to have it dis- 
charged twice during the action. Some of the gunners abandoned 
the piece, carrying off the matches and primers, and could not be 
rallied. 

The enemy kept up a heavy fire from his position. Our artillery 
useless, and many of the officers and men already disaljled, it was 
deemed advisable to fall back, which was done slowly, returning the 
enemy's fire, and completely checking pursuit. The 6-pounder was 
brought off by hand, through the gallantry of Capt. Trumljull, Lieuts. 
Crosley and Knight, and various officers and men of the Third Iowa, 
after it had been entirely abandoned by the artillerists. The ammu- 
nition wagon, becoming fastened between a tree and a log at the road- 
side in such a manner that it could not be released without serious 
loss, was aljandoned. 

The engagement lasted one hour and was sustained by my command 
with an intrepidity that merits my warmest approbation. 

I have to regret the loss of a number of brave officers and men, 
who fell gallantly fighting at their posts. I refer to the enclosed list 
of killed and wounded as a part of this report. 

The heaviest fire was sustained by Co. I, Third Iowa volunteers, 
which lost four killed and 20 wounded, being one-fourth of our total 
loss. 

Maj. Stone, Capts. Warren, Willett and O'Neil were severely 
wounded, and also Lieuts. Hobl)s, Anderson, Tullis and Knight. 
The latter refused to retire from the field after being three times 
wounded, and remained with his men till the close of the engage- 
ment. 

Among the great number who deserve my thanks for their gallantly 
I might mention Sergt. James F. Lakin, of Co. F, Third Iowa, 
who bore the colors and carried them into the thickest of the fight with 
all the coolness of a vetei-an. 

The loss of the enemy can not be certainly ascertained, but from 
accounts deemed reliable is not less than 160, many of whom were 
killed. His total force was about 4,400. 

Your most obedient servant, 

John Scott, 
Lieut. -Col. of the Third Iowa Volunteers. 

S. D. Sturgis, Brig. -Gen. U. S. Army. 

LIST of killed and WOUNDED IN THE THIRD IOWA. 

[The following list of the killed and wounded of the Third Iowa 
Infantry, in the l)attle, has been kindl\' furnished for this history, 
properly certified, by Col. W. L. Alexander, Adjutant-General of 



218 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

Iowa. It is taken from muster rolls yet on file, and is compared 
and agrees with tlie Iowa Adjutant-General's report of 1863] : — 

Maj. Wm. M. Stone, wounded in the head. 

Company A — Wounded, First Lieut. D. J. O'Neil, in the arm; 
First Sergt. D. J. Duane, in the thigh ; Corp. Wm. H. Munger, in the 
thigh ; Privates, Elliott Critchfield, in the arm ; James P. McCafl'erty, 
in thigh, John Schi'age, in the leg. 

(Jom-pany B — Wounded, Second Lieut. Albert Hobbs, in shoulder,; 
Sergt. John C. Woodrufl', through left lung; Corp. W. F. Hart; 
Privates Benjamin Robins, in left arm, Josiah M. Woodruff, left 
thigh badly shattered. 

Company C — Killed, Lester Squires. Wounded, Corp. Benjamin 
Huntino;, in arm; Wagoner, Herman Drone, severel}' ; Private, Wm. 
H. Phillips. 

Company D — Killed, Wm. B. Miller. Wounded, Capt. George 
R. Wiliett, in knee ; Second Lieut. Ole A. Anderson, in head ; Pri- 
vate, Wm. B. Hickert, in knee. 

Company E — David H. Dill, died September 28 ; Wounded, Sergt. 
Thos. Mulvana ; Corps. Nathaniel Jennings and Wm. H. McCowin, 
in side; Privates, Geo. W. Groves, James F. Guthrie, Daniel Hill, 
Joseph H. Miller, Bartley N. Pardee, Wm. R. White and Wm. C. 
White. 

Company F — Killed, Hasseltine D. Norton. Wounded, Second 
Lieut. Aaron Brown ; Corp. L. B. Davis, severely ; Privates, John 
W. Hawn, severely; David Ishman, severely ; Joseph N. Johnson^ 
Charles Lyon, Jacob Swank, Thos. Saunders, and Charles Winchell, 
severely. 

Company G — Wounded, Corp. William Swan; Privates Francis 
M. Lotta, William Michael, John McCullough and John A. Rutter. 

Company H — Wounded, Michael AVierna (died November 19), 
Capt. John H. AVarren, in legs ; First Lieut. James TuUis, in legs ; 
Sergt. John McMannus, in arm ; Privates Ed. A. Barbour, Isaac 
Gamble and Jesse McClure. 

Company /—Killed, G. W. Bedell, Thos. M. Mix, Benj. F. Dar- 
land. Wounded, Lorain T. Washburn (died next day) ; First Lieut. 
John P. Knight, in arm, leg and chin; Sergts. David Forney and 
Isaac M. Henderson ; Corp. William Burdick, in leg ; Drummer Chas. 
E. Balcoml), in neck; Privates James Buel, in right leg; Leroy Car- 
ter, in leg; Peter S. Darlund, severely; Richard C. Dolph, severely ; 
Daniel W. Foot, Wolsey Hawks, Wm. H. Miritield, in leg; Lewis D. 
Powers, inarm; Wm. L. Pei^pers, in leg and arm; A. S. Russell, 
severely in arm ; Geo. W. Stocks, severely in head and arm ; Geo.H. 
Smalley, in leg; Ferdinand Seick, Samuel Trowbridge, Joseph Wy- 
borney, in left knee ; Asa H. Warner, A. M. Wilcox, severely in leg ; 
Thos. B. Walicy and James E. White. 

Company K — Killed, Private James H. Brownell. 

The four men of the Caldwell county Home Guards that were killed 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 219 

were Linus Miller, Daniel Strope, John Smith and James Bogau. 
Three of Johnson's company were wounded — Capt. E. D. Johnson 
and privates Whitheld Early and Wm. O. Dod<re. 

Capt. Cupp, of the Adair county Home Guards, was killed in the 
action, as was a private of his company. 

OTHER WAR INCIDENTS OF THE FALL AND WINTER OF 1861. 

On Friday, September 20, a considerable Federal force under Gen. 
S. D. Sturgis came into Liberty from the north and east and united 
with the Third Iowa and Sixteenth Illinois. Stui-gis' command 
consisted of the Twenty-seventh and Thirty-ninth Ohio regiments of in- 
fantry, and some Gentry county Home Guards. The next day, Stur- 
gis at the head, the Ohio regiments departed for the west, going 
toward Fort Leavenworth. A day or two before their arrival at Lib- 
erty they had attempted to reinforce Mulligan at Lexington, but iu 
the Missouri bottom, opposite and about four miles from Lexington 
(or near the present site of R. & L. Junction), they were diverted 
from their pui'pose by the presence of Gen. Rains' division of Mis- 
sourians, sent across by Gen. Price to stop them, and they moved 
rapidly to the westward to get out of the way, burning some of their 
wagons. 

Not long after September 21, the Third Iowa and Sixteenth Illinois, 
with the Missouri Home Guards, left, and in their case the citizens 
considered it a good riddance of a lot of bad rubbish. For with these 
commands, especially among the Home Guards, were a lot of rapa- 
cious and unscrupulous thieves and plunderers that out-jayhawked the 
Kansas jayhawkers. Hen roosts, pigpens, gardens, even kitchens 
and private houses were preyed upon and stripped by these scamps, 
and two stores in Liberty were completely "gutted." The Missouri 
Home Guards did the greater part of this pillaging ; next to them 
were the Sixteenth Illinois men, and then came the Third Iowa, though 
it is said only comparatively a few of the latter regiment engaged in 
the plundering, but such as did were quite active. 

Not so with the Ohio troops. These men were all gentlemen, and 
seemed to understand that the war was one between fellow-citizens of 
a common country. They came quietly into town, went into camp, 
and as quietly conducted themselves during their stay. They abused 
nobody, insulted no one, and there did not seem to be a thief among 
them. Even at this late day, these regiments, and especially the 
Thirty-ninth, and its old colonel, John Groesbeck, are pleasantly re- 
membered. Brave men these were, and manv a time afterward iu 



220 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

the mighty battles in Teiinsssee, Mississippi and Ooorgia, did they 
accomplish great deeds of gallantry and moment, bui not the least 
among their gloiies during their term of service wet<« their acts of 
gentility, honor and chivalry toward the people of Misfciiri in the fall 
and winter of 1861. It is a pity that the same can no^ bf- said of :'.ll 
Federal regiments ! 

Upon the fall of Lexington there was great ''ejoicing imoii-j the 
Secessionists, and enlistments in the armj^ of Gen. Pii^'e were tirthe'r 
stimulated. About this time inflammatory appe^ln were made by 
certain leaders of the Secession forces to our peoole, ask ag for 
assistance in men and means, and denouncing Federa s and Federt,! 
sympathizers in the severest terms. The following is an extract iroru 
a communication of Col. John T. Hughes, in the Liberty Tribune, of 
September 20 : — 

* * * Were I Governor of this State I would notify Gov. Charles 
Robinson, of Kansas, that if he should again suflier his soldiers to 
cross into Missouri I would retaliate with a terrible vengeance. I 
would invade, occupy and hold, and desolate the entire State ot 
Kansas with fire and sword, and sack raid burn every town and city in 
the State. I would i-educe it to its primeval solitudes. 

* * * The exiled soldiers are returning, and this land will be 
drenched in blood, and widows and orphans be multiplied, and the 
wildest anarchy prevail, if there should be any attempt to support the 
Provisional Government of the traitor and usurper, Hamilton R. 
Gamble, by force of arms. 

Col. Hughes appealed to the women to weave cloth and prepare 
clothing, and to the men to prepare leather and other supplies for the 
use of Price's army, and the appeal was not altogether unre- 
sponded to. 

The bank at Liberty, which was a branch of the Farmers' Bank of 
Lexington, suspended specie payments in the summer, and early in 
the fall the coin was sent to St. Louis for safety. 

Recruiting was kept up for the army of Gen. Price during the fall, 
and on December 1 there were at least five companies with "Old 
Pap " in his camps down in Southwestern Missouri : Capt. P. C. Pix- 
lee's, L. B. Dougherty's, Gideon Thompson's, Robert Minter's and 
R. Scott's. Other men from Clay belonged to companies whose 
officers were from adjoining counties. 

THE NEOSHO SECESSION ORDINANCE. 

On October 26, " Claib Jackson's Legislature," as it was called, 
met in the Masonic Hall at Neosho, and on the 28th an ordinance of 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 221 

secession was passed by both houses. In the Senate the only vote 
against it was c.i;t by Charles Hardin, then Senator from the Boone 
and Callaway 'hstrict, and afterwards Govcrnc-r of the State, and in 
the House tl .nly member voting " no " was Mr. Shambangh, of 
DeKalb A^c^rding to the records and to Mr. Shambaugh theio were 
in the J'ckgOi Legislature at the time but 39 members of the House 
and l^■ DieEiburs of the Senate, when by the constitution a quorum for 
tb'> trui^sactio:. of business was required to consist of 17 Senators and 
67 I?or''esei.l.itiYe-. Be that as it may, the secession ordinance and the 
net of innexatif r to the Southern Confederacy were approved by the 
Confederate C'^ngress at Richmond, recognized by that portion of the 
|) '^iiie of Mis. ouri who were in favor " of cutting loose from the old 
UiAion," and Gen. Price fired a salute in honor thereof. And so those 
Mijsuurians, then and afterwards in arms against the Federal flag, 
became entitled to the name of Confederates, and will so be denom- 
inated in future pages of this history, instead of being called " State 
■iuards," "Secessionists," "Southern troops," etc., as they have 
hitherto been spoken of. 

On Sunday, December 8, about 2,000 Federal troops, under com- 
mind of Gen. Ben. M. Prentiss, appeared in Liberty and remained 
until the following Tuesday. During their stay quite a number of 
citizens of Confederate proclivities were arrested and forced to take 
an oath of loyalty to the Federal Government. Among these was 
Robert. H. Miller, editor of the Tribune, who was required to agree 
not to publish any more " secesh " articles in his paper. When he 
left Gen. Prentiss carried off with him Dr. Patton, Judge Vertrees, 
Deputy Sheriff J. J. Moore, Constable J. H. Ford, and 9 others. 




CHAPTiER VIII. 

DURING THE YEAR 1862. 

The " Gambk: Oalli " — It In Taken by a Majority of the County OfflclalH — Mlscel- 
laticouH — I'arker'M Italil on I^lberty — The Kcign of Pcnick — Organization of the 
Enrolled Mllltla — MlHcellancous Military Matters — November Election, 1802. 

TJIK " OAMISLi: OATH." 

Aftorthe reorganization of tiio Missouri State Govcrnmont by ordi- 
nance of tlie State Convention — witii Hamilton K. Gamble as Pro- 
visional Governor, Willard P. Hall as Lieut. -Governor, Mordecai 
Oliver as Secretary of State, etc., — it was required that all county 
ofBcers (and many others) should take an oath of allegiance, not only 
to the United States, but to the Provisional Government. In this 
county some of the oflicials refused to take this oath, but whether this 
refusal was upon the grounds that the Gaml)le government was illegal 
or that they considered Missouri, under the Neosho ordinance of 
Secession, one of the Confederate States, can not here b(! stated. For 
a time, owing to the disturbed comJition of affairs incident to military 
occupation, pul)lic business was practically suspended. 

IJiit at last, after due deliberation, and upon a consideration of all 
tlie circumstances, it was concluded that it was best to accept the 
sil nation and to recognize the authority of the Federal and State 
Governments. Some of the officers took the oath willingly, others 
with a mental rescirvation. In January, 18(J2, the county court 
assembled at LibiMly. All tint oilic(!rs had been reappointed, and had 
taken the Gamble oatli. TIks jiisLices were Thomas M.Chovis, Alvah 
Maret and Isaac Wood ; clerk, Kphraim D. Murray. Public business 
was transacted as usual. Jn March the court assembled, and con- 
sidering the cases of many of the justiiies of the peace of tlie county 
who had resigned rather than take the oath, reappointed nearly all of 
them, and the most of them afterward served. 

In the circuit court Judge George W. Dunn had refused to take 
the oath, and <!X-(jov(!rn()r Austin A. King was appoint<!il in his stead, 
(yircnit Attornc^y I). (J. Allen would not take and sui).scribc to the 
oalii, and I). P. Whitmer, of Ray, was commissioned. Circuit Clerk 
A. .) . Calhoun acc(^pted the situation. 
(222) 



HISTORY OK OLAY COIXTY. 223 

Tho following is :\ oopv ot"tho •• GamWo oath : " — 

I. . do soltMiiuly swear <or affirm, as tho oasomay bo") 

that 1 will support, protoot and dofoiid tlio Constitution ot" tho United 
States, and iho Constitution ot' tho State ot" Missouri, against all 
enemies and opposors. whether domestic or toroign ; that 1 will boar 
true taith. loyalty and allogianoo to the United States, and will not, 
direetly or indirectly, give aid and comtort or eountouanoo to tho 
enemies or oppressors thereof, or of the Piwisional Government of 
tho State of Missouri, any oi\linance. law or resolution of any State 
Convention or Legislature, or any order or organization, secret or 
otherwise to the contrary notwithstanding ; and that I do this with a 
full and honest determination, pledge and purpose, faithfully to keep 
and perform the same, withont any mental reservation or evasion 
whatever. And I do further solemnly swear (or affirm ^ that I have 
not, since the 17th day of December. A. D. IStU. willfully taken up 
arms or loYied war agtiinst tho United States, or against the Pro- 
visional Government of the State of Missouri. So help nto God. 

After a time tho '• Gamble oath " was supplemented by one more 
binding, more exacting, hal^^er to take, and still harder to observe. 
riiis was called the •• ironclad oath." 

MlSCKH.ANF.OlS. 

In February a small Fodentl command under Lieut. Elias Lank- 
ford, then engaged in raising a company for service in the Sixth regi- 
ment, Missouri State Militia, Col. E. C. Catherwood's. came to Liberty 
as the advance of a force that was to occupy the county. Lieut. 
Lanktord opened a recruiting office, but ivcruits came in very slowly. 
In all o"J men trom this county joined Catherwood's regiment. 

On the 10th of March Maj. A. Lightburno's extensive ivpe 
factory at Liberty was set on tire and burned to the gronnd. in- 
volving a loss of some thousands of dollars. The incendiary was a 
negro woman, the slave of L. N. Kees. She was arrested and con- 
fessed that she did the burning to be iwongod on Maj. Lightburno, 
who some time previously had caused her to be whipped for steal- 
ing some clothing from him. The woman, with some other slaves, 
was sent otf to another quarter of the State and sold. Somehow 
a report that the Federals at Liberty had burned tho factory 
gained currency, but there was not the smallest particle of truth in it. 

PAKKKK's RA1I1 ON I.ll^KKTT. 

On Friday, March 11. a band of movmted Confederate partisans, 40 
in number, led by Col. R. F. Parker, of Jackson conntv. dashed into 



224 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

Liberty and held the place for a few hours. Soon after their entrance 
they called up to them a citizen named Owen Grimshaw, who had a 
short time px'eviously enlisted in the Federal service, and after con- 
versing with him for a moment, shot him in the shoulder, bringing him 
to the ground. The wound was a severe one, but did not prove mortal. 

Capt. R. G. Hubbard, afterwards of Penick's regiment, had a re- 
cruiting office, with ten men. The Confederates attacked them and 
there was an irregular exchange of shots for nearly three hours, wheiv 
Hubbard and his men surrendered to keep from|bcing burnt out. After 
paroling the prisoners and tearing down the U. S. flag from the 
court-house, the raiders left as suddenly as they had entered, striking 
straight for their rendezvous in Jackson county, among the Sni Hills. 
Save Grimshaw nobody was hurt. Kit Childs was with Parker and 
acted as his lieutenant. 

News of his raid was sent to Cameron, and Col. Catherwood, with 
four or five companies of militia and recruits, came galloping down to 
Liberty, making the march of 42 miles over heavy roads in 15 hours. 
After a little examination Catherwood realized that the raiders were 
out of all reach, and on Sunday, the 16th, he returned to Cameron, 
leaving at Liberty a company of his own regiment under Capt. E. D. 
Johnson, — Caldwell county men. 

In a day or two came a reinforcement to Liberty from St. Joseph, 
under Col. T. T. Kimball, con.sisting of two companies of his six 
months' militia, commanded by Capts. Drumhillerand Phelps. These 
remained until about the 1st of April, when, their term of service 
having expired, they left for their honiies, and then came Col. W. R. 
Penick, with his 500 men, and after that all Confederate raids on 
Liberty by small bands were prevented. 

Col. Parker was subsequently killed, June 28, 1863, in a raid on 
Wellington, by a squad of McFerran's First M. S. M. On his 
person was found a commission as colonel of the " First Mis- 
souri Partisan Rangers," signed by J. S. Seddons, Confederate Sec- 
retary of War, and H. D. Walker, assistant adjutant-general of the 
Confederate army. Parker was the only Missourian that ever held a 
commission as a partisan ranger during the war. At least he was the 
only one knoivnto hold such a commission. Quantrell, Todd, Ander- 
son and others were never commissioned. 

THE REIGN OF PENICK. 

The Fifth regiment of cavalry, Missouri State militia, commonly 
known as '• Penick's men " — or else as " Penick's thieves " — held 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 22^* 

possession of Clay and other counties in this pai't of the State for 
several months during the summer of 1862. Clay was known as a 
strong " rebel " county, and it must have been that the Federal com- 
mander of the district had an especial spite against our people when 
he sent down Penick's men to hold them in subjection. The regi- 
ment was recruited at St. Joseph and the men were all or nearly 
all from Northwest Missouri — some were from Kansas. Col. 
Penick himself was (and yet is) a citizen of St. Joseph; he was of 
Southern birth and rearing, a native of Boone county, Mo., and a 
slaveholder. 

After not quite a year's service the regiment was broken up and 
dismissed from the Federal service, as the order said, " in viewof the 
interests of the public service." 

Upon Col. Penick's advent into Clay county the situation was fairly 
felicitous for a season of peace and quietude. The people were about 
ready to declare the war for the independence of the Confederacy a 
failure and to accept the situation generally. 

On the 7th of April a Union meeting was held in Liberty to con- 
sider the condition of affairs, and men of both and all parties attended 
to counsel together for the public good. T. C. Gordon presided and 
Robt. H. Miller was the secretary, and published the proceedings ap- 
provingly in the Tribune. 

A committee on resolutions composed of Hon. L. W. Burris, Geo. 
S. Story, A. M. Riley, Dr. W. A. Norton and Milliner Haynes re- 
ported a series of resolutions, declaring among other things that " any 
further efforts to separate Missouri from the Federal Union would be 
madness and folly," and requesting "our fellow-citizens to lay down 
their arms and return home." To all who were willing to heed the 
latter admonition Gen. Halleck was requested to " offer them the 
privileges on reasonable terms." 

The resolutions were adopted without dissent. Col. Moss and Gen. 
Doniphan made speeches indorsing them, and going even further in 
demanding that hostilities against the Union should cease. These 
speeches were reported and Col. Moss' was republished in the St. 
Louis Reimblican and many other public journals. 

About this time Hon. J. T. V. Thompson, a prominent Secessionist 
of this county from the start, a member of the " Claib. Jackson Leg- 
islature," who had followed Price's army into Arkansas and had been 
taken prisoner at the battle of Pea Ridge, was released after a brief 
term-sof imprisonment at St. Louis, upon taking the oath. A few 
days later he returned home and wrote the following open letter. 



226 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

which was published in the St. Louis Republican, as well as in the Tri- 
bune and other papers in this district : — 

St. Louis, April 2, 1862. 
To E. M. Samuel, Esq. : 

Sir — For more than thirty years we have stood in antagonistic 
political relations. In the present troubles we have seen and acted 
diflerently, but I hope, hereafter, will act together in bringing the 
State back to its allegiance to the United States Government of Mis- 
souri ; in promoting peace and friendly feeling among our people and 
in the State generally. This I have a great desire to do, and will do 
when I return home. We have a common interest in putting down 
all bands of outlaws and guerrilla parties that now infest and may in- 
fest our State. I hope to be able, as I am willing, to act with all good 
men in bringing the State to its allegiance to the United States Gov- 
ernment, and in sustaining the i>rovisional government of Missouri. 

That the course I took in the Legislature of Missouri since these 
troubles commenced (though dictated by honest motives at the time), 
was injurious to the State and to the Union, I freely admit, and I will 
hereafter, as a private citizen, do all I can to repair the injury and 
ruin resulting therefrom. I can, as you know, do much in my county 
and my old senatorial district, to restore peace, lo3'alt}' and good feel- 
ing among the people. I will use my influence to restore law and 
order, and will oppose, discountenance, and, if need be, assist in de- 
stroying all bands of men who aim to trample law and order under 
their feet. The State has already sulfered enough, and I will, with 
you, and all other law-abiding men, urge the people to return to their 
allegiance to the United States Government, and to sustain our present 
Provisional Government, as the only means for peace and prosperity. 
1 am fully convinced that this is the duty of all good men. 
Respectfully, 

J. T. V. Thompson. 

Soon after his arrival at Liberty, Col. Penick began a system of 
general arrest and apprehension of those of our citizens who had iden- 
tified themselves with the rebellion. These were for the most part 
taken at their homes and brought to Liberty, where the oath of loy- 
alty was administered to them, and then upon giving an approved 
l)ond for the observance of their oath they were released and allowed 
to depart in peace, even if in mortification. 

The first victims were B. W. Nowlin and S. D. Nowlin, who were 
released upon giving bonds of $5,000 each. Among those brought 
up in May was Franklin James, afterwards the notorious bandit, who 
took the oath and gave a $1,000 bond for the faithful observance of 
its terms. * 

Many citizens came forward voluntarily and took the oath, and in 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 227 

time so many had subscribed to the sworn and solemn pledges of 
faithful allegiance to the Federal government that it would seem Clay 
county was as loyal as any county in " bleeding Kansas." Our peo- 
ple had stvoi-ii to their loyalty, while the Kansans only protested 
theirs. 

The oath required to be taken was printed on a blank duly filled 
out and signed by the party sworn, and was as follows : — 

The undersigned solemnly swears that he will bear true faith and 
allegiance to the Government of the United States of America and 
support the Constitution thereof as the supreme law of the land ; that 
he will never take up arms against said Government, or those who 
may be acting under its authority ; that he will never, by word, act, 
or deed, knowingly give aid or comfort, or in any manner encourage 
armed opposition to the Government of the United States, but that, 
on the contiary, he will do all in his power as a citizen to prevent such 
opposition, and to discourage the same wherever it is being made. 
He makes this oath freely and voluntarily, with no mental reservations 
or restrictions whatever, honestly intending, at all times hereafter to 
keep the same, in spirit as well as in letter, and to conduct himself as 
a peaceable, law-abiding citizen of the United States. This I do sol- 
emnly swear, so help me God. (Signature.) 

April 27, another large public meeting was held at Liberty ; many 
of Penick's men were present. Ex-Gov. King spoke and was followed 
by Col. Thompson, who graphically and humorously described his 
disastrous experience in following the fortunes of the Confederacy, 
and the result, and then seriously addressing his audience he declared 
that it was folly to think of contending longer against the mighty 
armies and vast resources of the Federal government : that the Con- 
federate government would ultimately perish from the earth ; that 
there might be required three or four years more of war to demon- 
strate this, but the end would surely come, and the Confederacy fall, 
and if the war lasted two years more slavery would fall with it, while 
if tlie wai- ceased then (" now ") slavery would be preserved. Col. 
Thompson declared himself emphatically for peace, and altogether 
f)pposed to bushwhacking, and finally said he would live honorably 
up to the terms of his release and to every syllable of the oath he had 
taken. 

Some time in the latter part of the winter Col. H. M. Routt, who 
had returned from the Confederate army, tilled of the war, was ar- 
rested at his home in Liberty and -taken to St. Louis on a charge of 
treason, in leading the force that captured the Liberty arsenal. Ex- 
pressing a willingness to take the oath of loj'alty, and fully acknowl- 



228 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

edging the " error of his past ways," upon the influence of certain 
prominent UnVon men, he was granted a full and free pardon by 
President Lincoln, and soon returned home. He, too, like Col. 
Thompson, declared the war of secession had been and would con- 
tinue to be a failure, and that its further continuance would be a gross 
wrong if not a crime. 

Thus the two men who were the most prominent among the first 
Secessionists of Clay county, each a stalwart among the stalwarts; 
were the first to abandon the cause to its fate and to cry for peace. 
Col. Routt was the first prominent officer from the county to enter the 
Southern service, and was the first to leave it. Col. Thompson was 
among the first to proclaim the doctrine and policy of secession, and 
was the first to declaim against it. It is not untrue to say that they 
were consistent in both courses. Believing secession to be politic 
and right in April, 1861, it was proper they should advocate it and 
support it. Believing in April, 1862, that secession was wrong and 
impolitic, it was proper they should denounce it. 

But Thompson and Routt made but few proselytes among the Clay 
county Confederates in arms. They not only refused to desert their 
new colors, but cursed them for " getting them into the scrape," and 
then getting out of the scrape themselves in the easiest but most dis- 
creditable way. 

Now it is perhaps only the truth to say that it was Col. Penick's 
dictation and counsel — and it may have been his orders — that 
brought about these meetings and the speeches and acts of Thompson 
and Routt. He advised the people to a course of submission, and 
granted favors to those who obeyed him for a time. But after a 
brief season he lost nearly all of the advantages he had gained on 
account of the lawless conduct of his men. People learned to hate 
the Union cause because they somehow considered "Penick's thieves" 
its exponents. 

ORGANIZATION OF THE ENROLLED MISSOURI MILITIA. 

On the 22d of July, 1862, whan Cols. Jo. Porter and J. A. Poiu- 
dexter were leading large forces of newly I'ecruited Confederates 
through North and Northeast Missouri, and Cols. John T. Hughes, 
John T. Cofl^ee, Vard Cockerell, Joe Shelby and other Confederate 
(ifficers were slashing about through Jackson, Johnson, Lafayette 
and Saline counties, and the Feder^il forces in the State-seemed pow- 
erless to interfere with them — Gov. Gamble issued an order for the 
organization " of the entire militia of the State into companies, regi- 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 229 

ments and brigades," for the purpose of " putting down all such ma- 
rauders, and defending the peaceable citizens of the Suite." 

This order of Gov. Gamble's had a most wonderful effect in creat- 
inir soldiers. It threw into partially active and irregular service on 
the Federal side many thousands of men, and it drove into the Con- 
federate army nearly 10,000 other men who had from the first vowed 
that if they were forced to take up arms they would enlist under the 
banner of the stars and bars. 

In Clay county the conservative Union men, chiefly under the lead- 
ership of Col. J. H. Moss, decided to obey the order at once, and 
organize the militia of this county under the auspices of the Conser- 
vative Union party, to protect the county against all " marauders," 
whether guerrillas and bushwhackers from Missouri or jayhawkers and 
red-legs from Kansas. 

In the latter part of July three companies of enrolled militia were 
organized at Liberty. The first companj- had for officers, Anthony 
Harsell,^ captain ; T. N. O'Bryant andR. W. Flemming, lieutenants ; 
second company, J. H. Moss, captain ; Wm. A. McCarty, C. J. 
White, lieutenants ; third company, W. G. Garth, captain ; Arch. 
Lincoln, J. S. Thomason, lieutenants. A fourth company, organized 
for the defense of Liberty, and composed of " exempts," had O. P. 
Moss for captain, and A. J. Calhoun and Wm. T. Reynolds for lieu- 
teilants. The companies averaged 80 men each. 

The companies of enrolled militia in Clay and Platte were organized 
in September into a regiment denominated the Forty-eighth Regi- 
ment of Enrolled Missouri Militia. Of the field officers of this regi- 
ment the following were from Clay county : James H. Moss, 
colonel; C. J. White, adjutant; W. T. Reynolds, quartermaster; 
W. A. Morton, surgeon. The following were the Clay county com- 
panies in the Forty-eighth. 

Company D — Captain, Anthony Harsel ; first lieutenant, T. N. 
O'Bryant, resigned January 8, 1863, succeeded by Benj. Jaggers, 
second lieutenant, R. W. Flemming. 

Company E — Captains, J. H. Moss, promoted to colonel; Wm. 
A. McCarty, resigned February 11, 1863; A. W. Tracey. First 
lieutenants, W. A. McCarty, promoted to captain ; W. S. Garvey, 
resigned December 7, 1862 ; A. W. Tracey, promoted to captain 
February 14, 1863 ; John W. Younger. Second lieutenants, C. J. 



1 The night after Capt. Harsell eatered the service, the Confederates burned his 
house, with nearly all its contents. 



230 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

White, promoted to adjutant ; James D. Baxter, resigned April 17, 
1863 ; John Collier. 

Company F — Captain, Wm. G. Garth. First lieutenants, Archi- 
bald Lincoln, resiirned November 11, 1862; John S. Thomason. 
Second lieutenants, John S. Thomason, promoted to first lieutenant: 
Thomas J. Bowman. 

Company H — Captains, John E. Green, promoted to major Sep- 
tember 29, 1862 ; Solomon G. Bigelow. First lieutenants, Sol. G.- 
Bigelow, promoted to captain; J. S. McCord. Second lieutenants, 
J. S. McCord, promoted to first lieutenant October 18, 1862 ; Taylor 
Hulin. 

Company K — Captain, Darius Sessions, killed by the bushwhackers 
at Missouri City, May 19, 1863. First lieutenants, Ben. R. Everts, 
resigned January 2, 1863 ; Wm. T. Davis. Second lieutenant, De 
Wilton Mosely. 

In consequence of the extraordinary reduction in numbers of this 
regiment by I'emovals from the State, payment of commutation tax 
in lieu of military sei'vice, volunteering in the United States' service, 
etc., this regiment was disbanded November 1, 1863, and the com- 
missions of officers, with the exception of Col. Moss, were revoked. 
Col. Moss was retained in commission, and instructed to reorganize 
the effective militia of Clay, Platte and Clinton counties. He was 
afterward made colonel of the Eighty-second Enrolled Missouri, 
one of the regiments of the "Paw-Paw" militia, fully mentioned 
elsewhere in this volume. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

For a time Maj. JI. L. James, of Catherwood's regiment, was in 
command at Liberty. He it was who had commanded the Caldwell 
countv Home Guards in the Blue Mills fight. Drunkenness became 
so common among the soldiers, and was of such aggravated form that 
the major issued strict orders in Ma}', that no more spirituous liquors 
were to be sold to his men, and the severest penalties were threatened 
against all offenders. 

One incident i-egarding the estimation in which slavery was held in 
certain Federal sections ought to be mentioned, as a fact for one 
reason, as a curiosity for another. In the month of May, of this^'ear 
1862, four runaway Missouri slaves, the property of Mrs. Sarah Davis, 
were arrested near Topeka, Kan., and returned to their owner mainly 
by the assistance of the Federal military authorities. They were 
l)rought to Liberty and put in the county jail for safe keeping, taken in 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 231 

charo;e bv the sheriff, and so on, all the same as before the war. But 
the rule was, even before as well as during the war, that when a slave 
escaped from Missouri to Kansas he was practically as free as if he 
had his deed of emancipation in his pocket. 

During the first pai't of the month of August a number of stirring 
military incidents occurred in the adjoining counties. At Independ- 
ence August 11, and at Lone Jack five days later, occurred two im- 
portant and memorable conflicts between the Federals and 
Confederates, in both of which the Federals were defeated, though 
after stubborn fighting. For the numbers engaged the battle of Lone 
Jack was one of the hardest ever fought in Missouri, or perhaps any- 
where, during the Civil War. 

Perhaps 200 Clay county men took part in these engagements. 
Capt. Grooms, Col. Gideon Thompson and Col. Boaz Roberts were 
there at the head of considerable commands. At ludependeuce Col. 
John T. Hughes, who had formerly been a prominent citizen of Clay, 
the author of " Doniphan's Expedition to Mexico," aud who has been 
frequently referred to in preceding pages of this volume, was killed. 
Among the Confederate killed at Lone Jack was Wash Thompson. 
Other Clay men were killed and a number wounded. 

At this time Confedei-ate raiders were on both sides of the river. 
Down in Carroll county Maj. John L. Mirick had 500 men, too strong 
for a force of Penick's men under Maj. Biggers, sent against them, 
and the first week in August Penick himself went down with the re- 
mainder of his regiment, leaving Capt. Harsel with some newly 
enrolled militia in command. There was considerable uneasiness lest 
Liljerty should l)e taken, but the strong Confederate bands in Jack- 
son county could not cross the river, and the danger passed. 

After the Lone Jack fight Lexington was seriously menaced by the 
Confederates. From Liberty Penick and his command and the en- 
rolled militia companies under Capts. Moss, Harsell and Garth went 
down to reinforce the Federal garrison. Capt. O. P. Moss was the 
only ofiicer in command at Liberty, or even in Clay county, for a few 
days. Wheu Penick returned he remained i)ut a day or two, and 
then, with his entire regiment, he left for Jackson county, leaving the 
enrolled militia to take care of Clay. 

Thursday, August 14, Col. Penick, with 50 men, went from Liberty 
into Platte, to break up a baud of alleged bushwhackers, though per- 
haps they were really Confederate recruits that had formed in the 
southeastern part of that county, three miles southwest of Barry. 
Nearing the camp Penick made inquiries concerning it of two citizens 

10 



232 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

there living, but they declared that it was not within three miles. A 
few hundred yards fui'ther, the bushwhackers were encountered, in 
ambush, ready and waiting. At the first fire two Federals were killed 
outright, one mortally wounded and two others seriously hurt. The 
Federals were thrown into confusion, but rallied, and then both par- 
ties retreated. Penick took out the two citizens, who he claimed 
had betrayed him, shot them and burned the house and barn. 

August 23, a band of Kansas jayhawkers and red-legs made a raid 
on the southwest portion of Clay. Word was br.ought to Liberty 
and Capt. H. B. Johnson, of Penick's regiment, in command, sent 30 
enrolled militia, under Lieuts. Flemming and Thomason, after them. 
The raiders were found in the bottom between Liberty and Kansas 
City. The militia fired on them, attacking them as savagely as if 
they had been Confederate bushwhackers, wounded a number, took 
four prisoners and recovered 25 negroes and 30 horses, which the ras- 
cals had stolen from our citizens and were carrying off to Kansas. 
During the day a company of militia from Kansas City came over and 
co-operated with Flemming and Thomason in breaking up and driv- 
ing out the marauders. It was now demonstrated that the enrolled 
militia of Clay, so long as commanded by Col. Moss and led by Lieuts. 
Thomason and Flemming, might be depended on to fight thieves and 
robbers, whether they were clad in Federal blue or wore " hodden 
gray" and butternut. 

September 24 two Confederate oflScers, Col. Boaz Roberts and a 
partisan leader named Scott, while in Barry, captured Deputy Sheriff 
Wm. E. Rhea, who was out in the country collecting taxes. They 
took from him the tax-books, about 25 writs of execution, robbed him 
of his horse, pistol, $40 in money and then released him. 

NOVEMBER ELECTION 1862. 

Notwithstanding the presence of hundreds of soldiers in this county 
in the year 1862, and the thousand and one shocks to the law and or- 
der incident to "war's alarms," courts were held and other proceed- 
ings gone through with according to the forms of law, and the vote 
at the election of this year, while not very large and full, was fair 
and free, and the election itself was conducted without intimidation 
or any overawing on the part of the soldiery. So far as this county 
was concerned, the bayonet protected, and did not attempt to control 
the ballot box. 

The only political issue involved was the question of emancipation, 
and there were few emancipationists in this count}'. No one could 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 



233 



vote unless he had first taken the Gamble oath, and so all the voters 
were — or at least presumed to be — "loyal." The following was 
the vote in this county : — - 

Congress — J. H. Birch, 582 ; Austin A. King, 159 ; E. M. Samuel, 
179. (Birch and King were anti-Emancipationists; Samuel was not 
committed.) 

State Senator — John Doniphan, of Platte, 844; no opposition. 

Representative — L. W. Burris, 828; no opposition. 

Sheriff— Wm. W. Smith, 469 ; F. R. Long, 430. 

Assessor — Greenup Byrd, Jr., 449; James Burns, 399. 

County Judge — Alvah Maret ; no opposition. 

County Treasurer — B. F. Tillery ; no opposition. 



CHAPTER IX. 

DURING THE YEAR 1863. 

Miscellaneous War Items of the Early Spring — The Raid on Missouri City and Killing 
of Capt. Sessions — Other War Incidents — After the Lawrence Raid — Threatened 
Invasion from Kansas Prevented — The "Paw Paw Militia," and Certain Military 
Incidents in This County During 1862 and 1863 — Interesting Testimony of Col. J. 
H. Moss — November Election — Sons of Malta — Military Murders. 

Early in the spring of this year, before the leaves of the trees put 
out, or even the buds began to swell, the Confederate guerrilla bauds 
in this part of Missouri were on the move. The first band in Clay 
county was led by Joe Hart, of Buchanan county, who had deserted 
the Confederate army to come back to Missouri and " bushwhack." 
About March 1, Capts. Garth and Tracy, of the enrolled militia, cap- 
tured one of Hart's men and five jayhawkers near Missouri City. 
The bushwhacker was sent to St. Joe ; the jayhawkers to Kansas 
City. Hart and half a dozen of his band ranged through the country 
in the neighborhood of Centerville (Kearney) claiming to be in search 
of a militiaman named Harris, whom they wanted to kill, but at the 
same time they were robbing citizens. From one man they took $60 
in money and two horses ; from everybody, arms. 

April 29, Capt. Tracy and half a dozen militia were fired on, after 
dark, at a point 12 miles east of north of Liberty, by Hart's band. 
The bushwhackers retreated after the first fire, and Tracy captured 
two of their mules. 

In adjoining counties, before spring had fairly arrived, the guerrillas 
and bushwhackers were at work. Coleman Younger, Dave Poole, 
Fernando Scott, and some others of Quantrell's band captured the 
steamer New Sam Gaty, at Sibley's landing, March 27, killing three 
of Penick's men after they had surrendered, rol)l)ing all the passen- 
gers, carrj'ing off 20 negroes, and throwing into the river 100 sacks 
of flour and a dozen wagonS. 



THE RAID ON MISSOURI CITY. 



I 



On the 19th of May occurred a guerrilla raid on Missouri City made 
by a band of 12 guerrillas, led bj^ Fernando Scott, who crossed the 
river at Sibley, and rendezvoused for the raid at the house of Moses 
(234) 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 235 

McCoy, ill Fishing River township. It is said that Frank James, 
Fietch. Taylor and Joe Hart were members of Scott's band. The 
following account of the raid was given in the current number of the 
Liberty Tribune, and is pronounced fairly accurate : — 

One of the residents of Missouri City came in and reported either 
to Capt. Darius Sessions of the enrolled militia, or Lieut. Graven- 
stein, of the Twenty-fifty Missouri Volunteers, that he noticed two 
or three suspicious characters lurking about a short distance below 
that place. The captain and lieutenant with not more than three or 
four men — all we supjiose they could muster at the time for duty — 
went out on a scout, and had not proceeded far before they were fired 
upon from the brush by a body of men at least three or four times 
their number. Finding their little force inadequate, they were com- 
pelled to beat a hasty retreat in a somewhat northerly direction. They 
were, however, hotly pursued by the bushwhackers. Capt. Sessions 
was shot dead, several bullets, it is said, entering his body. Lieut. 
Gravenstein, finding his pursuers fast gaining on him, and escape about 
hopeless, turned and offered to surrender but was killed on the spot 
without mercy. A private of the Twenty-fifth Missouri who was 
wounded in the arm, found by a citizen, and brought into Missouri 
City, was cruelly fired upon by several of these outlaws as they came 
rushing into town — neither his helpless condition nor the humane 
attentions of those around him dressing his wound, could save him. 
He was still alive when last heard from but his recovery is deemed 
hopeless. The ruffians broke into James Reed's store, forced open 
his safe, took therefrom some $170 or $180 in gold, destroyed all his 
valuable papers and other property. They also plnndei'ed and did 
considerable damage to Mr. B. \V. Nowlin's store, and after charging 
about for some time in a threatening manner, departed to the woods 
below the city. 

These men, those of them who came into the city, were under the 
leadership of Scott, a saddler who lived in Lil)erty some years ago, 
but for the past four or five years has resided in Jackson county. He 
is a native of Ohio. George Todd it is also said was at hand with 
another squad. Their pickets were seen early Wednesday morning 
on the bluf¥ above the lower part of Missouri City. The number of 
guerrillas altogether was sixteen, although at first they were supposed 
to number a much larger force. 

Capt. Garth, with what forces he could hastily gather up, immedi- 
ately went in pursuit, but did not succeed in capturing any of them. 
In the absence of the militia the citizens of Liberty turned out en 
masxe to defend the town, and it was done with a willingness and a 
"vim" that plainly indicated that the bushwhackers had but few if 
any sympathizers in Liberty. 

The bushwhackers were all from Jackson and other counties but 
three — Vandivere, Easton and James — all of whom were of Clay. 
Vandivere boasted in the streets of Missouri City that he killed 



236 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

Capt. Sessions because he reported on him and wouldn't let him, 
stay at home. The rascals, when firing on the wounded man in 
town, declared that when any of their men were captured they 
were killed, and that they intended to do the same — that they 
neither asked nor gave quarter. 

Mr. Benjamin Soper, residing some eight or ten miles north of 
Liberty, reported to headquarters on Thursday that fourteen of the 
above squad took possession of his farm, stationing out pickets, and 
notifying him and family that they were prisoners, and not to leav§ 
the place. That the}' remained all one da}', and on leaving took 
one of his Iiest horses, and warned him it would not be good for 
any of the family to be caught from home that night. 

The body of Capt. Sessions was buried at Liberty with the 
honors of war. The remains of Lieut. Gravenstein were sent to his 
family at St. Joseph. This was the same Darius Sessions who, during 
the troubles in Kansas, was accused of Abolitionism, and came near 
being lynched in the streets of Liberty. He was saved by the in- 
tervention of prominent Pro-Slavery men, who vouched for his 
soundness, and a public meeting denounced the lawless proceedings 
against him. (See preceding pages of this volume.) 

OTHER WAR INCIDENTS. 

Along in the summer, after the raid on Missouri City — or Rich- 
field, as that part of the town was then called — the county was 
badly infested with bushwhackei's, who roamed about in every town- 
ship, stealing, robbing, and sometimes murdering. Of an exploit 
of three of these partisans the Ti-ibune, in August, contained the 
following : — 

Three 8ouUiern Gentlemen in Search of Their ^'■Rights." — On 
the morning of the Gth of August, Franklin James, with two others 
of the same stripe, stopped David Mitchell on his road to Lexing- 
ton, about six miles west of Lil)crty, and took from iiim $1.25, his 
pocket knife, and a ])ass he had from the Provost Marshal to cross 
the ))lains. This was one of the " rights" these men are fighting for. 
James sent his compliments to Maj. Green, and said he would like to 
see him. 

Owing to the disturbed condition of affairs it was impossible to 
collect the public revenue in the usual way, and in July the county 
court made the following order : — 

Clay County Court, July 8, 1863. 
Whkreas, it is painfully apparent, and for many months past has 
existed in our county, which renders it unsafe and almost impossible 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 237 

tor the collector and his deputies to collect in the usual manner and 
within the time prescribed !)}' law, the State and county revenue, and 
the taxes assessed for military purposes, without calling on the militia 
to escort and protect them from the roving bands of thieves and 
marauders which infect our county; and that were said officers to 
essay, alone and unprotected, to visit tax-payers at their place of 
residence in the county, a standing temptation too powerful for these 
bad men to resist, would be given to waylay and rob said officers ; and 
whereas, said collector is under heavy bonds to the State and county 
for the prompt collection and payment of said taxes — by far the 
greater part of which remains uncollected ; and, whereas, the court 
desires to see the civil law and authority upheld and respected without 
the aid and assistance of the military forces in our midst, and to 
witness the speedy restoration of tranquility, good order, and all the 
safeguards of society: — 

It is therefore ordered by the court that the tax-payers of Clay 
county who have not yet paid their taxes be notitied and enjoined to 
repair as soon as practicable to the office of Col. F. R. Long, at the 
court-house, in the city of Liberty, and pay their taxes to said collec- 
tor or his deputies ; and, unless they promptly respond to this order, 
the court will be compelled, as an act of justice to the State, the county, 
the brave militia faithfully serving the cause of law and loyalty, and 
said collector, either to call into requisition the services of said militia 
to enable said officers to collect said taxes, or to order said defaulting 
tax-payers to be returned as delinquents. 

And be it further ordered that this order be published in the Liberty 
Tribune, as many weeks as may be necessary to give full publicity 
thereto, and also by printed hand-bills posted in the most prominent 
places for observation in the county. 

( A true copy . Attest ) . 

Ephraim D. Murray, Clerk. 
By Thomas D. Murray, D. C. 

On August 27, Capt. W. W. Garth, with a small squad of militia, 
came upon R. S. Osborn's bushwhackers near Chrisman's school- 
house and exchanged shots with them. The bushwhackers retreated 
without loss. A night or so afterward they robbed A. J. Calhoun of 
$30 in cash and a valuable horse, James Johnson of a horse, J. T. 
Field, J. Lewis, Richard Morton, Samuel Jones and others of horses, 
money, clothing, etc., and from Mrs. Richard Price they carried off au 
old negro man, whom they inhumanly murdered in acorn field near by. 

Sunday night, September 6, Maj. John R. Green, of the provisional 
militia, in command at Liberty, sent a squad of men on a scout out 
on the Missouri City road. The militia hid themselves, and soon 
three bushwhackers came along the road and were themselves bush- 
whacked, the militia firing on them and killing one of their number, 



238 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

Park Donovan. He had on his person several articles belonging to 
citizens of the county, among which was a powder flask he had taken 
from Elder R. C. Morton. 

AFTER THE LAWRENCE RAID. 

After the raid on Lawrence, Kas., by Quantreirsmen,a large pub- 
lic meeting was held at Liberty, T. C. Gordon presiding, to take the 
sense of the meeting on the affair. Resolutions were passed con- 
demning the raid as " infamous and cruel in the exti'eme, rivaling the 
bloodiest deeds of the red men of the forest or the carnivals of 
Oceanica," and expressing the hope that the "last fiend engaged in 
this heartrending outrage will be overtaken with swift destruction." 
The meeting was attended by all parties, including many ex-Confed- 
erates. When Swing's " Order No. 11 " came out, requesting the 
citizens of Jackson and other counties to either I'epair to some desig- 
nated military post or else leave their respective counties, Maj. Green, 
in command of Clay county, issued the following order: — 

Headquarters, Liberty, Mo., Sept. 9th, 1863. 
Special Order.] 

All persons who are leaving Gen. Ewing's district in compliance 
with his order (No. 11) are hereby prohi))ited from stopping in this 
county to reside. All those failing to comply with this order will be 
escorted beyond the lines of this county. 

John R. Green, 
Major Commanding Post. 
By RoBT. W. Flemming, Act. Post Adjt. 

There was the greatest alarm and anxiety felt in this county and 
Platte for some time after the sacking of Lawrence. A number of 
Clay county men belonged to Quantrell's force, and the Kansas 
militia were threatening to invade Missouri and take dreadful retali- 
ation for what the guerrillas had done. Gen. Thos. J. Ewing has 
declared that he issued " Order 11 " to prevent lawless bodies of 
Kansas troops from visiting the Missouri border and slaughtering 
indiscriminately the people and burning up the country, as they were 
threatening to do. However this may be, it is certain that Gen. 
Ewing notified Gen. Guitar, then in command of the district of North- 
west Missouri, and also the Federal officers at Liberty to be on the 
lookout for Kansas raiders. August 27, he sent the following tele- 
gram to Gen. Guitar, who was then at Macon City : — 

\_By Telegraph from Kansas Vity.'] 
I am advised that an expedition is being fitted at Leavenworth 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 23!> 

or a raid into Missouri ; it is uncertain wliether they intend to 
cross the river or attempt the lower border. I have notified com- 
manding officers at Liberty, and directed my provost marshal at 
Leavenworth to keep the commanding ofiicers at Weston advised. 
My troops at Fort Leavenworth can not be certainly relied on in the 
present state of feeling. I have doubts whether any expedition of 
consequence will really set out, as I have orders that it will be re- 
sisted ; but you had as well be ready. 

Thomas J. Ewing, 

Brigadier-General. 

Gen. Guitar returned the following answer : — 

Macon, Mo., August 27, 1863. 
To Brigadier- General Eiuing, Kansas City, Mo. — I have this 
moment received your dispatch of this date, for which I am under 
obligations. I deeply sympathize with the unfortunate people of 
Lawrence, and with yourself, in the responsible aud embarrassing 
position you occupy. By all means let speedy vengeance be visited 
upon the guilty ; but, in the name of heaven and humanity, let us 
protect the innocent and inoffending. I need no assurance that it 
will be done as far as you are able. I shall be upon the alert, and I 
admonish the people of Kansas not to cross the Missouri river for 
the purpose of marauding and destruction ; they will certainly be met 
if they do. I trust so dire a calamity will be averted. I am ready, 
if need be, to march every soldier in my command from North Mis- 
souri to the relief of Kansas, and to the Gulf if necessary. As I 
denounced and fought against the invasion of Kansas in 1856, as an 
outrage, so must I resist any invasion of Missouri for any illegal pur- 
poses. If they come to aid in maintaining the authority and laws of 
our glorious Government, 1 shall welcome them with fraternal hands. 

O. Guitar, 
Brigadier-General Commanding. 

The same day Guitar sent the following to Col. Williams at St. 
Joseph : — 

Macon, August 27, 1863. 

To Col. John F. Williams, /St. Joseph, Mo. — I have this moment 
received a dispatch from Gen. Ewing, advising me he believed 
an expedition was being fitted out at Leavenworth, to make a raid 
across the river into Missouri — such a movement must be promptly 
met and resisted. You had better, perhaps, send Maj. Garth down 
opposite Leavenworth with "Co. B," to keep a watch upon their 
movements. You will notify Capt. Garth at Liberty, to move with his 
company to Wyandotte. You will also notify your troops above St. 
Joseph, near the river, to be on the alert, and take such steps as will ' 
checkmate any movement in that direction. If men cross into Mis- 
souri to repeat the outrages which Quantrell and his murderers have 



240 • HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

just consummated in Kansas, no matter under what pretext, I want 
them met with " bloody hands." Keep me promptly advised of every 
hostile indication or movement. 

O. Guitar, 
Brigadier-General Commanding. 

It was about this time that Gen. Guitar wrote his celebrated " hell- 
and-the-irou-works " letter to his brother-in-law, Maj. Reeves Leon-, 
ai'd. This letter was dated at Macon, September 9, and was severe onthe 
Abolition Federal officers, and declared that runaway negroes were 
not to be received in Fedei'al camps. The letter closed with this par- 
agraph : — 

I write in haste, as I expect to go to St. Louis this evening to look 
after the Kansas invasion ; so you see, I am placed between hell and 
the iron-works, but thank God I am a free man, amenable to no power 
save the laws of my country and my God, and under no constraint, 
except to do right as I see it. Keep the Rebs. and Rads. straight. If 
our Kansas friends come over I will endeavor to give them such a i-e- 
ception as becomes a brave and hospitable people. 

the " PAW-PAW " MILITIA AND CERTAIN MILITARY INCIDENTS IN 1862-63. 

In the fall of 1863 Col. J. H. Moss received orders from Gen. 
Schofield, at St. Louis, to reorganize the militia of Clay and Platte 
counties. This he at once proceeded to do by organizing what came 
to be known as the Eighty-second Regiment of Enrolled Missouri 
Militia. This regiment and the Eighty-first, Col. John Scott, consti- 
tuted what was derisively called the "Paw-Paw" militia brigade. 
Many members of the regiment had been in the rebel or Confederate 
service, and it was said that some of them had the previous summer 
laid out in the paw-paw thickets of the Missouri bottoms to keep out 
of the way of the Federals, and when frost came lived mainly on the 
paw-paws I From these alleged circumstances the two regiments were 
called "Paw-Paws " or the " Paw-Paw Militia." 

The Radicals greatly disliked the Paw-Paws and wished to have 
them mustered out of service. The Legislature in January, 1864, ap- 
pointed a committee to investigate them, and this committee sum- 
moned before it several prominent Union men of this county to testify 
as to the character of the militia and to the general condition of affairs 
in Clay then and previously. Extracts from the sworn testimony of 
some of these persons l)eforc the committee might be inserted here, but 
the testimony of Col. Jas. H. Moss, given below, contains the mnin 



HISTORY OF CLAT COUNTY. 



241 



fticts in the testimony of all these men, so that is deemed imnecessaiy 
to enter into any repetition : — 

TESTIMONY OF COL. JAS. H. MOSS. 

Qties. by Mr. Davis. What was your reason for organizing the cit- 
izen militia, commonly stj'led the " Paw-paws? " Had you a com- 
mission for it? Ans. I had an order to that effect, being in command 
of a sub-district, as colonel of the Forty-eighth E. M. M. 

Q. What was the situation of the country at that time? A. The 
border was overrun with outlaws of all sorts ; busluvhackers, South- 
ern recrniting officers, thieves and robbers, without any regard to 
politics. In addition to local troubles of that sort, great excitement 
prevailed in the State of Kansas on account of the raid on Lawrence, 
and an invasion of the State was threatened by Gen. Lane. Gen. 
Ewing had telegraphed to Gen. Guitar, commanding district of North 
Missouri, that armed organizations were formed in Kansas for the pur- 
pose of invading North Missouri, and e.xpressed a doubt whether he 
would be able to control them, on account of the excitement prevail- 
ing in consequence of the Lawrence raid. I found the militia in 
service in a very demoralized and insubordinate condition. I 
found one portion of the county of Clay occupied by bushwhackers, 
Southern recruiting officers and robbers, and the other side hy outlaws 
from the State of Kansas. I found, when I took command, that an 
order had been given by the district commander for one company to 
take position on the west side of the county, towards Kansas. The 
comi)any which had been ordered to do this was in such a demoralized 
condition, that the officer in command gave it as his excuse for not 
complying with the order ; the men had declared to unite with the 
outlaws of Kansas, in case of emergency. I found that the citizens, 
loyal and disloyal, were disarmed, and all the citizens were at the 
mercy of these outlaws, rebels as well as loyal men. I found it would 
be impossible to I'elieve the country from these troubles, without call- 
ing on all the citizens to participate in the work, and co-o]iera.te 
with the military. The companies of militia then on duty in the 
county, were, with the exception of one company, strangers to the 
people and to the localities, wholly inefficient so far as rebel bush- 
whackers and outlaws were concerned, and were unwilling to make 
warfare on robbers and outlaws from Kansas. For the purpose of 
defeating any attempted invasion from Kansas, such as was threatened 
by Gen. Lane and predicted by Gen. Ewing, and for the purpose of 
ridding the county of the l)ushwhackers, thieves and outlaws, I called 
together the entire male po[)ulation of the county, and proposed to 
have companies organized in different parts of the county to hold 
themselves in readiness to answer any call for the defense of the county 
which I might make on them. 

I then proceeded at once to re-organize the E. M. M. of the county ; 
I organized two companies of the E. M. M. under the command of 
loyal officers, and armed them. I did not arm the companies of citi- 



242 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

zens, having had no occasion to call on them for repelling an invasion. 
In ten clays from the time of the organization, there were no outlaws 
left in the county. We caught a good many and turned them over to 
the civil authorities. On several occasions I made details from the 
companies of citizens, and placed them under the command of my 
officers, of the regularly enrolled companies of the E. ]\I. M. 

Of these captured outlaws there are men claiming to lielong to all 
political parties, hut about four-fifths of them are Southern bush- 
whackers, thieves and outlaws. In addition to these captures, I have' 
banished from the State a number of citizens that had connection with 
these outrages and outlaws. 

A further reason for reorganizing these companies of enrolled mil- 
itia, now called "Paw-paws," was, that my old regiment, the Forty- 
eighth, was virtually broken up ; some of the companies reduced down 
to 25 or 30 men, and some without officers. 

I enrolled three companies of E. M. M., and put two of them into 
service. 

The citizens were not organized by me direct ; they formed their 
organizations in the different neighborhoods by my direction, and 
under my authority, so as to be read}' when I should have occasion to 
call on them. The whole object of calling on the citizens en masse 
was to prevent an armed invasion from Kansas, and co-operate with 
the companies in active service in ridding the county of rebel bush- 
whackers and outlaws. One of the most desperate outlaws in Mis- 
souri was caught by us and is now in jail. 

Q. Did your men, the " Paw-paws," interfere with runaway slaves? 
A. Never. Orders were given to all the military in the State to have 
no connection with slaves, and this has been complied with. 

Q. Has your force interfered with the enrollment of slaves? A. 
They have not ; but, on the contrary, I recommended the enrolling 
officer, Lieut. Holmes, to Col. Broadhead, and have furnished him all 
the assistance in my power, in the way of protection and transporta- 
tion, purchased supplies and furnished him money out of my own 
purse to aid in recruiting. 

On one occasion there was a controversy between a recruited negro 
(belonging to a man by the name of Keller) and a citizen by the name 
of Cravens. Mr. C. owns a negro boy of about 14 years of age, who 
had been induced to go up to the recruiting office by the negro al- 
ready recruited. Cravens meeting this recruiting negro in the street, 
asked him why he was attempting to get that boy of his to enlist. 
The negro replied and denied that he had made the attempt ; Cravens 
replied : I saw you take him up into the recruiting office. The negro 
said: He ( Cravens) was a liar. Cravens knocked him down ; consid- 
erable excitement was occasioned, and the affair was immediately 
reported to my headquarters. I went down to the locality and or- 
dered the recruited negroes to be taken to their quarters, and gave 
instructions that there should be no acts of violence committed upon 
the recruits, and any such cases should be reported* to me imme- 
diately. 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 243 

The recruiting officer (Holmes) became alarmed, and without ap- 
plying to me, ordered some of my soldiers to guard his door. I un- 
derstand the men refused ; they were not subject to his orders, and 
had none from me. Some such language, it was repoi'ted, had been 
used by them. I saw the recruiting officer myself, and told him there 
should be no obstacles in his way ; and there has been no difficulty 
since. I believe he recruited some fifty negroes in one day, and sent 
them to the railroad. 

Q. What were the antecedents of Holmes? A. He was a Seces- 
sionist at the outset, said to have acted as Quartermaster to Thomp- 
son ; but he has been an enthusiastic Union man for some years, and 
calls himself a Radical now. 

Q. Do you know W. E. Rhea? A. I know him well. 

Q. What were his antecedents? A. He is a Union man and has 
been for two years — and a Radical Union man now; there is no 
question as to his loyalty now ; he started out on the wrong side, was 
in a rebel company just before Price's retreat from Lexington ; we 
got him out of the company, and he has been an exemplary Union 
man ever since. 

Q. Do you know Robert Fleming? A. Yes. He is a Union man, 
a Radical Union man, he calls himself. He has been a Union man 
for over two years. He was for a short time in a company of " State 
Guards," under Claib. F. Jackson. 

Q. Do you know Capt. Garth? A. Yes. He started out a rebel, 
but is now a good Union man, and has performed his duties in the 
militia veiy efficiently. 

Q. Who is Capt. Prixley? A. He was an officer in Price's army; 
I do not recollect when he came home. When I called on the citizens 
for assistance he offered his company of citizens to me, which I re- 
fused to accept, not wishing to have a man from Price's army com- 
manding a company. The company has been disbanded and has 
never been in service. 

Q. Has your force never interfered with runaway slaves? A. Two 
men from Jackson county had kidnaped a fugitive negro and brought 
him over to Clay county ; one of my officers, Capt. Thomason, re- 
ceived a line from Gen. Ewing stating the facts, whereupon my men 
arrested the kidnapers and the negro, and returned them to Kansas 
City. 

Q. Whiit is the character of the men in the Paw-paw companies as 
to loyalty? A. I will state that they are now, and during the entire 
term of their service have been, loyal ; some, in the early part of the 
rebellion, were disloyal, and connected themselves with the rebel ser- 
vice. The men all willingly and cheerfully took the oath of allegiance. 
I made them take an additional oath, to war upon Southern recruit- 
ing officers and bushwhackers ; they took the oath cheerfully and 
have conducted themselves in a manner which satisfied me of their 
sincerity. They have not only hunted bushwhackers and Southern 
rebels who were in arms, but they have reported acts of disloj'alty 
and disloyal language of citizens, who (the citizens) have been pun- 



244 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

ished by me in consequence thereof. I refer to the men I have in 
service and belong to my regiment. 

Q. What proportion of the men in the two companies of Clay 
connty have been in the rebel service? A. Each companj' has 85 
men ; my impression is that from 15 to 20 in each company are of that 
class. 

Q. Have any brigands or armed bands from Kansas invaded the 
Missouri border for plunder? A. Yes. There has been a system o£ 
plundering going on since the war commenced ; outlaws from Kansas 
and Missouri have carried on a partnership work of plundering, mur- 
dering, arson, robbery, etc., which has ended in the desolation of the 
border counties, on the south side of the river, down to Arkansas, 
and the loss of life and property on the north side of the river. 
That system was in full operation when I took command in Septem- 
ber last. The counties of Clay and Platte were being daily and 
nightly ravaged by armed men, white and black ; some of them in 
the garb of Federal soldiers. On one occasion after I took command, 
a squad of my men caught some of Gen. Ewiug's soldiers at night, 
committing depredations in my county, who were sent to the General's 
headquarters. Many other outrages and robberies were committed 
by soldiers ; one of the most extensive was by men under Capt. Ryan, 
of the Fourth M. S. M., on their way from Buchanan county; they 
stole horses, money and jewelry, from men and women they met on 
the road. 

Q. Have murders and robberies been committed by the enrolled 
militia previous to their disbanding? A. Not in my county; the 
companies I found in service in Platte and Clay, when I took com- 
mand, were favoring the system of plundering practiced by the Kan- 
sas outlaws, and refused to fight them. They openly refused to fight 
these outlaws, who came with impunity into these counties, night and 
day. 

NOVEMBER ELECTION 1863. 

At the general election in Missouri in November, 1863, but two 
tickets were voted for, both " Union," of course. One ticket, headed 
by Barton Bates, W. V. N. Bay and John D. S. Dryden, for Judges 
of the Supreme Court, was called the Conservative ticket, and was 
voted for generally by the Democrats ; the other, headed by H. H. 
A. Clover, Arnold Krekel and David Wagner, was denominated the 
Radical Republican or Charcoal ticket. This election is remarkable 
for being the first in Missouri at which, under a general law, the 
voting was by ballot and not vive voce. 

The vote in Clay county was more than twelve to one in favor of the 
Conservative candidates, as follows : — 

Conservatives — Bates, 1,328; Bay, 1,324; Dryden, 1,323. 
Radicals — Clover, 92; Krekel, 92; Wagner, 87. 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 245 

For circuit judge, Geo. W. Dunn, Conservative, received 1,220 
votes, and D. P. Whitmer, Radical, 148. 

" SONS OF MALTA." 

In the fall of 1863 the extraordinary order of " Sons of Malta," 
or as it was here called, " Knights of Palermo," had an organization 
or "council" in Liberty, with many members. This alleged " or- 
der " was a most stupendous and at the same time a most ludicrous 
and laughable humbug. It pretended to have a ritual, signs, grips, 
etc., similar to Freemasonry, but really was no order at all. The in- 
itiation was all there was of it. The poor candidates, unsuspicious 
and confiding, were always blindfolded and tied and then put through 
a series of practical jokes — tossed in a blanket, deluged with dirty 
water, made to assume a variety of ridiculous postures, etc., and 
finally were fearfully and ponderously armored, panoplied and equip- 
ped, led in front of a mirror and the bandages on their eyes removed. 

MURDERS COMMITTED. 

Up to the 1st of January, 1864, there had been eighteen citizens of 
the county murdered by the military forces of both sides. Four 
Union men had been killed by the bushwhackers, and the Federals 
had killed fourteen men of Confederate proclivities. Of the latter 
Penick's men killed six, enrolled and provisional militia six, and the 
Twenty-fifth Missouri Infantry two. 




CHAPTER X. 

DURING THE YEAR 1864. 

Jayhawker raid on Missouri City — Tiie Federal Draft — Busliwhacker's Raid — Fletch 
Taylors' First Raid, and Murder of Bond and Daily — He Kills the Bigelows — His 
Letter to Capt. Garth — His Skirmish on Fishing River with Capt. Kemper — Mis- 
cellaneous War Items — Ford's and Jennison's Visit which They were not Invited 
to Repeat — Bill Anderson — Other War Incidents — Census — Presidential Elec- 
tion. 

On the night of the 20th of Jiinunry, 18G4, a company of 40 thieves 
led by a man calling himself "Maj. Sanders," of Jennison's regi- 
ment of Kansas jayhawkers, crossed the river from Jackson county 
and captured Missouri City, then held by a small force of enrolled 
militia, under Capt. Geo. S. Story, of this county. Capt. Story was 
made prisoner and guarded, though in attempting an escape he was 
shot at. The robbers then plundered B. W. Nowlin's store of $2,000 
worth of goods and fled. 

In February the Federal draft caused no little disquietude in the 
county. Public meetiugs were held to encourage voluntary enlist- 
ments in the U. S. service, and the county court offered a bounty of 
$200 for each recruit so enlisting from this county. Under calls from 
the President previous to December 19, 1864, the full quota of men 
required from Clay had been 398, and the number furnished 407, 
making a surplus of 9. Under the call of December 19, 1864, the 
qut)ta was fixed at 98, and 47 were furnished, leaving a deficiency of 
51. 

Up to February 20, 1865, the county had paid in bounties the sum 
of $9,000. 

BUSHWHACKER RAIDS. 

In the early summer of 1864 bands of bushwhackers and guerrillas 
invaded Clay county and began operations. Many Clay county men 
Ijelonged to them, and they found numerous friends and sympathizers 
here who aided and abetted them when it was possible to do so with 
reasonable safety. The war had been in progress so long, and had 
been waged with such bitterness on the border of Missouri, that people 
had come to possess the most intense hatred and animosity on the sub- 
ject. Many Confederate sympathizers favored anything tliat would 
(246) 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 247 

injure the Fetleral Ciiuse, and as the bushwhackers chiiined to be 
fighting that cause exclusively, and did really fight the military repre- 
sentatives occasionally, it was deemed proper to aid them by at least 
feeding them, sheltering them, giving them information, etc. On the 
other hand some of the Unionists deemed it possible and laudable to 
kill " rebels " at all times and under all circumstances, and aided all 
bodies of troops that were pro-United States and anti-Confederate. 

About the 1st of June four bushwhackers — said to have been Chas. 
F. Taylor, Arch. Clements, Peyton Long and James Bissett — drew 
the first blood in Clay county. Long and Bissett had their homes 
here. Chas. F. Taylor (or " Fletch " Taylor, as he is commonly 
called) was from Lidependence, and Clements, the cruelest, most 
desperate guerrilla of the war, was from Johnson county. Fletch. 
Taylor was the leader. June 5 these four, all dressed in Federal uni- 
form, came to the house of Bradley Y. Bond, a quiet, reputal)le citi- 
zen of this county, called him out and shot him. Mr. Bond had been 
in the Federal service in 1862, but was taken prisoner at Lone Jack, 
paroled, and had been at home subsequently. 

The next day the same men, with one or two recruits, went to the 
house of Alvis Dailey, called him out of the field where he was at 
work, marched him before thein, and as he was crossing a pair of bars 
shot him dead. Mr. Dailey was about 23 years of age, and had been 
a member of Capt. Garth's company of militia. The bushwhackers 
went to the house and said to the family that they had killed Dailey, 
and the one who claimed that he did the shooting said he had done it 
because Dailey belonged to the squad that killed Park Donovan, 
another bushwhacker, in the night fight the year before. 

Now began that series of frightful scenes that occurred in Clay 
county in the summer and fall of 1864 when murders and killings were 
numerous, and robberies, plunderings and thefts were of such frequent 
occurrences as not to be mentioned, except as matters of course and of 
small consequence. Men were slain before the eyes of their wives and 
children, or else shot down without mercy by the roadside and their 
bodies left to fester and corrupt in the sun. Property was taken and 
destroyed on every hand, business of all kinds was prostrated, values 
were unsettled, everything was disturbed. Many people left the 
county, or had left, for the gold mines of jNIontana and Idaho ; others 
went to Iowa and Nebraska for safet}', others fled they knew not 
whither. 

Vcu'iiy, those who had clamored so loudly for war in the beginning, 
and would be satisfied at naught else, should iiave listened to the lu- 
ll 



248 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

junction of good old Chaucer who, 500 years before, had said of war 
(or " werre ") in his quaint old Saxon : — 

Ther is ful many a man that crieth " werre ! werre ! " that wot ful 
litel what werre amounteth. Werre, at his beginning, hath so greet 
an entre and so large, that every wight may entre whan him liketh 
and lightly finde werre : but what ende schal falle thereof it is not 
lightl}' to know. For sothly whan that werre is oones bygonne, ther 
is ful many a child unbore of his mooder that schal sterve 3'ong, by- 
cause thilke werre, or elles live in sorwe and die in wrecchidnes; and 
therefore, er that eny werre be Ijygonne, men mosti have gret coun- 
seil and gret deliberacioun. 

The bushwhackers swarmed through the county, crossing back and 
forth from Jackson when they pleased, and roaming where they listed. 
A negro, belonging to Abijah Withers, was shot by them in cold 
blood near Beauchamp's farm, south of Liberty. He was returning 
from town where he had sold a load of wood, and was shot, as al- 
leged, " for fun." 

Stables were robbed everywhere. In certain neighborhoods, the 
farmers slept in their barns and horse lots, thoroughl}- armed, and 
carefully guarding their horses. Money and other valuables were hid- 
den away. Quite often the bushwhackers robbed Southern men as 
readily as " Feds.," one man's money being considered as good as 
another's. 

June 15, George Shepherd and six other Jackson county bush- 
whackers rode into Missouri City, Ijut did no damage. Other bands 
bore were not harmless. 

During the last week in June Fletch. Taylor's band, numbering now 
it is said 40 or 50 men, killed two men, Simeon G. Bigelow and John 
Bigelow, brothers and Union men, living in the northeastern part of 
the county. The Bigelows were Union men, and had come originally 
from one of the Northern States. Two years before the}' had be- 
longed to Col. Moss' regiment of militia. The next day Bishop 
Bailey, another Union man, and a citizen of Sniithville, was killed b}' 
Taylor's band, while on the road from Sniithville to Liberty and four 
or five miles from home. 

A day or two before the killing of these the Federals had killed a 
Mr. Smith, of Fishing Itiver township, and left his body lying in the 
road, some miles north of Liberty. David Coifman, a bushwhacker, 
had been killed in the southern part of Clinton. He and a comrade 
named Davis came to Jeff. Pryor's and demanded horses and money. 
A few hours afterward he was overtaken in a lane near a Mr. Smith's, 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 



249 



on the road between Ha3nie.sville and Phittsburg, and killed l)y asquad 
led by a son of Mr. Pryor. Davis jumped his horse over a fence and 
escaped, but Coffnian's horse, which belonged to Ambrose Stone, 
€ould not make the jump. 

A short time after the killing of the brothers Bigelow and Bailey, 
Fletch. Taylor sent the following letter to Capt. Kemper, in Lib- 
erty : — 

To Capt. Kemper, Commanding Post at Liberty : 

Sir — In accordance with promises I made to Mr. Gosnoy, one of 
the peace committee, in relation to leaving Clay county, if the Radi- 
cals would also leave (which, I believe, was the understanding), I got 
my men together and proceeded toward Clinton county, and had got 
there when I heard about CotTnian being killed. I immediately re- 
turned to avenge his death, and I did l)y killing the two Bigelows. I 
then started for Platte with some of my men, intending to stay out of 
these counties according to promises ; but hearing of one of my men 
being killed, I have come again to avenge his death — and I ivill do it. 
You now know why I returned, and I am going to stay here until the 
Radicals all leave this county ; and furthermore, I am going to tight 
all soldiers sent after me if they fall in my way. Sir, if you wish the 
peace of Clay county, you will use all your influence in keeping the 
Radicals out of here. And furthermore, I have found out that there 
has been citizens interrupted, imprisoned and driven from their homes, 
which is calculated to ruin this county more than any thing else ; for 
if the citizens are to be sufferers by you, I will make the Union party 
Slitter as much, if not more — for by your interrujition of them it re- 
cruits my company — whereas, if you and I would let them alone, we 
could fight one another, and we will be fighting men who have put 
themselves out for that purpose, and not fight the unsusi)ected citi- 
zen who is not in arms and deserving the fate which you wish to bring 
on hivTi and his family. 

Now, sir; in conclusion, I will let you understaud what I am going 
to do : I want peace, if it can be gained by honorable terms — and you 
can give it to the citizens or not. In the first place, if the Federals 
leave this county, I will leave also ; but if they stay, I will be about, 
and if you don't interrupt the citizens, I will be equally as kind. I 
will carry war on as you carry it on. You can't drive me out of this 
county. I will await your actions. You can make peace or war — I 
will leave it to your choice. If I find that you are warring on the 
citizens, so l)e it; I loill retaliate — if you fight me alone, I will return 
the compliment. Your actions shall be my answer, or answer as you 
want. I remain, sir, yours, 

CiiAs. F. Taylor, 
Captain Commanding the Country. 
To Capt. Kemper. 

Commandino' the Town. 



250 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

The Bigelow brothers were killed only after a desperate resistance. 
Cornered in their house they refused to surrender and fouj^ht to the 
last as best they could. When their guns were empty they seized 
pieces of furniture and struck at their assailants until shot down. It 
is said that in this tiglit Jesse James, then a newly recruited member 
of Taylor's company, had his finger shot off. 

SKIRMISH ON riSHING RIVER. 

On Saturday, July 2, 18(J4, Capt. B. W. Kemper, of Co. C, 
Ninth M. S. M., who had been in command of the post at Liberty 
for some weeks, set out into the country after the bushwhackers. 
He struck straight for the Fishing river country, a locality rough, 
broken into hills, hollows and defiles by the river and its numerous 
little branches, and withal wooded and timbered — a favoril^ place for 
the " knights of the brush." 

At first Kemper had a considerable detachment, but this he divided 
into three or four squads, the more eft'ectually to scour the countr}'. 
Sunday night a shower fell, and Monday morning a trail showing that 
a considerable number of bushwhackers had passed was struck by 
Kemper's party of about thirty men, and they followed it hard and 
fast. 

A short distance below the ford over Fishing river, where the road 
leading from Liberty to the old Laidlaw farm crossed, a high, over- 
hanging bank caused by a sharp curve in the stream overlooked and 
commanded tke crossing. Upon and behind this bank at)()ut twenty- 
five guerrillas, under Fletch. Taylor, were in ambush awaiting their 
enemies. Unconscious of immediate danger the Federals rode into 
the ford and halted to allow the horses to drink. Immediately the 
l)ushwhackers from their place of concealment opened at almost point 
blank range a withering fire on the soldiers, who, surprised and ter- 
rorized no doubt, wheeled about in disorder and fled. 

Two Federals were killed. Sergt. J. W. Kirby was killed instantly, 
and Private James Colston died in an hour. Capt. Kemper himself 
was severely wounded in the leg; Corporal John R. Kuberson was 

severely, and Private Colston slightly wounded. The bodies of 

the two killed were buried at Liberty the next day. The bushwhack- 
ers did not lose a man. 

MISCELLANEOUS WAR ITEMS. 

On the 28th of June Capt. John S. Thomason had reorganized his 
company of militia, which with Garth's and Younger's, and Capt. 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 251 

Kemper's Ninth M. S. M., composed the only Federal troops in the 
county. Cupt. Story's company had been disbanded in March. Gen. 
Roscrans issued order No. 107, allowing the people in districts where 
the bushwhackers were numerous to organize companies for protec- 
tion and defense. Amass meeting was held at Liberty, July 11, and 
tittended by all parties, for even many of Confederate proclivities were 
opposed to bushwhacking. It was determined to keep cue or two 
companies of militia composed of citizens of the county constantly in 
service. 

July 20, another very large mass meeting composed of 1,500 citi- 
zens from all parts of the county was held in Liberty, and the follow- 
ing resolution was one of many otiiers adopted : — 

Fourth. That guerrillas — whatever the name they assume — and 
bushwhackers are the I'avenous monsters of society, and their speedy 
and utter extermination siiould be souglit l)y all brave and honorable 
men — and that all who knowingly and willingly sympathize with, 
hari)or, conceal, assist and feed them should be uniformly and rigidly 
held accountable and punished in accordance with the laws of war 
among civilized nations ; and we hereby distinctly, respectfully and 
emphatically protest against the action of the assistant provost mar- 
shals and others in authority in turning loose upon this and other 
communities men whose [)revious outrages and disloyal conduct called 
for a proi)er and salutary measure of punishment, many of whom have 
gone to the ])rush and are now fighting against the government and 
against their [leaccable and loyal neighbors. 

July 12, four or five of Catherwood's disbanded men, or men on 
furlough, had an encounter with about the same number of Capt. 
Thomason's company of militia in Centerville (now Kearney). Thom- 
ason's men were in a house when Catherwood's came up and fired on 
them. The Clay county men ran out and returned the fire, Cather- 
wood's galloped off; Thomason's men followed them and killed one 
and wounded another. 

Before Kemper's company left, Lieut. C. H. Gordon, its second 
lieutenant (now prosecuting attorney of Boone county), had a skirmish 
on Clear creek with two small companies of bushwhackers, Peyton 
Long's and Nin. Litton's. One of the hitter's scjuad, James Justus, 
was killed. 

July 15, 1864, Col. J. H. Ford, of the Second Colorado cavalry, 
was sent into this county at the head of a body of 300 Federal troops, 
consisting of detachments of the Second Colorado, Ninth Missouri 
State militia, and Jennison's Sixteenth Kansas. Ford marched 
straight for Liberty and encamped. His troops, or at least the Colo- 



252 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

rado men and the Kansas, turned themselves loose upon the citizens 
and committed the wildest excesses. The Kansas men were especially 
bad. They stole whatever they could, and openly plundered hen- 
coops, pig-pens and smoke-houses, and abused the citizens with the 
foulest language. In Liberty many of them robbed the merchants of 
considerable amounts of goods. The next day Ford issued the follow- 
ing order in regard to all this robbing and stealing : — 

Headquaktees, Ford's Brigade, Liberty, July 16, 1864. 
General Orders.] 

The colonel commanding desires to remind the officers and soldiers 
of his command that stealing, robbing and pillaging from the citizens 
of these counties must not be allowed. You are soldiers engaged in 
upholding the laws of your country, and protecting the lives and 
property of loyal citizens, and your conduct should be such as to in- 
spire the belief that your object in visiting this country is not to 
destroy but to save. Battalion and company commanders will see 
that all such breaches of discipline are promptly and strictly pun- 
ished. By order of James H. Ford, 

EobertS. Eoe, Colonel Commanding. 

Lieut, and A. A. A. G. 

Fortunately the Coloradoans and Kansans did not remain long in 
the county. They left in three days, to everybody's joy. Between 
them and the bushwhackers it was six of one and half a dozen of the 
other. 

On the 10th of August a Mr. Columbus Whitlock, who lived in the 
northern part of the county, and was considered a harmless, inoffen- 
sive Union man, was murdered by the bushwhackers. He was on his 
way to Smithville for a physician to attend his sick mother, when the 
bushwhackers caught him at Bill Hall's, took him with them to a 
point on Wilkinson's creek, within a mile of Smithville, and there shot 
him to death and stripped the body of a portion of the clothing. 
Three days before Mr. Whitlock had married a Miss Angeline Cox, of 
Platte county. He was buried at Mrs. Rollins'. 

About the 10th of August the noted guerrilla Bill Anderson came 
into the county from a successful raid as far east as Shelbina, Shelby 
county. He had but a dozen men left, however, out of twenty-five, 
although not all had been killed. Instantly four or five little bush- 
whacking bands ran out of their coverts and joined the noted leader, 
who soon had a company of sixty-five men. At Mr. Creek's, in the 
eastern pai"t of the county, a reorganization was effected, and Ander- 
son given command. 

About the 11th of August this company started eastward towards 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 253 

Ray and Carroll to fonn a junction with some Confederate recruits 
under Col. J. C. C. Thornton (" Coon " Thornton) and a force of 
bushwhackers under George Todd and John Thrail. The lirst day 
out a squad of militia from a company stationed at Fredericksburg, 
Ray county, was struck at Mr. Ford's, two miles east of Prathcrs- 
ville, and chased to their quarters. 

Capt. Patton Colly, of Ray, who commanded the company of mili- 
tia referred to (Co. E, Fifty-first E. M. M.), set out at once at 
the head of not more than thirty men. Anderson, after the first en- 
counter, moved eastward until he struck the county line, when he 
moved down the road along the line a little over a mile on the farm of 
Mrs. Summers and went into ambush, leaving a rear guard behind to 
give him warning if the Federals should follow him, as he expected 
they would. 

Within an hour or two Colly came up and at once proceeded to de- 
liver battle. He attacked the rear guard and drove it, and Anderson 
then came forward and decided the fight very shortly. The Federals 
were routed and driven off in a hurry. Anderson himself killed Capt. 
Colly,' shooting him out of his saddle with a dragoon revolver. Two 
other members of Coll3'^'s company, named George Odell and Piiilip 
Sigel, were killed in the fight. 

A short time before the fight came off Anderson's men had cap- 
tured two members of Colly's company, Smith Hutchings and John 
Hutchings, who lived in the southeastern part of the county, and were 
returning to their companj' from a visit to their homes when captured. 
When the firing began Anderson killed these two at once, without 
mercy, and it is said that after the fight their bodies were mutilated. 

In response to repeated calls for reinforcements. Gen. Fisk, in 
command of this district, sent Col. E. C. Catherwood with several 
companies of troops into this county. Catherwood's old regiment, 
the Sixth M. S. M., had been partly disbanded, and he had entered 
the U. S. service and was recruiting a regiment which was known as 
the Thirteenth Missouri Cavalry. Catherwood relieved Capt Kemper, 
who left the county with his company August 9, for Parkville. Cath- 
erwood arrived at Liberty August 3, and encamped in Steven's pas- 
ture. 

Learning of the fight and death of Capt. Colly, Capt. Catherwood 
led a strong force after the guerrillas, too late to accomplish anything. 



1 According to the testimony of Niiiian Letton, now City Marshal of Liljerty, who 
was present as a member of Anderson's company, and says he saw the shoe fired. 



254 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

He followed into Ray county and turned back. Here the pursuit had 
been taken up by Capt. Clayton TiflUn with a company of militia, and 
he was joined by Capt. Calvert's company, and the two, on the 14th, 
fought a severe skirmish with Anderson on the Wakenda, in Carroll, 
losing ten men killed, while Anderson lost but one killed. 

In the first week of September, and up to the 15th, a considerable 
force of guerrillas under Todd and Thrailkill operated in portions of 
Clay, Platte, Clinton, Caldwell and Ray counties, before starting for' 
Boone and Howard. About the 15th the}' passed through the eastern 
portion of Clay, and Garth's and Younger's companies of home 
militia and some of Catherwood's men were sent after them. 

After Bill Anderson was killed, October 27, 1864, many of his com- 
pany deserted and some made their way into Clay, where forming 
into small squads, they continued to disturb the quiet of the country. 

Sunday, November 13, a band of bushwhackers tired on some mil- 
itia who were in the door-yard of Lieut. Smith, in the northern part 
of the county. Lieut. Smith and his little son were severely wounded. 
The militia returned the fire and the bushwhackers left. Eight days 
later — or, to be exact, on the night of the 21st — a band of them 
went to the arsenal, south of Liberty, and forced Maj. Grant to give 
them his uniform. The next morning, Lieut. Rhea, with a detach- 
ment of Catherwood's regiment, surprised five of the band in a house 
in the bottom, five miles below the arsenal. The bushwhackers I'e- 
treated with one of their number wounded and leaving three saddles. 
One Fedei'al was mortally wounded, dying the next day. 

During the Price raid, in the latter part of OctoI)er, and while the 
battles of Independence, Little Blue, and Westport were in progress, 
the excitement and alarm in this county were intense. Many of Con- 
federate sympathies hoped that Gen. Price would defeat the Federals 
and cross the river and wrest the county from the Federals. The 
militia of the county were on the qui vive constantly, watching the 
fords or crossings, and guarding the towns. In Liberty the "curb- 
stone brigade," an improvised company of militia, was called out on 
two occasions when the alarm was given that the raiders were coming. 

But Gen. Price was defeated at Westport and on the Little Blue 
;ind turned southward, and soon after his entire command was disas- 
trounly defeated, Gens. Martnaduke and Cabell and 1,500 men taken 
prisoners, and then his retreat became a straggling disordered rout 
into Texas, his train destroyed, his men starving, and his army saved 
from annihilation onh' l)y the hard fighting of Gen. Jo. Shcli)y'8 di- 
vision at Newtonia. Then the hearts of our people of Confederate 



HISTORY OF CLAV COUNTY. 255 

sympathies sank low and only the most sanguine among them had 
hopes of the triumph of their cause ever afterward. 

CENSUS OF 1864. 

A census taken in December, 1864, showed the total white popula- 
tion of the county to be 9,421, of which 4,671 were males and 4,740 
females, showing a preponderance of females at that time owing to 
the absence of so many men in the war or in Montana and Idaho. The 
total number of slaves was 1,756, of whom 1,013 were females; free 
colored, 58. Total population, 11,235. 

THE POLITICAL CANVASS OF 1864. 

Amid all the turmoil of war, the political canvass of 1864 went on 
about as usual. Gen. George B. McClellan and Hon. George H. 
Pendleton were the national candidates of the Democratic party, and 
Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson, the nominees of the Repub- 
licans. For Lieutenant-Governor on the Democrat ticket, with Gen. 
Thos. L. Price for Governor, was Hon. Luke W. Burris, of Clay. 
This fact gave the canvass something of interest to our people. Bur- 
ris had been a Whig, but was now a cordial supporter of the Demo- 
crat party and policy, for Whigism was no more. 

A short time before the election, during the Price invasion, when 
the Confederates had advanced as far as Lexington, Mr. Burris and 
Gen. Tom Price addressed a large audience composed very largely of 
soldiei-s and militia, whose presence and whose half-uttered thi'eats to 
suppress the meeting did not prevent the speakers from uttering their 
sentiments — "Copperhead" sentiments although they were called. 

The result in this county of the November election was as follows, 
the Democrats carrying the county by a large majority : — 

President — McClellan, 777; Lincoln, 206. 

Congress — E. H. Norton (Deni.), 635; R. T. Van Horn (Rep.), 
157; Austin A. King(Dem.), 111. 

Governor— Thomas L. Price, 786 ; Thos. C. Fletcher (Rep.), 195. 
• Convention — Against, 766 ; for 169. 

Representative — Thomas C. Gordon (Dem.), 747; J. M. Jones 
(Rep.), 140. 

Sheriff— F. R. Long, 232; Darius Gittings, 488; S. S. Clack, 
134. 

Assessor — T. R. Dale, no opposition. 



C H A P T E K XI. 

SOME LEADING INCIDENTS FROM 1865 TO 1885. 

Miscellaneous Military Incidents in 1865 — Tlie Last of the Busliwliackers — Surren- 
der of on. Shepherd's Band — The Drake Constitution — Robbing of the Clay 
County Savings Bank — Political Canvasses — The Eailroads of Clay County — 
Hanging of Sam Walker — Census Statistics — The James Brothers. 

In January, 1865, a band of bushwhackers from Jackson county 
kept the county in a constant state of disquietude by their predatoiy 
operations against the people. This band was led by " Wild Bill," 
a desperado who aped the character of Andersou in some respects and 
imitated the practices of Jennison in others. 

About the 1st of January, " Bill " and his baud robbed a Mr. 
Stone of what pleased them, shot at him and abused him and his 
wife, then went to A. Withers', in the bottom, and took a horse and 
some clothing. From here they visited other houses in the neighbor- 
hood robbing and plundering, finally retiring to their lair in the Sni 
hills over in Jackson. Three weeks afterwards they robbed the mail 
three miles below Richfield. A company of militia went out from 
Liberty after them, skirmished with them and drove them back into 
Jackson. 

A battalion of the Third Missouri State Militia, under Maj. Angus 
Bartlett, was stationed in the county during the winter months. In 
April, under the militia law, a company of militia was organized in 
the county with John W. Younger as captain, and Ben. Cooper and 
David Smith as lieutenants. 

In February, the following families in this county were served with 
notices of banishment from the county for " treason and notoriously 
disloyal practices," said the order; John Ecton's, Dr. Reuben Sam- 
uels', Mrs. J. H. Ford's, Wesley Martin's, Mrs. Rupe's and Kemp M.. 
Wood's. The sentence of banishment against Mrs. Winfrey E. Price 
was revoked by Maj. Bartlett. 

On the 29th of March, Wm. T. Reynolds, a prominent merchant of 
Liberty, and well known as a Union man, having served in the militia 
under Col. Moss, was shot in his store by a Federal soldier, and died 
from the wound April 20. 

March 30 a skirmish occurred in the northern part of the county 
(256) 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 257 

between Oil. Shepherd's band of a dozen bushwhackers and a com- 
pany of citizens organized as militia. Shepherd's baud was routed 
at the residence of Mrs. Fox and pursued some distance. Two of the 
bushwhackers were killed — Alexander Dever and his brother Arthur. 
The militia lost none. The Devers were both buried in one grave. 

The news of the surrender of Gen. Lee and his army to Gen. Grant 
at Appomattox caused the hearts of the Southern sympathizers of this 
county to sink heavy within their bosoms. It was now evident that a 
bad investment had been make when stock was taken in the Confed- 
eracy, for it was clearly apparent that defeat, utter, complete and 
overwhelming, would soon overtake the cause of those who followed 
the stars and bars. The Confederate people of the county became 
resigned to the inevitable, and waited patiently for the end. 

The news of the assassination of President Lincoln was received in 
Clay county with general regret. In Liberty the stores were closed, 
the town generally draped in mourning, and a large public meeting 
held to give expression to the prevailing sentiment of sorrow. A com- 
mittee composed of A. J. Calhoun, F. Givinner, S. H. Hardwickand 
John Broadhurst reported a series of resolutions deploring the death 
of the President as a " great national calamity," condemning the act 
itself, and declaring that " under any circumstances we are devoted 
to the flag of our country." 

THE LAST OF THE BUSHWHACKERS. 

Sunday, May 28, the remnants of Oil. Shepherd's band of bush- 
whackers, which had been operating in various portions of the county 
for some time, came in and surrendered to Lieut. Benj. Cooper, of 
Capt. Younger's company of militia. The band numbered but five, 
as follows: Oil. Shepherd, captain; " Ling" Letton, James Corum, 
Alfred Corum and Milton Dryden. Previous to the surrender the 
following correspondence passed between Shepherd and the militia 
officers : — 

May 25, 1865. 

Capt. Younger, Sir: — I understand that peace is made. Myself 
and my little band, wishing to quit fighting and obey the laws of the 
country, 1 will send you these few lines to show you the terms that we 
are willing to surrender on : we must keep our side arms — for you 
know we have personal enemies that would kill us at the first oppor- 
tunity. We have three revolvers that we captured from your men, 
whicli, if they belong to your company, we are willing to give up if 
you require it. I also have horses in my outfit that belongs to citi- 
zens of this county, that we are willing to return to their proper own- 



258 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

ers,for we did not take them for our profit — we took them to save 
our lives. I have a horse that I rode from Texas, that there is no 
use in a man talking about me giving up. When my men surrender, 
they expect to leave the State. 

Now, Capt. Younger, these words I write in earnest ; there will be 
uo use in talking about myself and band coming to Liberty if you 
don't allow us our side arms, and give us an honorable parole. We 
are willing to blot out the past and begin anew. If I come to Liberty, 
will let you know distinctly that I and my men intend to behave our-' 
selves, and not throw out any insinuations nor insults to soldiers nor 
citizens, nor we don't intend to take any from them. Understand 
me, we blot all out and begin anew. Now, sir, Capt. Younger, if you 
wish peace and prosperity in this county, you will accept these prop- 
ositions. Drop me a few lines in answer to this. Yours, respectfully, 

Oliver Shepherd, Captain. 

To Capt. John Younger. 

Headquarters, Post of Richfield, 

Richfield, Mo., May 25, 1865 
Mr. Shepherd — Sir: I have just received a letter from you in 
which you state you are desirous of surrendering your forces. Sir, 
in reply to your proposition, I will say that the terms upon which you 
are willing to surrender can not be accepted by me. You wish to 
retain your arms — this you cannot be permitted to do under any 
circumstances. If I accept your surrender it must be upon the same 
terms that others of your "profession" are being accepted; upon 
which is a return of all arms and other property which may have been 
taken by you during your operations, and stU arms which you may 
have had before, or which you may now have in your possession. 
With this, sir, I will close. Yours, etc., 

B. F. Cooper, 
First-Lieutenant, Capt. Younger's Company, commanding Post. 

Liberty, May 26, 1865. 
Oliver Shepherd, James Corutn, Alfred Oorum, James Dever and 
others — Understanding from Tilman Bush that you have expressed a 
desire to surrender to the military authorities here, if such terms as 
you wish were granted yon, I have but to say that your surrender 
must be unconditional. You will be required to give up A'our horses, 
arms and military equipment of every description, and upon doing so 
you will be guaranteed militar}' protection, but you are not to suppose 
that you will be shielded from the civil law if it should be enforced 
against you for any ofl'enses you have committed. I have no power 
nor disposition to assure you of such immunity, and it would mani- 
festly be wrong to do so. David Smith, 

Lieutenant Commanding. 

The bushwhackers surrendered their horses and arms, notwith- 
standing Shepherd's assertion that there was " no use in talking " in 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 259 

regard to surrendering the latter. It is said, liowever, that some of 
the men hid two or more revolvers each before coming to town. 
Lieut. Cooper was faithful to his word, and protected his prisoners 
from some of the county militia who threatened to kill them. All of 
the bushwhackers left the county, for a time at least. Oil. 'Shepherd 
was killed by a vigilance committee in Jackson county, in 1868. 
" Ning " or " Ling " Letton is the present city marshal of Liberty, a 
reputable citizen, a worthy and faithful official, and since his surrender 
universally respected. 

Under the "ousting ordinance" of the Drake constitution Gov. 
Fletcher, in May, removed the then county officers and appointed in 
their places James Love, circuit clerk, i)/ce A. J. Calhoun, removed; 
county clerk, William Brining, vice E. D. Murray, removed ; sheriff, 
James M. Jones, vice Darius Gittings, removed ; comity court justices, 
Joseph T. Field, John Chrisman, and Milliner Haynes, vice Alvah 
Maret, Isaac Wood and James M. Jones. 

VOTE ON THE DRAKE CONSTITUTION, JUNE 6, 1865. 

Townships. For. Against. 

Liberty 31 528 

Fishiag River 25 102 

Washington 1 121 

Platte 33 26 

Gallatin . . 113 

Total 90 890 

Majority against the constitution, 800. 

ROBBERY OF THE CLAY COUNTY SAVINGS BANK. 

On Tuesday, February 13, 1866, the bank of the Clay County Sav- 
ings Association, at Liberty, was robbed of about $60,000 by a band 
of brigands, presumably from Jackson county, although it has since 
l)een ascertained that some of the members resided in Clay. At the 
same time, and incident to the robbery, a young man named George 
Wymore, a student on his way to a school, was without any sort of 
l)rovocation whatever, inhumanly and mercilessly shot down by the 
robbers and instantly killed. The following account of the afl'air was 
given by the Tribune of February 16, 1866: — 

Our usually quiet city was startled last Tuesday by one of the most 
cold-blooded murders and heavy rol)l)eries on record. It appears that 
in the afternoon some ten or twelve persons rode into town, and two 
ot tlicni went into the Cla}^ County Savings Bank, and asked the clerk 
(Mr. Wm. Bird) to change a ten dollar bill, and as he started to do 
so, they drew their revolvers on him and his father, Mr. Greenup 



260 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

Bird, the cashier, and made them stand quiet while they pi'oceeded to 
rob the bank. After having obtained what they supposed was all, 
they put the clerk and cashier in tiie vault, and no doubt thought they 
had locked the door, and went out with their stolen treasure, mounted 
their horses and were joined by the balance of their gang and com- 
menced shooting. Mr. S. H. Holmes had two shots fired at him, and 
young Geo. Wymore, aged about 19 years (son of Wm. H. Wymore), 
one of the most peaceable and promising young men in the county, 
was shot and killed while standing on the opposite side of the street 
at the corner of the old Green house. The killing was a deliberate 
murder without any provocation whatever, for neither young Mr. Wy- 
more, nor any of the citizens of town, previous to the shooting, knew 
anything of what had taken place. Indeed, so quiet had the matter 
been managed, if the robbers had succeeded in loclving the bank vault 
on the clerk and cashier, and had retired quietly, it would likelj' have 
been some time before the robbei'y would have been discovered. 

The town was soon all excitement, and as many as could prscure 
arms and horses went in pursuit, but up to this writing nothing is 
known of the result. Our citizens exhibited a commendable willing- 
ness to do all they could to assist in the capture of the robbers and 
their booty. 

Thus has our city and people been grossh^ outraged by a band of 
thieves and murderers, and that, too, when the people thought they 
were in possession of permanent peace ; and a worthy young man 
murdered, one of our most successful and abl}' managed monied insti- 
tutions, and many private individuals, have been heavy losers. We 
hope to God, the villians may be overhauled, and brought to the end 
of a rope. Indeed, we can not believe they will escape. 

The murderers and robbers are believed l)y many citizens, and the 
officers of the bank, to be a gang of old bushwiiacking desperadoes 
who stay mostly in Jackson county. But it makes no difference who 
they are, or what they claim to be, they should be swung up in the 
most summary manner. Bobbing and nmrdering must l)e stopped, 
and if it I'equires severe medicine to do it, so be it. Desperate cases 
require desperate remedies ; and we believe our people are in a humor 
to make short work of such characters in the future. The people of 
Clay county want peace and safety and they are going to have it. 

The robbers obtained about $60,000 in gold, currency and 7 :30 U. 
S. bonds ; — about $45,000 of the amount was in 7 :30's. 

The Clay County Savings Association issued hand-bills, which were 
sent throughout the county, and of which the following is a copv : — 

§5,000 Reward. 

The Clay Countv Savings Association, at Libertv, Mo., was robbed 
on the LStiiinst., of SIXTY THOUSAND DOLLARS, by a band of 
bushwhackers, who reside chiellv in Clay county, and have their ren- 
dezvous on or near the Missouri river, above Sibley, in. Jackson county. 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 261 

The sum of FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS will be paid by the As- 
sociation for the recovery of the stolen money or in that porportiou 
for the sum recovered. Every citizen, who values his life or property, 
will be expected to give his aid in capturing the thieves, as they are 
thoroughly organized and will no doubt continue to depredate on life 
and property, as they did here yesterday. Done by order of the 
Board of Directors. 

James Love, Pres't. 
February 14, ISGt!. 

A heavy snow fell within a few hours after the robbery, covering up 
the tracks of the robbers completely, and rendering it impossible to 
follow their trail far. It was learned positively, however, that they 
crossed the river into Jackson county and scattered themselves through 
the " Cracker's Neck " region and amid the almost impenetrable fast- 
ness of the Sni hills. It was almost wholly a matter of conjecture 
who they were ; onfe man who met them declared he knew some of 
them, but afterward he refused to swear to his statement. This was in 
all probability really the heaviest bank robbing that occurred during 
the " reign of the robbers," in Missouri, Iowa and Kentucky, from 
1866 to 1881. Despite assertions in sensational publications to the 
contrary, it is quite certain that no other hank was ever roblied by the 
Missouri bandits of so large a sum as even $50,000. 

The robbery caused the temporary suspension of the savings bank, 
l)ut the officers finally settled with their creditors by paying 60 cents 
on the dollar, a settlement that was satisfactory to all. 

In August, 1866, one J. C. Couch, of Gentry county, was exam- 
ined before a magistrate under a suspicion that he was one of the rob- 
bers, but he was discharged. A fellow named Joab Perry, who was 
lying in Independence jail on another charge, was taken out by the 
Clay county officials and brought across the river for examination, 
but escaped from custody and was never afterward arrested. 

POLITICAL. 

At the Presidential election, 1868, the vote in Clay county stood : 
Seymour, Democrat, 313; Grant, Eepublican, 291. For Governor — 
John S. Phelps, Democrat, 320 ; Joseph William McClurg, Republican, 
284. For Congress — Gen. James H. Shields, Democrat, 319 ; R. T. 
Van Horn, Republican, 286. 

In 1870, wiien the question of i-e-enfranchising the ex-Confederate 
sympathizers was before the people, and the candidates for Governor 
were B. Gratz Brown, Liiieral Republican, T. W. McClurg, Radical 
Republican, the total number of registered voters in the county was 955. 



262 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

The vote stood : Brown, 625; McClurg, 245. For the enfranchising 
amendments to the constitntion, 838; against, 17. 

In 1872 the vote was: For President — Greeley, Democratic and 
Liberal Republican candidate, 2,207 ; Grant, Eepublican, 528 ; Charles 
O'Conor, "straight" Democrat, 27. For Governor — Silas Wood- 
son, Democrat, 2,472 ; John B. Henderson, Republican, 527. For 
Congress — A. S. Comings, Democrat, 2,477; D. S. Twitchell, 
Republican, 524. 

In 1876 the vote for President was : For Tilden, Democrat, 2,848 ; 
Hayes, Republican, 509 ; Cooper, Greenback, 57. 

In 1880 the vote was : For President — Hancock, Democrat, 2,969 ; 
Garfield, Republican, 589 ; Weaver, Greenbacker, 193. For Gov- 
ernor — Crittenden, Democi-at, 2,979; D. P. Dyer, Republican, 586 ; 
Brown, Greenbacker, 196. For Congress — D. C. Allen, Democrat, 
1,650 ; John T. Crisp, Democrat, 1,377 ; R. T. Van Horn, Republican, 
547; Clark, Greenbacker, 179. 

In 1884 the vote stood: For President — Cleveland, Democrat, 
3,179 ; Blaine, Republican, and Butler, Greenbacker, fusion electors, 
919 ;sti-aight Blaine, 22 ; St. John, Prohibitionist, 58. For Governor — 
Mai-maduke, Democrat, 3,093; Ford, Fusion, 903; Brooks, Prohi- 
bitionist, 136; Guitar, straight Republican, 9. For Congress — 
Dockery, Democrat, 3,217; Harwood, Republican, 803; Jourdan, 
Greenbacker 108. 

RAILROADS. 

The branch of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad through this 
county was completed in the latter part of the fall of 1867 and first 
part of 1868. It was completed to Liberty about October 15, 1867. 
William J. Quealy, of Hannibal, was the chief contractor. This road 
was chartered before the war, and was originally called the Kansas 
City, Galveston and Lake Superior. Afterward the name was changed 
to the Kansas City and Cameron. It was merged into the Hannibal 
and St. Joseph February 14, 1870, and is still a part of the same. 
The first regular train over the bridge across the Missouri at Kansas 
City passed July 4, 1869. The " old reliable " Hannibal and St. Joe 
has been of incalculable value to Clay county. Besides giving our 
people an outlet to the markets of the world, at all times and seasons, 
it created in this county five new towns and villages, and caused the 
development of many tracts of unimproved land, and added largely 
to the value of much land already in cultivation. 

The Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific — then called the St. Louis, 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 263 

Kansas City and Northern — was completed through the county in the 
fall of 1868. 

The Chicago, Rock Islahd and Pacific began running its trains over 
the track of the Hannibal and St. Joseph, from Cameron to Kansas 
City, in the summer of 1871. ^ It is not allowed to take on or dis- 
charge passengers or freight in this county, or even between Cameron 
and Kansas Cit}^ 

THE GRASSHOPPER YEAR. 

The 3'ear 1875 will long be remembered in Clay county as the 
" grasshopper year." In May vast swarms of grasshoppers, or Rocky 
Mountain locusts, made their appearance in this quarter of Missouri 
and devastated entire regions of country of vegetation, and of almost 
every green thing. In Clay they were, indeed, a burden. They made 
their appearance in such numbers that in many places the ground and 
entire surface of the earth was completely covered with them. Entire 
fields of wheat, and young corn, and meadows were devoured in a 
few hours. Gardens disappeared as though a fire had passed over 
them. Fortunately the pests departed from the county in a few 
weeks. Corn was replanted, and in the fall very good crops were 
raised. 

HANGING OF SAM WALKER. 

October 14, 1873, a negro named Samuel AValker shot and killed 
his wife, Katie, who at the time was employed as a domestic in a 
family at Liberty. Walker claimed that his wife was unfaithful to 
him. He came to Liberty from Platte county. One night he waylaid, 
shot and badly wounded a negro whom he suspected of visiting his 
wife, and a few nights thereafter shot the woman herself as she stepped 
out of doors for a bucket of water. 

Walker was apprehended the same night in the chimney of a negro 
cabin down in the river bottom. He was indicted and arraigned in 
November following, and his trial continued to March, 1874, when 
he was tried and convicted, and sentenced to be hung May 15, two 
months later, a short shrift, certainly. On his trial he was defended 
by Col. Rucker. The evidence was conclusive against the prisoner, 
and he even confessed his guilt. 

The execution came off at the appointed time, on what is called the 
show grounds, west of the railroad depot, in Liberty. A large crowd 
of both sexes, races, and all ages was present. The details occupied 
fully four hours. The condemned man had been visited the day before 

12 



264 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

by two Catholic Sisters of Charity, and then professed the Catholic 
religion, but on the scaffold he seemed to have gone back on Catholic- 
ism and to have become a good Protestant. He prayed, sung, 
exhorted, talked and bade farewell to all who would come up and 
shake hands with him, and the scene was by no means an attractive 
one. Sherift' Patton, the one-armed" ex-Confederate soldier, had 
charge of the hanging. 

THE FLOOD OF 1881. 

In the spring of 1881 the Missouri river was higher than it had been 
since 1844. The bottoms were overflowed and much damage resulted. 
Harlem was all under water, and many buildings were destroyed. 
Some old settlers declared that the river was even higher in 1881 than 
it was in 1844. Certainly the damage was greater, for there was more 
to destroy. The ensuing season was drouthy, and crops were a 
partial failure. The next fall corn rose to $1 a bushel. 

CENSUS AND OTHER STATISTICS OF 1880. 

The total population of the county in 1880, according to the official 
census, was 15,572, of which 8,132 were males and 7,440 were females. 
The whites numbered 14,059; the colored people, 1,513. By town- 
ships the population was as follows : — 

Townships. Population. 

Kishiug River, iucluding Jlissouri City 2,885 

Gallatin 2,772 

Kearney, including Holt and Kearney 2,667 

Liberty, including Liberty Town 3,7U 

Platte, including Smithville 2,352 

Washington 1,212 

Total 15,572 

The population of the incorporated towns and villages was as fol- 
lows : — 

Liberty, l,47fi ; Missouri City, 581 ; Kearney, 465 ; Smithville, 
231 ; Holt, 162. 

The native born population was 15,127, of which number of per- 
sons 10,586 were born in Clay county, 2,053 in Kentucky ; 333 in 
Tennessee; 253 in Ohio; 244 in Indiana, 240 in Illinois, and the re- 
mainder in other States. The number of foreigners was 445, of whom 
there was born in Ireland, 166 ; in the German Empire, 117 ; in En- 
gland and Wales, 53 ; British America, 35 ; Sweden and Norway, 16 ; 
Scotland, 14 ; France, 8. 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 265 

The number of voters in the county was 4,018. 

The number of farms in 1880 was 2,015, and the number of acres 
of improved land, 184,455. The total value of the farms, including 
fences and buildings, was $4,860,571, the value of stock on the farms 
June 1st, was $1,250,961. The estimated value of farm products in 
1879 was $879,411, consisting in part of 2,204,376 bushels of corn, 
257,887 bushels of wheat, and 134,311 bushels of oats. The number 
of head of horses owned in the county in 1880 was 6,832; mules, 
2,086; cattle, 19,743; sheep, 18,402; hogs, 53,516. 

In manufactures the total value invested was $129,125; the value 
of products, $378,915. The number of operatives employed was 142 
males and 11 females ; amount of wages paid, $32,513. 

RACE POPULATION IN 1860, 1870 AND 1880. 

I860. 1870. 1880. 

Whites 9,525 13,718 14,059 

Colored 3,4!)8 1,846 1,513 

Totals 13,023 15,504 15,572 

THE JAMES BROTHERS. 

No attempt will be made in this history to give a detailed history of 
the noted bandit brothers known familiarly, not only throughout the 
United States, but in Europe, as the James' boys. It is only from 
the fact that they were natives of the county and for a time resided 
here that they are mentioned at all. Other publications profess to nar- 
rate their exploits and their career correctly, but whether they do so 
or not is no affair of the publisher hereof, and perhaps of but little conse- 
quence to any one. What is set down here may be relied on as accurate, 
however, and is given with the partial knowledge of its truth on the 
part of a largo majority of the readers. 

Alexander Franklin James was born in this county, January 10, 
1843. Jesse Woodson James was born in the house where his mother 
now lives, in Kearney township, September 5, 1847. ^ Both boys 
were raised on their mother's farm, in this county, to their early man- 
hood, except for a time during and immediately subsequent to the 
Civil War. What little education they possessed was obtained at the 
common county schools of their neighborhood. Neither of .them ever 
attended any other sort of school. 

In 1850 their father, Rev. Robert James, as mentioned elsewhere, 



^ Both dates are taken from the record in their mother's family Bible, and were 
set down by their father. 



266 HISTORY or clav county. 

went to California and there died soon after his arrival. He was a 
Baptist minister, a man of good education, and tiiiiversally respected. 

In 1851, the widow James — whose maiden name was Zerelda 
Cole — was again married to a Mr. Simms, also of this county, a 
widower, with children. At the time of her second marriage she was 
26 years of age, and her husband was 52. The union proved un- 
happy, and in less than a year was terminated by a separation. Tl;e 
lady alleges that the chief trouble arose from the fact that her three 
little children, Frank, Jesse and Susie, whom she had always humored 
andindulged, gave their old step-father no end of annoyance. He in- 
sisted that she should send them away, and to this she once agreed, 
but her near relatives informed her that if she did so they would never 
more recognize her, and so she separated from Mr. Simms, who, she 
yet alleges, always treated her with kindness, and for whose memory 
she still has great respect. He died not long after the separation, and 
sometime afterwards Mi's. Simms was married to Dr. Reuben Samuel, 
her present husband. 

In the fall of 1861, when 18 years of age, Frank James volunteered 
in the Confederate service, Ijecoming a member of Capt. Minter's 
company, Hughes' regiment, Stein's division. He was present at the 
capture of Lexington, and marched with Price's army into Southwest 
Missouri. At Springfield he was taken with measles, and on the re- 
treat of Pi'ice's army before Gen. Curtis, in February, 1862, he was 
left behind in the hospital. The Federals, Avhen they captured Spring- 
field, took him prisoner, paroled him, and he returned home to his 
mother's farm in Kearney township. He was arrested by Col.Penick 
in the following early summer and released on a $2,000 bond. He 
returned to his home and went to work. 

From time to time Frank James was accused of having aided and 
abetted the Confederate cause, in violation of his parole. The accu- 
sations may or may not be true, but in the early spring of 1863 he 
was again arrested, taken to Liberty and cast into jail. From here he 
contrived to make his escape, and soon afterwards, while a fugitive 
he determined " to go to the brush," as the phrase then was, and ac- 
cordingly joined a small band of bushwhackers, under the leadership 
of Fernando Scott. This was in May, 1863, and a few days later he 
took part in the raid on Missouin City, when Capt. Sessions and 
Lieut. Grafenstein were killed. Thereafter he was a bushwhacker 
until the close of the War, winding up his career with Quantrell in 
Kentucky. During his career as a guerrilla Frank James participated 
in three or four skirmishes with the Federals in this county. 



HISTOKY OF CLAY COUNTY. 267 

III May, 1863, soon after Frank James had gone to the l)rnsh,a de- 
tachment of Capt. J. W. Turney's company of Clinton county militia,' 
under Lieut. H. C. Culver, accompanied by Lieut. J. W. Younger, 
with a few Clay county militia, visited the Samuels homestead in 
search of James and his companions. Failing to find them, they 
sought by thi-eats and violence to force the members of the family to 
give them certain information they desired. Dr. Samuel was taken 
out and hung by the neck until nearly exhausted, and the boy Jesse, 
then not quite 16 years old, who was plowing in the fieJd, was whipped 
very severely. 

A few weeks later, Dr. and Mrs. Samuel were arrested by the Fed- 
erals and taken to St. Joseph, accused of " feeding and harboring 
liushwhackers." This was the charge preferred against Mrs. Samuel ; 
but no charge whatever was ever filed against Dr. Samuel. Miss Susie 
James was not arrested. Mrs. Samuel had her two small children 
with "her at the St. Joseph prison, and three months later another 
child was born. She was released by Col. Chester Harding after two 
weeks' imprisonment and sent home on taking tiie oath. Dr. Samuel 
was released about the same time. While Dr. and Mrs. Samuel was 
absent in St. Joe their household was in charge of Mrs. West, a sister 
of Mrs. Samuel. 

Jesse James remained at home during the year 1863, and with the 
assistance of a negro man raised a considerable crop of tobacco. The 
next summer, in June, 1864, a year after he had been cruelly whipfjed 
by the militia, he too " went to the brush," joining Flotoh. Taylor's 
band of bushwhackers, of which his brother Frank was a member. 
He was present when the Bigelow brothers were killed, and took part 
in the capture of Platte City, where he and other liushwhackers had 
their anibrotype pictures taken. The original picture of Jesse James 
is yet in possession of his family, but copies have recently been made 
and sold throughout the country. While with Bill Anderson's com- 
pany on the way to Howard county, in August, 1864, Jesse was badly 
wounded by an old German Unionist named Heisinger, who lived 
in the southern part of Ray county, at Heisinger's Lake. Three or 
four bushwhackers went to Heisinger's., got something to eat and were 
looking about the premises when the old man fired upon tlieiii from a 
sorghum patch, put a bullet through Jesse James' right lung, and 
routed the party. This practically ended his career as a bushwhacker. 



^ Co. F, Fourth Provisional Regiment. 



268 HISTOKY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

His companions hid him away and one Nat. Tigue nursed him for a 
considerable time.^ 

It was a long time until Jesse was able to be in the saddle again. 
In February, 1865, in the rear of Lexington, when coming in with 
some others to surrender, he was fired on by a detachment of Federals 
belonging to the Second Wisconsin Cavalry, and again shot through the 
right lung. From this wound he did not recover for many months. 
He was nursed first by his comrades, then by his aunt, Mrs. Wesf, 
in Kansas City, and at last taken by his sister. Miss Susie, to Rulo, 
Nebraska, where the Samuel family had been banished the previous 
summer by order of the Federal military commanders in this quarter. 
At Rulo, Dr. Samuel was making a precarious living in the practice 
of his profession — medicine — and hei'e the young guerrilla lay until 
in August, 1865, when the family I'eturned to their Clay county farm. 
Jesse united with the Baptist Church sometime in 1868. 

When, as is alleged, the James brothers entered upon their life of 
brigandage and robbery, their associates were those of the old guer- 
rilla days, and it is but true to say that this life succeeded to or was 
born of the old bushwhacking career. Not every old Confederate 
liushwhacker became a l)andit, for many of the most desperate of 
Quantrell's, Todd's and Anderson's men became quiet, reputable cit- 
izens, but at the first every bandit in Western Missouri was an cx- 
guerrilla. 

After the Gallatin bank robbery the civil authorities of this county 
began the chase after the now noted brothers and kept it up for years, 
or until Jesse was killed in April, 1882, and Frank surrendered. The 
pursuit was considered by each Clay county sheriff as a part of his 
regular duties :ind transmitted the same as the books and papers of 
his office to his successor. 

Lack of space forbids an enumeration of the many adventures of 
the officers of this county in their efforts to capture the James boys 
and their partners. One fact must be borne in mind. Every sheriff 
worked faithfully and bravely to discharge his duties. The heroic 
and desperate fight near the Samuel residence-' between the intrepid 
Capt. John S. Thomason an4 his brave young son, Oscar, and the 



' While serving with the bushwhackers Franic was Ivnown as " Bucl;," and Jesse 
was called " Dingus " by their companions. While in a camp one day, shortly after he 
went out, Jesse was practicing with a revolver and accidentally shot oS the end of 
one of his lingers. Shaking his wounded hand, and dancing about with the pain, he 
cried out, " O, ding it! ding it! How it hurts! " 
- Decembet 14, ISCO. 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 269 

two l)i-others, when the Captain's horse was killed ; the night tight 
made by Capt. John S. Grooms ; the many expeditions by night and 
day, in season and ont of season, by Thomason, Grooms, Patton and 
Timberlake,can not here be detailed, interesting as the incidents thereof 
may be. 

Connected with the career of the bandit brothers, may be briefly 
mentioned the attempt of Pinkerton's detectives to eflect their cap- 
ture — an attempt blunderingly and brutally made and ignominiously 
ailing, resulting in the killing of little Archie Peyton Samuel,' the 
tearing oft' of Mrs. Samuel's right arm, the wounding of other mem- 
fbers of the family, and the complete discomfiture of the attacking 
party of detectives. Whether or not, either or both of the James boys 
and another member of the l)and participated in this melee, and whether 
or not one of the detectives was killed, can not here be stated. 

The murder of Daniel Askew, the nearest neighbor of Dr. Samuel, 
which occurred a few weeks after Pinkerton's raid, has always been 
attributed to one or both of the James brothers, though the charge is 
stoutly denied by their friends. Askew was called out one night and 
shot dead on his doorstep. A detective named J. W. Whicher, who, as 
he himself avowed, came to this county to plan in some way the capture 
of the brothers, was taken across the Missouri river into Jackson 
county and killed by somebodij., in Jackson county, March 10, 1874. 
That any considerable portion of the people of the county ever gave 
aid or comfort or countenance to the bandits who infested Missouri, 
whether the James boys, or who ever they were, is so preposterously 
untrue that there is no real necessity for its denial. Not one person 
in one hundred of the people of the county knew either of the James 
boys i)y sight, and but few more had ever seen them. After they en- 
tered upon their career of brigandage their visits to the county were 
so unfrequent and unseasonable and so brief that only the very fewest 
saw them, and it was not long ere those who once knew them inti- 
mately would not have known them had they met them face to face 
in open day ; for from smooth-faced boys they were growing to 
bearded men, and no change is more complete than that from adoles- 
cence to manhood. 

Moreover, it is most absurd, and most unjust, too, that any consid- 
erable number such as live in the county of Clay should be supposed 
to have any sympathy with villainy and villains of any sort. The 



' Named by Jesse James for Archie Clements and Peyton Long, two desperate and 
notorious guerrillas during tiie war. 



270 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

county is and has now been for years full of school-houses and churches 
and abounding with Christian men and women who fear God and keep 
His commandments, and keep themselves aloof from evil associations. 
Morality and love of the right are the rule among our people ; immor- 
ality and viciousness the exception. 

At any time within the past fifteen years five hundred men could 
have been raised in an hour to capture the James boys. Dozens of 
the best citizens of all classes have frequently volunteered to acconv 
pany the officers in their search for the l)andits, and have lain night 
after night in the woods and watched roads and bridges, and done 
everything in their power to vindicate and uphold the law. Even 
when Jesse James was shot at St. Joseph a public meeting at Liberty 
applauded the fact and indorsed the manner of his taking ofi". 

That the James boys had a few confederates in Clay county is barely 
possible. Who they were, however, can now never be known. It is 
probable that if they existed at all they were few in number, and their 
services and the character of their connection unimportant and uncon- 
spicuous. 




CHAPTER XII. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

Clay County Schools — County Teacbers' Institute — William Jewell College, etc. 

The first schools taught in the county were made up by subscrip- 
tion and taught during the summer or autumn. The school-houses 
were generally hastily improvised without much attention being paid 
to comfort or convenience. Sometimes a winter school was provided 
if a house could be found comfortable enough. 

In township 52, range 30, — in the southeastern portion of the 
county — the people first thoroughly organized for school purposes. 
In February, 1836, the township was organized into two school dis- 
tricts, with Fishing river the dividing line between them. The south- 
ern district was called Franklin, and the trustees were James Dagley, 
George Withers and Sam Crowley. The northern district was called 
Jefferson: trustees, Winfrey E. Price, Michael Welton, Joel. P. 
Moore. In the spring Jefferson was divided into two districts, and 
the western or northwestern was called Clark, in honor of Jesse Clark. 

In April, 1836, township 52, i-ange 31, lying northeast of the town 
of Liberty, was divided into four school districts, Clay, Washington, 
White and Bell. Schools were established soon after in all these dis- 
tricts, and already there were good schools at Liberty. From the 
earliest period of its official existence Clay county has always taken a 
leading part in school matters among the best counties of the State. 

The sixteenth sections in every congressional township in Missouri 
were from the first set aside for public school purposes, to be sold to 
the best advantage and the proceeds thereof properly applied, upon 
petition of two-thirds of the inhabitants of said congressional town- 
ship. The Clay county court, in February, 1831, appointed Ware S. 
May to select the sixteenth sections in this county. Samuel Tillery 
was appointed commissioner, and he made sales from time to time up 
to the spring of 1834. 

Under the act of February 9, 1839, public schools were instituted, 
and were aided from the interest of the township fund arising from 
the sales before mentioned. In 1842, the State l)egan the distribution 
of a small fund. These schools were rather meager in their results 

(271) 



272 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

until the act of February, 1853, set apai-t twenty-five per cent of the 
State revenue for the support of common schools. This act also 
created the office of county school commissioner, and Col. A. W. 
Doniphan was appointed to the office in November, 1853, which he 
filled until August 8, 1854, when he resigned, having been elected 
county representative. George Hughes was then appointed to fill the 
vacancy, and has held the office up to this writing (February, 1885,) 
with complete satisfaction to all. 

The first annual report to the State Superintendent, by County 
Commissioner Hughes, was made November 4, 1854. The whole 
number of white cliildren over 5 and under 20 years of age in the 
organized school township for that year was 2,426, and in the unor- 
ganized territory the children of school age were estimated to be 
about 500. The number of public schools was 32, and the number of 
teachers employed was 34. The average number of children attend- 
ing public school was 1,264. The average salary paid teachers was 
$29 per month, and the length of school term was about five months 
and a fourth. 

According to the report for 1884, the number of children in the 
county, between 6 and 20 years of age, was 4,708 whites and 420 
colored. The total number attending public schools was 3,530 white 
children and 227 colored. The average number of days' attendance 
by each child was 80. The number of teachers employed during the 
year, 42 males and 53 females. The average monthly salary paid 
males was $47.82, and females $34.16. The whole number of white 
schools in operation during the year was 63, and for colored children 
there were eight. The total number of pupils that might be seated in 
the school rooms of the county was 4,125. The number of school 
houses was 61, of which 55 were frame, and six were brick. The total 
value of school property was $44,770.00. The average rate per $100 
levied for school purposes was 49 cents. The whole amount received 
from public funds was $8,340.31, and the whole amount realized from 
ta.xation was $19,044.68. The amount paid teachers during the year 
was $20,445.45. The cost for tuition of each scholar was seven and 
a half cents. The average length of school term in each district was 
1 24 '/2 days. 

County leachevs' Institute. — The County Teachers' Institute was 
first organized in 1854, and held its first annual session at Mt. Gilead 
Church, August 29, 1855 (James Love was president and L. R. Slone 
secretary). This is believed to be the first county teachers' institute 
ever held in the State. It continued to hold annual, and, sometimes 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 273 

semi-annual sessions, until the public schools were suspended, in 1861. 
When the public schools were again organized after the close of the 
Civil War, the county institute was also reorganized, and held annual 
sessions until monthly institutes and county normal institutes supplied 
its place in the educational work of the county. 

WILLIAM JEWELL COLLEGE. ^ 

The founding of this institution is the result of a necessity for 
higher education which was felt by the Baptists of Missouri at an 
early day in the history of the State. This feeling was manifested 
as far back as the year 1833. The Baptists in the State, even at 
that date, appreciated the supreme importance of establishing a 
college of the first order, wherein their youths, under denominational 
influences, might receive the benefits of education beyond an academic 
course. 

TheirGeneral Association, on the 25th day of August, 1843, appointed 
Uriah Sebree, Wade M. Jackson, Roland Hughes, Fielding Wilhoite, 
David Perkins, Eli Bass, Jordan O'Brien, R. E. McDaniel, Wm. 
Carson, G. M. Bower, Jason Harrison, James W. Waddell and I. T. 
Hinton, trustees, to receive the oft'er of Dr. William Jewell of $10,000 
toward the endowment of a college to be under the direction of the 
Baptist denomination, fix the same within 15 miles of the Missouri 
river, not east of Jefferson City, nor west of Glasgow, and "to do 
all other acts usual and necessary to organize and carry on a litei'ary 
institution." On the 26th day of August, 1844, the General Associ- 
ation declined the ofl:er of $10,000 made by Dr. Jewell, for the reason 
that in the opinion of that body it was not possible, under the circum- 
stances of the Baptist denomination in Missouri at that time, to raise 
the sum required by him, as the condition of his donation ; and so 
the persons named as trustees — in effect the committee on college 
organization — were discharged. The General Association met in 
August, 1847, at Walnut Grove, Boone county. The attendance of 
delegates was large and embraced quite a number of leading gentle- 
men of the Baptist denomination in, the State. The movement in 
favor of the founding of a college was plainly taking a more definite 
shape and becoming more energetic. The General Association, with- 



1 Much of the iuforraation iu this article has been derived from a slvetch written 
by HoQ. D. C. Allea and published in the History of the Baptists of Missouri. In 
many Instances Mr. Allen's exact language is used. 



274 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

out dissent, as it appears, on the 26th day of August, 1847, adopted 
the following resolution, offered by Eev. S. W. Lynd, viz. : — 

Resolved, That a committee of five persons be appointed as a pro- 
visional committee on education, whose duty it shall be to originate 
an institution of learning, for the Baptist denomination in this State, 
provided the same can be accomplished upon a plan b}' which its en- 
dowment and perpetuity may be secured. 

Roland Hughes, William Carson, Wade M. Jackson, R. E. 
McDaniel and David Perkins were appointed the committee contem- 
plated by the resolution. 

The committee appointed in 1847 reported to the General Associ- 
ation on the 2()th day of August, 1848. The report of the commit- 
tee in substance was : That for the purpose of erecting and endowing 
a college in the State, they had secured subscriptions to the amount 
of $16,936 and that they believed, from the success which had at- 
tended their limited exertions, that a vigorous prosecution of the en- 
terprise would finirlly end in success. On the recommendation of 
the committee the General Association passed the following resolution, 
viz. : — 

Rexolved, That so soon as the provisional committee may think it 
advisable to make a location, they be instructed to make such loca- 
tion according to the condition expressed in the subscription which 
the agents have been authorized to circulate. 

At the same time the General Association appointed the gentlemen 
of the last preceding committee a committee also to make applica- 
tion to the General Assembly of the State for a charter for the col- 
lege, and to appoint a board of trustees. Through the agency of 
this committee, the Fifteenth General Assembly of the State granted 
a charter for a college (which was approved by the Governor on the 
27th day of February, 1849), in accordance with the wishes of the 
Baptists of Missouri. (Session Acts, 1849, page 232). The title of 
the act granting the charter is : " An act to charter a college in the 
State of Missouri." The i)reamble of the act begins as follows: — 

" Whereas, The United Baptists in Missouri and their friends are 
desirous of endowing and building up a college in the State," etc. 

The trustees named in the charter are as follows : Tyree C. Harris, 
Isaac Lionberger, Jordan O'Brien, W. C. Ligon, Robert S. Thomas, 
A. W. Doniphan, T. N. Thompson, W. D. Hubbell, Robert James, 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 275 

Samuel T. Glover, T. L. Anderson, R. F. Richmond, S". D. South, T. 
E. Hatcher, John Ellis, Wm. Carson, David Perkins, W. M. Jackson, 
Roland Hughes, William Jewell, W. M. McPherson, R. E. McDaniel, 
John Robinson, M. F. Price, E. M. Samuel and R. R. Craig. 

It was about March 1, 1848, when the first definite and practical 
action was taken to secure the location of the college at Liberty. On 
that date a meeting was held at Libeity and committees were appointed 
for each township to solicit subscriptions to the endowment. J. T. V. 
Thompson, E. M. Samuel and Madison Miller were at the head of the 
movement. During the following summer the county was thoroughly 
canvassed and nothing left undone to secure for Clay county the loca- 
tion of the much desired institution. This work was continued for a 
year thereafter, or until the summer of 1849. 

The provisional committee appointed by the Baptist General As- 
sociation, August 26, 1848, called a meeting of the donors to the endow- 
ment, to be held at Boonville, August 21, 1849, for the purpose of 
determining the name of the college and fixing its location. The 
donors met pursuant to the call. The number of shares — each share 
being valued at $48 — represented was 883. The subscriptions, in 
addition, were $7,000 by the citizens of Clay county, for the erection 
of buildings only. 

The Clay county donors were represented in the meeting by Col. A. 
W. Doniphan and Hon. J. T. V. Thompson, who, with E. M. Samuel, 
had been appointed at a meeting held in Liberty, August 3. Four 
towns in the State contested for the location — Liberty, Fulton, 
Palmyra and Boonville. Col. Doniphan presented the claims of 
Liberty. When it came to the vote on the location the contest was 
animated and eager. The subscription of Clay was larger than that 
of any other county, but did not constitute a majority of the votes, 
each share being entitled to a vote. Finalh', the location at Liberty, 
Clay county, was made by the votes of Howard county being cast 
solidly for it. The final vote stood : For Liberty, 528 ; for Palmyra 
194 ; for Boonville, 107 ; for Fulton, 44. 

Immediately after the fixing of the location. Rev. Wm. C. Ligon 
moved that the college be named William Jewell College, in 
honor of Dr. W^m. Jewell, a prominent, well known and universally 
respected citizen of Boone county. Col. Doniphan seconded the mo- 
tion, and it was adopted unanimously. Dr. Jewell was present in the 
meeting, and arose and returned his thanks for the honor. In con- 
clusion he said he had long had his will written remembering this 
institution, and he now desired the secretary to write his obligation 



276 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

for $10,000 worth of land — 3,951 acres situated in Mercer, Grundy 
and Sullivan counties — which he desired to donate to the college. 
The conveyance was immediately completed. Subsequently, Dr. 
Jewell, in his will and by sums of money voluntarily expended out 
of his own pocket to contractors for theerection of the college edifice, 
gave the corporation not less than $6,000.^ 

The certificate of location and naming of the college was filed in the 
recoi-der's office of Clay County, August 25, 1849, and thereupon the 
name of the corporation became that which it still retains — "The 
Trustees of William Jewell College." 

The site of the college was donated by Hon. J. T. V. Thompson, 
who, though not a church member, was all his life a friend and liberal 
patron of the institution. At first the corporation was liberal and 
almost non-sectarian in the organization of its faculty. From Sep- 
tember, 1853, to June, 1861, one of the professors was uniformly a 
member of some other church denomination than the Baptist. This 
liberality was of decided advantage to the institution, in one respect 
at least. 

The first meeting of the board of trustees was held November 12, 
1849. The members at that time were Dr. Wm. Jewell, of Boone 
county; Roland Hughes, Wade M. Jackson, David Perkins, of 
Howard; M. R. Price, of Lafayette; W. C. Ligon, of Carroll; A. 
W. Doniphan, Edward M. Samuel, J. T. V. Thompson, R. R. 
Ci'aig and Rev. Robt. James,^ of Clay. Roland Hughes was elected 
first president of the board and Rev. Wm. C. Ligon, secretary. The 
board at this meeting decided to open a department of instruction — 
a preparatory school in the basement of the Baptist Church, in Lib- 
erty, the first session or term to begin January 1, 1850. 

The school opened at the time specified. Rev. E. S. Dulin princi- 
pal, with Rev. Thos. F. Lockett as assistant. The course of study 



1 Dr. William Jewell was born in Loudoun county, Va., January 1, 1789, anil re- 
moved to Gallatin county, Ky., in 1800. He received a good education and took the 
degree of M. D., in Transylvania University. In 1820, he came to Missouri, and in 
1822 located at Columbia. Accumulating something of a private fortune, he became 
a liberal patron of various laudable enterprises, and was well known as much for his 
general l)>2nevolence as for his public spirit. He gave $1,800 to secure the location 
of the Slate University at Columbia. He served two or three times in the Legi.ila- 
ture as a representative from Boone county. In 1822, ho united with the Baptist 
Church, and was a consistent member of that denomination until his death, which 
occurrecl at Liberty, August 7, 1853, of illness caused by over-exertion in a personal 
supervision of the work of erecting the building which bears his name. His noblest 
monument is William Jewell College. 

- Fathei- of the bandits, Frank and Jesse. 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. , 277 

adopted was tidmirable and thorough. The faculty for the year 
1850-51 consisted of Rev. E. S. Dulin, Rev. Thos. F. Lockett and 
Rev. Wm. M. Hunsaker, the latter being the principal of the pre- 
paratory department. Rev. E. S. Dulin, Rev. Terry Bradley, and 
James G. Smith constituted the faculty for the year 1851-52. Mr. 
Bradley was professor of mathematics and Mr. Smith principal of the 
preparatory department. Rev. Dulin terminated his connection withj 
the college in June, 1852. 

During the year 1852-53 the departments of instruction were simply 
under the patronage of the trustees, who permitted Rev. Terry 
Bradley and Geo. S. Withers to maintain a school in the rooms 
rented by the trustees, and take all the fees for tuition. 

February 11, 1850, the trustees elected Dr. Jewell commissioner 
to superintend the erection of the college building. May 13 follow- 
ing, the board ordered contractts let for the erection, and work was 
begun on the foundations the ensuing fall. By August 7, 1852, the 
date of Dr. Jewell's death, the foundations were completed and the 
superstructure had been built to the height of twenty feet. Dr. 
Jewell supervised the work with the utmost vigilance and care. By 
the 1st of August, 1853, the building was complete except the flooring 
and plastering of the rooms of the south wing and what was then the 
lower chapel; these were completed about 1858. The building was 
occupied partially in the summer of 1853. 

The architect of the college edifice was J. O. Sawyer, of Cincinnati, 
Ohio ; the superintendent, B. McAlester, of Columbia ; the brick- 
makers, Hunter & Alford, Lexington ; the stonework was done by 
R. Ainsworth, of Jefferson City; the plastering by John Burbank, 
of Weston ; the painting by A. H. Maxtield . 

In the summer of 1853, the first faculty was elected with Rev. Robt. 
S.Thomas, of Columbia, as president; Terry Bradley, professor of 
Latin and Greek ; James Love, professor of mathematics and natural 
sciences ; Leonidas M. Lawson, tutor. The composition of the fac- 
ulty for 1854-55 was the same as the previous year, with the addition 
of Wm. P. Lamb, who was principal of the preparatory department. 

The first graduation in the college occurred on the third Friday in 
June, 1855. The graduating class consisted of five members. 

From June, 1855, until September, 1857, instruction in all the 
departments was suspended for want of funds. By September, 1857, 
the financial condition of the institution had improved to an extent 
that warranted the reopening of the college, which was done. The 
faculty for the year 1857-58 was composed of Rev. William Thomp- 



278 , HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

son, LL. D., president, elected Miiy, 19, 1857 ; M. W. Eobiasou, 
adjunct professor of ancient languages and literature; Jno. B. 
Bradley, professor of natural philosophy and astronomy ; W. C. 
Garnett, principal of the academic department, and Grandison L. 
Black, assistant tutor. 

August 12, 1861, the Civil War having broken out, and the country 
being in a highly disturljed condition, all departments of instruction 
were closed, and the college remained practically in a state of sus- 
pension for seven years, though irregular instruction was given at 
intei'vening periods during the war. After the battle of Blue Mills 
the college building was used for some days as a hospital for the 
reception and care of the Federal wounded. In August, 1862, the 
building and grounds were occupied by the Federal troops for some 
weeks, and some slight intrenchments constructed. No serious dam- 
age was done to the property by these occupations. 

June 24, 1867, Rev. Thompson Ranibaut, LL. D., was chosen to 
the presidency of the college, and for a year thereafter he and the 
trustees were engaged in reorganization, and September, 28, 1868, 
the college reopened with the following faculty : Rev. Thos. Ram- 
baut, president ; R. B. Seinple, professor of Latin, French, and 
Italian ; A. F. Fleet, professor of Greek and German ; John F. Lan- 
neau, professor of mathematics; James R. Eaton, professor of natural 
sciences and theology. 

Dr. Rambaut resigned in January, 1874, since which time the duties 
of president have practically been performed by Rev. W. R. Roth- 
well, D. D., who came to the college in June, 1872, as professor of 
Biblical literature. The present faculty consists of Dr. W. R. Roth- 
well, professor of moral philosophy and theology ; R. B. Scrapie, 
professor of Latin and German ; James G. Clark, professor of 
mathematics and French ; J. R. Eaton, professor of natural science ; 
R. P. Ryder, principal of the preparatory department ; A. J. Emer- 
son, professor of English literature and historj'. 

Ely Hall, named in honor of Lewis B. Ely, was built in 1880. 

The total wealth of the college is about $150,000. 



CHAPTER Xni. 

LIBERTY TOWNSHIP. 

Position and Description — Early Settlers — Liberty Landing — Country Churches — 
City of Liberty — First Incorporation — Liberty in 1846 — Churches of Liberty — 
Secret Societies — Biographical. 

POSITION AND DESCRIPTION. 

Liberty is the south-central municipal township of Clay county and 
its present boundaries are as follows : Beginning at the northeast 
corner, at the northeast corner of section 1.5, township 52, range 31 ; 
thence south to the Missouri river ; thence up the river to the mouth 
of Big Shoal creek ; thence up and along Big Shoal creek, on the 
eastern bank, to the southwest corner of section 22, township 51, 
range 32 ; thence due north to the northwest corner of section 3, town- 
ship 52, range 31 ; thence east to the northeast corner of section 1, 
same township and range ; thence south one mile to the southeast 
corner of said section 1 ; thence east one mile to the northeast corner 
of section 7-52-31 ; thence south one mile to the southeast corner of 
said section 7 ; thence east three miles to the beginning. 

Although the country is naturally l)roken and hilly throughout the 
greater part of the township, some of the best farms in Missouri are 
here to be found. Without the least exaggeration some of the manor 
lands in Liberty are equal in_ point of development and improvement 
to many of the best estates in the famed blue grass region of Ken- 
tucky, or the much lauded farms of Central Ohio. To be sure many 
of the Liberty township farms have been cultivated for sixty years, 
but their ))ossessors have not been slothful or unenterprising. 

WATER SUPPLY. 

The tributaries of Fishing river, Rush creek. Big Shoal and all of 
Little Shoal creek, furnish abundant water supply and adapt the town- 
ship to stock raising, and this natural advantage is thoroughly well 
improved upon. The bottom lands along the Missouri are of course 
of the highest fertility, but difficult and hazardous of improvement, 
owing to the liability of overflow. 

Among the many reputable farmers of this township may be men- 
tioned J. W. Park, Esq., who resides near Liberty. 

13 (279) 



280 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 



EARLY SETTLERS. 

As to the first settlers in what is now Liberty township, it is proba- 
ble that they were Richard Hill, Robert Gilmore, James Gilmore, 
Samuel Gilmore and Elijah Smith, who settled on Rush creek, in the 
southeastern part of the township, in 1820. The two first-named Gil- 
mores, Hill and Smith came first in the spring and built cabins and 
put out small crops, leaving their families down in the Petite Osag'e 
bottom (commonly called Tete Saw) in Saline county. In the fall 
of the year they I'eturned with their families. 

Richard Hill settled on section 9, nearly two miles east of Liberty; 
the others were lower down the creek. All of these families were re- 
lated.' Samuel Gilmore was the father of Robert and James, and the 
flxthef-in-law of Hill and Smith. Mrs. Mary Poteet, a widow ladv, 
who was the sister of Elijah Smith, and the mother-in-law of James 
and Robert Gilmore, came with the party and made her home with 
her brother. She raised Mary Crawford, an orphan, who became the 
wife of Cornelius Gilliam, and was the first white woman married iu 
Clay county. (See Fishing River township.)^ 

Other settlers came in quite numerously and located in the south- 
ern portion of the township in 1821, and in 1822, when the county 
was organized and Liberty laid out and made the county seat, there 
were still other additions made to the settlements in what is now the 
Libert}' municipal township — then about equally divided between 
Gallatin and Fishing River, the two original townships of the county. 
Anthony Harsell says that in 1821 there was but one house north of 
Liberty — that of James Hiatt, who lived a little more than a mile 
from town, due north (section 31-52-31), now known as the Baker 
farm. 

LIBERTY LANDING. 

Liberty Landing, on the Missouri, three and a half miles south of 
the city of Liberty, was established many years ago. The site was 
for many years a place of importance. All merchandise for Liberty 
and other interior towns north was put off the steamboats here for 
many years. From 1858 to 1862 a large hemp factory, owned and 
operated by Arthur, Burris & Co., was conducted at this point. The 



1 Three weeks after the Gilmores came to their new homes permanently, David Mc- 
Elwee settled in Fishin;^ River township, and from his daughter, Mrs. Margaret How- 
deshell, the information concerning the early settlement of the township has been ob- 
tained. 



HISTOKY OF CLAY COUNTY. 281 

machinery in this establisliment cost about $30,000, and the firm 
handled thousands of tons of hemp. The business was broken up bv 
the war and the machinery sold to McGrewBros., of Lexington. At 
present there is a railroad station on the Wabash road at the Land- 
ing. 

COUNTRY CHURCHES. 

Little Shoal Creek, Old School Baptist. — This church has the dis- 
tinction of being the first church organization in Clay county. It was 
constituted May 28, 1823, by the well known pioneer minister, Elder 
William Thorp. The constituent members were : William Monroe, A. 
Monroe, Enos Vaughn, Patsy Vaughn, A. Groom, Daniel Stout, 
Ailsey Hall, Patsey Stout, Elisha Hall, Elizabeth Monroe, Sally 
Stephens and Jane Groom. The first church building was a log 
house, erected in the year 1824. In 1881-82 the congregation built a 
good substantial brick house, costing about $2,300. The first pastor 
was Elder William Thorp, who served the church for 28 years. 
After him came Elder D. Baiubridge for six years ; Eider Henry Hill, 
three years ; Polder James Duval, 21 years ; Elder Lucius Wright, 
two years. Elder James Bradley is the present pastor. Since the 
organization of the church it has received 317 members in all, but tiie 
most of them have backslid, leaving the membership of the church at 
the present time only 34. 

Providence Missionary Baptist Church. — April 29, 1848, at the 
house of Peyton T. Townsend, this church was organized by Revs. 
Robert James and Franklin Graves, P. N. Edwards being the first 
clerk. The organization commenced with a membership of 44 
persons, but has increased until at present writing there are 190. 
The first church building was erected in 1850, and was destroyed by 
fire in February, 1880, but was rebuilt the same year at a cost of 
$2,000. The pastors have l)een Revs. Rol^ert James, John Major, I. 
T. Williams, A. N. Bird, W. A. Curd, G. L. Black and A. J. Emer- 
son. The church is a brick building, and is situated in Liberty town- 
ship, on the southeast quarter of section 15. The Sabbath-school has 
25 scholars, the superintendent l)eing J. P. Marr. 

THE CITY OF LIBERTY. 

Upon the organization of Clay county, in January, 1822, the land on 
which the city of Liberty now stands was owned by John Owens and 
Charles McGee. Owens had built a house on what is now the norLli- 
west corner of Water and Mill streets some time the previous year, 
and kept a sort of tavern, or house of entertainment. His house was 



262 HISTORY OF clay county. 

:i rather large aud roomy affair, and, as elsewhere stated, was used 
to hold the first courts iu, aud for other public purposes. McGee 
and Owens donated 25 acres to the county for county-seat pur- 
poses, which donation was accepted, and soon after the town was laid 
out. 

The legislative act creating the county appointed John Hutchins, 
Henry Estes, Enos Vaiighan, Wyatt Aclkins and John Poage commis- 
sioners to select a " permanent seat of government " for the county, 
and provided that, until such selection, courts should be held at the 
house of John Owens. William Powe was afterward appointed on 
the commission. In their report to the circuit court July 1, 1882, 
as a reason for their selection, the commissioners say : "That, in 
pursuance of the object of their appointment, they assembled together 
on the 20th of March last, to examine the different donations offered 
the count}', aud continued in session three da3's examining the sites 
for a town ; that after mature delil)eration and minute investigation 
the tract of land owned by John Owens and Charles McGee was 
thought best adapted for the object for which it was designed, as being 
more central for the population, surrounded with good and perujanent 
springs, lying sufficiently elevated to drain off all superfluous waters, 
in a healthy and populous part of the county, and entirely beyond the 
influence of lakes, ponds, or stagnant waters of any kind; they, there- 
fore, unanimously agreed to accept of the proposition of Mr. Owens 
and Mr. McGee of a donation of 25 acres each for the use of the 
county." 

As soon as the town was laid out, which was in the early summer of 
1822, improvements began to be made. The first sale of lots was on 
the 4th of July, and at that time nearly all of those fronting 9U the 
public square were disposed of. But up to about 182(5 there were not 
more than a dozen houses iu the place, aud these, with perhaps one 
exception, were log cabins. 

Early hotel-keepers were Leonard Searcy, who had a licensed 
tavern in the fall of 1826, and continued in the business for six or 
seven years ; Laban Garrett, who opened a licensed tavern in Decem- 
ber, 1827, and John Chauncey, who began iu about 1832. These 
hotels, or " taverns," as they were universally called, were simple 
art'airs, but were comfortable enough, furnished plenty of good, whole- 
some food, and were adequate to the demands of that day. 

Probably the first store in Lii)erty was kept by Wm. L. Smith, the 
county clerk, who brought up a few goods with him from Bluffton in 
1822, and sold them in his dwellinii-house. 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 283 



FIRST INCORPORATION. 

Liberty was first incorporated as a town t)y the county court May 4, 
1829, on the petition of " more than two-thirds of the citizens," 
under the name and style of "The Inhabitants of the Town of Lib- 
erty." Tiie following were declared to be the metes and bounds : — 

Boginniii*^ at the southeast corner of the nortiieust quarter of sec- 
tion 7, in the line of the New Madrid claim ; thence due west along 
said Madiid line to the southwest corner of said quarter section ; thence 
due north along the line of said quarter section to the northwest cor- 
ner thereof; thence due east along said quarter section line to the 
northeast corner thereof ; tliencc due north along the. line dividing 
sections 7 and 8, to tlie beginning corner at the mouth of the lane be- 
tweeen Andrew Hixon, Sr., and said town tract. 

This incorporation really included 160 acres of land, l>eing the 
northeast quarter of section 7, township 51, range 31. The first board 
of trustees was composei] of Lewis Scott, John 11. Peters, Eli Casey, 
Samuel Ringo and John Baxter. 

Describing Liberty in 1829, the year of its first incorporation, a 
writer in the Tribune in 184(j, says : — 

The public square in Liberty then had two houses on the south side, 
one on the west, two on the north, and two or three on the east. 
Hixon's, Wilson's, Bird's and Curtis' addition to the town were then 
in old Mr. Hixon's corn field. There was one tavern (the same now 
[1840] occupied hy Judge Ilendley) kept by Leonard Searcy. Par- 
ties and balls were frequent, and often times attended by ladies and 
gentlemen from Fort Leavenworth, Richmond, Lexington and Inde- 
pendence. Preaching was unconmion — at least I never heard much 
of it. There was no cliurch in town, but I think the Baptists had 
two or three in the country ; perhaps at Big Shoal, Little Slioal and 
Rush Creek. 

There was but little use for doctors at that time, as the chills and 
fever were unknown, except in the Missouri bottoms, where but few 
persons had then settled. I recollect thiit the fii-st case of chills and 
fever that occurred in the ui)lands excited great alarm and astonish- 
ment. It occurred, I think, in Platte townshi)). Lil)erty was always 
healthy. Not a death took place for several years .after I came to it, 
except one or two persons who came to it laboring imder consumj)- 
tion. Once a physician. Dr. Conway, was sent for to see a sick man 
at the Council Bluffs. It was regarded as a most hazardous under- 
taking, being in the winter season, and the doctor received a fee of 
about $2.50. There was no other physician nearer at that time; now 
there are perhaps a hundred, and a trip to Council Bluffs is as little 
regarded as it formerly was to the falls of the Platte. These changes 



284 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

would surprise an individual who had j^one to sleep for the period of 
17 years, l)ut in those who had witnessed them they excited but 
little. 

Tiie first settlers of Liberty were as clever, as sociable, and as good 
people as ever walked the earth. Many of tbem have gone to " that 
bourne from whence no traveler ever returns," andmany of them are 
now still living. * * * There was a kind of brotherhood existing 
among the people of Liberty and Clay county when I first came among 
them ; nothing like envy or jealously existed. They are perhaps more 
united yet than any other people in the State. This arose from the 
fact that tiie first settlers were almost entirely from Kentucky, and 
either knew each other, or else each other's friends before they came 
here. 

Wetmore, in his Gazeteer of 1837, thus speaks of the place : — 

Litierty, one of the well watered tracts of land with which Clay 
county abounds, was selected for th« seat of justice, and is al)out four 
miles from the river. This location was made with a view to health, 
and the jieople are not disappointed. The springs at Liberty are a 
fair sample of the advantages enjoyed in this respect in various por- 
tions of the county, where the milk and butter part of good living are 
made perfect in well built spring-houses. There is but one objection 
that can be made to this town as a desirable place of abode, and that 
is contained in a single sentence once uttered by a matron who was 
emigrating thither — " It is so far oif." But when emigrants shall 
begin to i)ass through Liberty, on their way to the Mandan villages, 
and to the forks of Missouri, tRat objection will vanish, and Liberty 
will be an interior, fashionable city, like that where the enthusiastic 
visions of a Kentuckian now rest — Lexington, the Athens of Ken- 
tucky. 

There are 14 stores and groceries in Liberty. The court-house is a 
large, well finished brick building. The newspaper published at 
Libert3s with the very ai)propriate name of Far West, is a well con- 
ducted journal. 

LIBERTY IN 184G. 

A contribution to the Tribune, in December, 1846, in an article 
hitherto quoted from, describes Liberty as it was at that date : — 

Liberty now contains 3 taverns, a printing office, 3 blacksmiths, 8 
stores, 3 groceries, 2 drug stores, 1 hatter's shop, 1 tinner's shop, 4 
tailors, 3 saddlers, 3 shoemakers, 1 carriagemaker, 2 wagonmakers, 
1 tanyard, 1 bagging and rope factor3^ 5 physicians, G lawyers, 3 
cabinetmakers, 2 milliners, 1 oil mill, 1 carding factory, a Methodist 
Church, a Reformer's Church, with neat lirick buildings, and a Catho- 
lic Church under way; also a Baptist Church of stone ; one school, 
kept by a Mr. Harrel, and a male and female school, under the su- 
perintendence of Mr. and Mrs. Cunningham. Our schools are equal 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 285 

to those of any town in the State in the ability of the teachers. 
Good houses to teach in are all that are lacking. The Missionary 
Baptists are making efforts to erect a church, and I doubt not will be 
successful. Eff'orts are also making to erect a large college, and judg- 
ing from what has already been accomplished in the way of procuring 
subscriptions, it will go up on a scale commensurate with the wants of 
the surrounding country. 

If there is a healthy spot in Missouri, it is in Liberty. It is finely 
watered, society is good, and in point of morals it is equal to any 
other place, and rapidly improving in that respect. There is stone 
enough in the streets to pave the whole town, and then enough left 
to macadamize the road to the Landing. These things will l)e done in 
due time. We have a " Union " Sunday-school, numbering 80 schol- 
ars, and quite a respectable library attached to it. The day will come, 
if good colleges are erected speedily, when Liberty will be to West- 
ern Missouri what Lexington is to Kentucky — the focus of intelli- 
gence and literature. When once improved as it should and will be, 
no place will be more handsome. 

Two or three good coopers and a chair-maker would do well to 
settle in Liberty. The want of such mechanics is seriously felt by 
merchants' families and farmers. 

March 28, 18fil, the Legislature ve-incorporated the town as " the 
City of Liberty," describing its site as " all that district of country 
contained within one mile square, of which the court-house in Clay 
county is the center, the sides of said square being respectively paral- 
lel to the corresponding sides of said court-house." The city is still 
governed under this charter and certain amendments. 

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Liberty was a flourishing town, 
with numerous well filled stores, a good woolen mill, rope-walks, hemp 
factories, etc., and was well known throughout the country. Its schools 
gave it something of favorable notoriety, as well as its commercial 
advantages. A branch of the Farmers' Bank of Lexington had been 
located here. 

The Liberty Insurance Company, with E. M. Samuel, Michael 
Arthur and Gen. Doniphan as its leading spirits, existed for some 
years after 1850. 

The Civil War left the town much the worse for its experience, but 
during the four years of strife and demoralization business was kept 
up and the ordinary municipal aff'airs received proper attention. The 
building of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad was an epoch of im- 
portance, giving an outlet by rail to the marts of the world and swift 
comnmnication by mail and express with important commercial centers. 
Yet it is maintained by manv that in another sense the building of 



286 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

the railroad injured Liberty more than it benefited it, as it gave facili- 
ties for going away from the town to trade, and caused sundry small 
towns to be built, thus diverting business away from the county seat, 
and affecting its material prosperity considerably. 

CHURCHES. 

Christian Church. — The origin of the Christian Church of Liberty 
was two small organizations formed in 1837. One of these organiza- 
tions was called the " Church of God," and was composed of the 
following persons: Thos. T. Swetnam, Caroline Swetnam, Mason 
and Maria Summers, Howard, James, Anderson and PoU}^ Everett, 
Johnny and Sally W. Reid, Martitia Young, James and Nancy Hedges, 
Walter Huffaker, Wm. F. Grisby, Thos. M. Chevis, Frank McCarty, 
John Thompson, Sally Thompson, A. H. F. and Mary Payne, Nancy 
Turner, and others, 35 in all. The first officers of this organization 
were chosen on December 24, 1837, and were as follows: Bishops, 
T. T. Swetnam and Mason Summers ; Deacons, John Thompson, Thos. 
M. Chevis and James Hodges. The names of the members of the 
other organization have not been obtained. In May, 1839, these two 
organizations united and formed the Christian Church of Liberty. 
August 13, 1837, according to the minutes of the " Church of God," the 
" Church selected Liberty for the purpose of building a meeting-house, 
and chose the following persons to act as trustees : Thos. M. Chevis, 
Jonathan Reed, Joseph Reed and James Hedges." This building, the 
first church, is a brick and still stands at the foot of College hill, in 
the northeastern part of the town, having been remodeled, and used 
as a dwelling. It was completed about 1839. The present church 
building, also a fine brick, was completed in the fall of 1851, jat a cost 
of about $4,000. In 1884 it was improved, the changes costing nearly 
$5,000, or more than the original cost. The pastors of this church 
have been Revs. A. H. F. Payne, who served from the organization 
up to 1850 ; Moses E. Lard, W. J. Pettigrew, A. B. Jones, Josiah 
Waller, R. C. Morton, Wm. H. Blanks, F. R. Palmer, A. B. Jones 
and J. A. Deai'born. Alexander Campbell visited the church at Lib- 
erty and preached in the years 1845, 1852 and 1859. The present 
membership is about 200. 

LiherUj M. E. Church South — Was organized about the year 

1840. Some of the first members were P. B. Grant, J. B. Talbott, 

W. W. Dougherty and James Smithey. About 1842 a brick church 

building was erected, and in 1857 a frame building was constructed, 

which cost about $1,800. It was dedicated in 1859 by Rev. R. A. 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 287 

Young. Some of the pastors have been L. M. Lewis, Z. Roberts, W. 
G. Caples, W. A. Tarwater, H. G. McEwen, J. P. Nolan, G. W. 
Rich, Jno. Begole, E. M. Marvin, J. W. Johnsey, W. E. Dockery and 
J. S. Frazier. The present membership numbers about 50. 

Second Baptist Church. — Nothing more lias been learned of the 
history of this church than that it was organized l)y the eminent divine. 
Rev. A. P. Williams, D. D., May 19, 1^843, with thirteen members, 
who had been dismissed from Rush Creek and Mt. Pleasant Churches — 
Old School — because of their views in regard to missions, etc. The 
Old School already had an organization at Liberty called the First 
Baptist Church of Liberty, and for this reason Rev. Williams called 
his church the Second. Elder Williams was first pastor, and in eight 
years increased the membership from 13 to 194. Eder B. G. Tutt, a 
most popular and efficient minister, is the present pastor. The church 
building, a fine structure, the best house of worship in the city, was 
completed in 1884. 

St. James Roman Catholic Church. — In the year 1847 this church 
was organized, the following being some of the original members : G. 
L. Hughes, Cyrus Curtis, Philip Clark, Patrick Hughes, Maj. Leonard 
Mahoney, Thomas Morrison, Philip Fraher, James Fraher, Michael 
Fraher, HughMcGowan, Owen Shearin, Patrick Barry, Joseph Mor- 
ton and James Burns. The church building is a brick, and was erected 
in 1847 at a cost of $2,500. It was consecrated by Archbishop Ken- 
rick, of St. Louis, in 1848. The pastors who had served this church 
have been Revs. Bernard Donnelly, P. A. Ward, Jas. Murphy, Mat- 
thew Dillon, John J. Cafl:rey, Daniel Healy, Dennis Kennedy, Z. Led- 
with, W. Lambert, James Foley, Wm. F. Drohan, Fintan Mindwiller, 
Peter McMahan, Thomas Hanley, Michael Milay, Dennis J. Kiley, 
Joseph Beil and Peter J. Cullen, the present pastor. The present 
membership, including the small missions through the county, is about 
214. Attached to the church are a pastoral residence and school- 
house, both being two story brick buildings. The school building is 
at present rented to a company who use it for a non-denominational 
select school, known as Hawthorne Institute. 



Liberty Lodge, No. 31, A. F. & A. M. — At Liberty, has been in 
existence for 45 years. The dispensation was issued June 26, 1840, 
on petition of A. Lightburne, E. M. Spence, Josiah C. Parker, Lewis 
Scott, John M. McLain, Thos. M. Bacon, Henry Coleman and Henry 
C. Melone. The first master, under the dispensation, was Josiah C. 



288 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

Parker, who was installed July 18, 1840, b}' three past masters, Thos. 
C. Case, Henry C. Melone and E. M. Spence, and resigned August 
29th following because of certain " unmasonic conduct." A. Light- 
burue was made senior warden August 15, 1840. The charter was not 
issued until October 9, 1840, the first principal officers being Josiah C. 
Parker, master, and A. Lightburneand H. C. Melone, wardens. The 
officers under the dispensation were Josiah C. Parker, master; A. 
Lightburne and H. C. Melone, wardens; Thos. M. Bacon, secretary; 
Henry Coleman, treasurer ; Andrew McLain and Edward M. Spence, 
deacons ; and John Gordon, tyler. The lodge meets in a hall built in 
1875, at a cost of about $2,000. The present membership is 67. 

Liberty Chapter, JVo. 3, R. A. M. — Was first organized under a 
dispensation, issued April 18, 1842 ; the charter was not issued until 
September 13, 1844. Some of the first members were : Alviu Light- 
burne, Frederick Gorlich and J. M. Hughes. The chapter meets in 
the Masonic Hall. There are at present 26 members. 

Knights Temjilar. — Liberty Comniandery, No. 6, K. T., was in- 
stituted by Geo. "W. Belt, R. E. P. Gr. Com. of Mo., under a dis- 
pensation issued October 16, 1865, to Samuel Hardwicke, Rev. Ed. G. 
Owen, John S. Brasfield,. Dan Carpenter, AV. G. Noble, S. H. Mas- 
terson, L. W. Eingo, G. L. Moad and Thomas Beaumont. Of the 
first officers Samuel Hardwicke was commander, Ed. G. Owen, gen- 
eralissimo, and John S. Brasfield, captain-general. (These were ap- 
pointed by the State grand commander.) Under the charter, which 
bears date May 21, 1866, the first officers were: Samuel Hardwicke, 
commander; E. G. Owen, generalissimo; J. E. Brasfield, captain- 
geuenj ; A. Lightburne and W. W. Dougherty, wardens ; Dan Car- 
penter, prelate; Peter B. Grant, recorder; W. A. Hall, standard 
bearer; D. C. Allen, sword bearer ; W. W. Dougherty, warder. The 
present number of members is 15. 

ODD FELLOWS. 

The charter members of Liberty Lodge No. 49, L O. O. F., were 
Madison Miller, who was also one of the first members of Baltimore 
Lodge, No. 1, the first lodge in the United States, Larkin Bradford, 
T. K. Bradley, Geo. W. Morris, T. Leonard, O. C. Stewart, Wm. 
Lamborn and J. W. Wetzel. The charter bears date March 5, 1851. 
The first officers were : Madison Miller, noble grand ; Geo. W. Morris, 
vice-grand; T. K. Bradley, secretary; John Neal, permanent secre- 
tary ; Larkin Bradford, treasurer. The present officers are L. W. 
Newman, noble grand ; Canliy Wilmot, vice-grand ; Charles Patrick, 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 289 

secretary; W. H. Corbin, treasurer; B. B. Corbin, permanent secre- 
tary. L. W. Burris, of this lodge, is district deputy grand master. 
Tlae membership is about 30. The lodge is in good financial condition, 
having some thousands of dollars loaned at interest. It is in the best 
condition, for the number of members, of any lodge in the State. The 
lodge hall is a brick, and was bought in 1878-79. Its furniture and all 
appointments are first class. 

Glaij Encampment, No. 12 — Was instituted in 1853, but is not 
now in workin;; order. 



BIOGRAPHICAL 



I DARWIN J. ADKINS 

(President of the Oommercial Savings Bank, Liberty). 

In au}' worthy history of Clay county the name that heads this 
sketch will always be given an enviable place among the leading citi- 
zens of the county and its self-made, wealthy Ijusiness men. Mr. 
Adkins started out for himself when a youth only al)out 15 years of 
age and without a dollar, but before he had attained his majority he 
had succeeded in accumulating over $2,000 solely by his own work 
and good management. A history of his career in later years has 
been but a continuation of tiiat of his youth and has been proportion- 
allv even more successful. He is now one of the two principal owners 
of the Commercial Savings Bank, one of tlie soundest and most relia- 
ble banking institutions in the western part of the State, and is also 
a large real estate owner and leading stock raiser of the county, own- 
inga number of fine farms, from which he annually sells thousands of 
dollars' worth of stock. He also has a large amount of other valuable 
property and, in a word, is one of the prominent tax payers of the 
county. Such is the successful career of a man who cast himself out 
into the world on his own resoun-cs when but a mere boy and with- 
out a penny, a career that would reflect credit upon anyone man. Mr. 
Adkins was born in Scott county, Ky., October 9, 1821, and was a 
son of Judge Robert Adkins and wife, /lee Miss Mary Snell, the Judge 
formerly of Virginia, but Mrs. Adkins a Kentuckian by nativity. The 
Judge's mother was a Miss Mille, and her parents were co-pioneers 
with Daniel Boone fn Kentucky, having come out from Virginia in 
company with him on his first trip to the then wilds of the former 
State. In 1825, Judge Adkins came to Missouri with his family and 
located in Howard county, but returned to Kentucky soon afterwards. 
Ten j'ears from their first trip, however, they came back to this State 



290 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

and settled in Clay county. Here the Judge bought several hundred 
acres of fine land, three miles north of Liberty, where he improved a 
large farm and lived until his death. He died of cholera in July, 
1851. He became one of the well known and influential citizens of 
the county, and such was his high standing and popularity that al- 
though an uncompromising Democrat in a strong AVhig county, as 
Clay county then was, he was repeatedly elected to the ofiice of county 
judge, defeating each time the most popular Whig tliey could put up , 
against him. He reared a large family of children, five sons and six 
daughters living to reach years of maturity and to become the heads 
of families themselves. Nine are still living, four brothers in Kansas 
City, three in this county and two sisters who are in Kansas City — 
Mrs. C. J. White and Mrs. Eliza Hall. Darwin J. Adkins was the 
eldest of the brothers and remained at home on the farm until he was 
15 years of age, when, having secured something of an ordinary edu- 
cation, and having a taste for business life, he left the farm and came 
to Libert}', where he obtained a clerkship in a store. He clerked for 
about three years and not only obtained a good knowledge of the busi- 
ness, but also saved up a little means from his salary. He then went 
on a farm and also engaged in trading in stock. These interests he 
has ever since carried on. For some years he was engaged in the 
Southern trade in horses and mules, driving his stock to Shreveport, 
La., Alexandria, Miss., and other points. This was while he was yet 
quite a young man and he made some two or three thousand dollars 
before he was 21 years of age. In 1842, he was married to Miss 
Elizabeth Pence, a daughter of Edward A. Pence, formerly of Ken- 
tucky. He then gave up the Southern trade, and settled down on a 
farm, but continued in the local stock trading business. Later along 
he removed to Platte county, but after four years returned to this 
county, and bought the old Adkins family homestead, where he fol- 
lowed farming and handling stock until 1863. Subsequently he 
bought other [)laces and resided at Liberty and on different farms 
until the time he settled permanently where he now resides. In 
1856 he was largely instrumental in establishing the Farmers' Bank 
at Liberty, becoming one of its directors. This was finall}' succeeded 
by'the Commercial Savings Bank in 1867. Since 1870 he has been 
president of this bank and he and Mr. Robertson own more than four- 
fifths of its capital stock. It has a stock of $50,000, all paid up, and 
the bank is in a most prosperous condition, paying annually a good 
dividend on the stock represented. Last year Mr. Adkins sold over 
$9,000 worth of stock off of his several farms. Mr. Adkins' first 
wife having died in April, 1852, he was married to Mrs. Mary A. Fut- 
sle, a daughter of Andrew Robertson, formerly of Tennessee. Her 
mother was a native of iNlorth Carolina. Mrs. Adkins' parents removed 
to Clay county way back in 1818, and she was born here in September, 
1822. Mr. Adkins and his present wife have four children, namely : 
Magdaline, wife of Robert G. Robinson; Edward V., Robert I., and 
Emma, deceased wife of Michael A. Groom. By his former wife Mr. 
Adkins has two children : Ruth, wife of L. W. Pence, and Darwin J. 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 291 

N. Mi-s. A. is a member of the M. E. Cburch South, and Mr. Adkiu.s 
a prominent member of the Masonic Order. 

LEONIDAS ADKINS 

(Proprietor of the Liberty Livery, Feed and Sales Stables, Liberty) . 

Mr. Adkins is a representative of the old and respected family 
whose name he bears, mention of which has already been made in the 
sketch of his brother, D. J. Adkins, on a previous page. Leonidas 
Adkins was born on the old family homestead, near Lil)erty, April 6, 
1838. He was reared on the fai'm and received a good practical edu- 
cation as he grew up, studying the higher branches at William Jewell 
College. Afterwards he engaged as a clerk at Liberty, and continued 
at that about five years. For the 24 years following, up to 1883, Mr. 
Adkins followed farming and stock raising in this county, and was 
satisfactorily successful. Early in 1884 he bought the stables and 
stock where he is now engaged in business. The building he has con- 
siderably enlarged, and has much improved the business, so that he 
now has one of the best establishments of the kind in the county. In 
1858 Mr. Atkinson was mai'ried to Miss Martha J., a daughter of Hon. 
John R. Keller, of this county, whose sketch is elsewhere given. 
Mrs. A. is a graduate of the Liberty Female Seminary. They have 
five children : Rol)ert, who is a partner with his father in business ; 
Lila, James P., William, John C. and Churchill. Mrs. A. is a mem- 
ber of the Christian Church. 

EDWARD V. (yclept " calhoun") ADKINS 

(Farmer and Stoclc-rai.ser, Post-ofBce, Liberty). 

Mr. Adkins is well recognized as one of the neatest and most enter- 
prising young farmers of the county. He is a man of thorough 
collegiate and university education, and is qualified for almost any 
business where intelligence, culture and energy are required, but has 
adopted farming and handling stock as his calling entirely from choice, 
preferring a free and open and independent life of a farmer to that of 
all others. In his farming operations ho has brought his education 
and good taste to bear the same as he would have done in any other 
pursuit. He has a good place, large enough for his present purposes, 
and keeps it in the best of condition. His home and household and 
all its surroundings are in keeping with the general appearance of his 
farm, the credit for which is principally due to his refined and excellent 
wife, who is even more particular than her husband to have everything 
in presentable order. Mr. Adkins was born in this county May 19, 
1845, and was a son of Downing O. Adkins, a well known and highly 
respected citizen of the county, who came here from Kentucky as early 
as 1832. Mr. Adkins, Jr., was reared on his father's form (his father 
being a successful stock dealer as well as a prominent farmer), and 
given the best of educational advantages as he grew up. From the com- 
mon schools he went to William Jewell College and then to Mount Gilead 



292 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

College, thence to Sidney College, Iowa, and from there to the State 
University of Missouri, where he completed his general education. 
Afterwards ho took a commercial course at a business college in 
Lafayette, Ind., where he was honorably graduated. Returning from 
Indiana he at once engaged in farming in this county, which he has 
ever since followed. His farm contains 228 acres. November 8, 
1882, he was married to Miss Susie H. Williams, a daughter of John 
Williams, of Shawnee Mission, Kas., but formerly from Marshall, 
Mich. She was an invalid at the time of her marriage, and survived 
her wedding day only a week more than a month. Her remains were 
buried in the cemetery near where Mr. Adkins now resides. She was 
a lady of singular sweetness and gentleness of disposition, and of a 
presence and bearing tliat won all hearts. But Death loves the shining 
mark, and in the morning of her life his cold and pulseless finger 
pointed her out for the grave — she was no more. While loved ones 
here have sustained a sad bereavement by her loss, heaven has been 
made brighter by her sweet, gentle spirit. Mr. Adkins was married 
to his present wife September 15, 1883. She was a Miss Emma E. 
Pence, a daughter of Capt. W. H. Pence, and a lady worthy in every 
way to occupy the place she does in the affection of her devoted hus- 
band. Mr. Adkins has not neglected the information to be had from 
travel, but has visited in different parts of the country no less tlian 
17 States. After all the country he has seen he is satisfied there is 
no place like Clay county for a home. " There is no place like 
home." 

HON. DeWITT C. ALLEN 
(Liberty) . 

DeWitt C Allen was born Novcm1)er 11, 1835, in Clay county, 
Missouri, and with the exception of a few brief intervals has passed 
his life in that county. His family is of English- Welsii extraction, 
and has been settled in America more than a century and a half, 
and his parents wore persons of education and refinement. His father 
Col. Shui)ael Allen, was a native of Orange county, New York, 
whence he emigrated to Kentucky in 1816, and thence to Missouri in 
1817, and finally settled in Clay county in 1820. His mother. Miss 
Dinah Ayres Trigg, was a daughter of Gen. Stephen Trigg, of 
Bedford county, Virginia, who emigrated to Kentucky near tiie close 
of the last century, and thence to Howard county, Missouri, in 1818. 
She was born in Estill county, Kentucky. 

When Mr. Allen was five years old his father died, and he passed 
entirely under the influence and training of his mother — a woman 
of excellent judgment, fine; literar}' taste, cheerful disposition, the 
most delicate sentiments of honor and integrity, and in every way 
fitted for the discharge of the duties devolved upon her. In tempera- 
ment he is more like his father, but his character was molded by his 
mother. To her encouragement and advice he attributes mainly his 
achievements in life. 

By mental constitution he was a student and lover of books, and 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 293 

his taste foi- study was streiigtlieiied by example. His iiistoricai and 
iniscellaiieous reading began at eleven years of age, and has been pur- 
sued with system and regularity. Before the completion of his thir- 
teenth year, among other works, he had read all of Scott's novels. 
In 1850, having previously received the benefit of excellent private 
schools, held, however, at irregular intervals, he entered William 
Jewell College, and was there graduated in 1855 with the first hon- 
ors in the classics and helles lettres. His grade in mathematics was 
somewhat lower. His taste originally at college was for the mathe- 
matics, but as his acquaintance with the classics increased his fondness 
for mathematics became less strong. Having completed his col- 
legiate course he accepted the position of principal of the preparatory 
department of the Masonic College at Lexington, Missouri, which he 
filled for a year to the entire satisfaction of the curators and patrons 
of that institution. He accounts the reminiscences of his stay at Lex- 
ington as among the most agreeable in his life. Society there was at 
the height of its brilliance and charm. The people, as ever, were 
hospitable and courteous, and he bears with him only memories of 
kindness and encouragement received from them. His previous life 
had been one of study and seclusion, and his experiences of society 
and the world were slight. Of the many persons there to whom he 
feels indebted for kind offices, he especially remembei's his friends, 
Charles R. Morehead, Sr. (now deceased), and Mrs. William H. Rus- 
sell. During the year succeeding his connectif)n with the Masonic 
College he devoted himself to those historical and special studies 
(suggested to him by his friend. Col. Alexander W. Doniphan) 
which are considered by legal gentlemen as a proper introduction to 
the comprehensive study of the law, which he had chosen while at 
college as the profession of his life. From the summer of 1858 to 
May, 1860, he pursued his legal studies in the office of the late Rich- 
ard R. Rees, Esq., in Leavenworth, Kansas. Occasionally dining 
that period he assisted Mr. Rees in the trial of cases in order to 
acquire familiarity with the procedure in the courts. He recognizes 
his obligations to the advice and suggestions of Mr. Kees as being 
very great, particularly in the specialities of pleading, conveyancing 
and the drafting of orders, judgments and decrees. In May, 18(!0, 
he returned to his home in Liberty, Missouri, and began the practice 
of law. Since thenJie has devoted himself cyclusively to the work of 
his profession. In November, 1860, he was elected circuit attorney 
of the Fifth Judicial Circuit of Missouri, composed of the counties of 
Clay, Clinton, Caldwell, Ray and Carroll. He discharged the duties 
of that office with fidelity and promptness until December 17, 1861, 
when, under the operation of an ordinance of the convention of that 
year, prescribing an oath testing the loyalty of officers, it became va- 
cant in consequence of his refusal to take the oath. He was married 
May 18, 1864, to Miss Emily E. Settle, of Ray county, Missouri, 
daughter of Hiram P. Settle, Esq., of that county. She was born \\< 
Culpeper county, Virginia. They have three children. 

Durinir the years 1866-67 he was general attorney of the Kansas 



294 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

City and Cameron Railroad Company — now known as the Kansas City 
branch of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad — and in that posi- 
tion labored assiduously with others to secure its early completion. 

He was elected, without opposition, in Januai-y, 1875, to represent — 
in connection with Hon. E. H. Norton — the Third Senatorial District 
of Missouri, composed of the counties of Clay, Clinton and Platte, 
in the constitutional convention, called to meet May 5, 1875, and as- 
sisted in the framing of the present organic law of the State. In that 
body, composed of many of the ablest and most learned men in the 
State, he bore himself with ability and won the respect and confidence 
of its members. At its organization he was appointed a meml)er of 
the committees on education and the legislative department, and was 
esteemed in them as an intelligent and indefatigable worker. 

Mr. Allen has attained a high and honorable position at the bar. 
He deals with the law as a science, and sees the logical connection of 
its pi-inciples. He surveys the fields of legal lore with the clear, calm 
vision of a jurist. He is devoted to our system of jurisprudence be- 
cause it contains the crystallized thoughts of the best minds of all 
ages and countries. He is noted for the power of his faculty for 
analysis, the quickness of his perception of the most remote analogies, 
the fineness and delicacy of liis distinctions, and the rapidity of his 
detection of inconsistencies in argument. In forensic conflicts he 
brings into requisition the best materials of law and fact. His posi- 
tions are always clear, logical and concise. His voice, though not 
strong, is distinct and penetrating, and his rhetoric faultless. When 
the occasion demands it, he ascends by easy gradations from the 
smooth, graceful and conversational style, suited to the courts, to a 
higher plane of oratory. His manner is earnest, and his ideas form 
in quick, unbroken succession. But his great power as a speaker ia in 
the elevation of his sentiments, and his rich and sparkling thoughts. 
Ringing tones, electric fire and aptly chosen words merely form their 
drapery. He is a cultured, scholarly man. His style, both in speak- 
ing and writing, is peculiarly his own. He is an independent thinker 
and derives his information, when practicable, from original sources. 
He is systematic and exact in all things, and counts as worthless all 
knowledge that is not accurate. During the vacation of the courts he 
does not remain idle, but continues in his office engaged in work or 
investigation. He deals with his clients with the utmost candor. And 
one of his distinguishing characteristics is fidelity to his friends. He 
possesses a high sense of honor, and is bold and unyielding in defense 
of right. 

Mr. Allen devotes his periods of leisure to literary reading — his- 
torical, philosophical, critical and poetical — but never allows it to 
infringe upon his professional study or work. He fully recognizes 
the truth so often urged by the sages of the law, that, of all men, the 
leading and thought of a lawyer sliould be the most extended. Sys- 
tematic and careful study in the higher works of literature — historical, 
philosophical, critical and i)oetical — gives freshness, breadth and com- 
prehensive grasp to the mind, variety and richness of thought, and a 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 295 

clearer perception of the motives of men and tiie principles of things, 
indeed of the very spirit of laws. Nature has given us both reason 
and fancy, and they were meant for use. Hence, he argues that the 
mind should both reason and blooin. Besides, a cultured fancy, guided 
by severe taste, is a source of invention in argument. He occasionally 
writes, but only as a matter of amusement or for the gratification of 
friends. His style of writing is clear, logical, chaste and impassioned. 
His thoughts are expressed with force and sententiousness. His fancy 
is delicate and subtle, and usually pervades his writings. 

Mr. Allen is a charming conversationalist. His wide range of read- 
ing, habits of analysis and observation, intuitive knowledge of the 
motives of men and women, his fine fancy, ra[)id play of thought, 
and quick apprehension, comliine with his genial good humor and in- 
nate charity to make him a brilliant and most agreeable member of 
society, and to render his triumphs in the salon equal to those at the 
bar. He is, as the result both of thought and observation, a staunch 
and enthusiastic friend of popular education, and is keenly alive to 
the advantages to be derived from an increase of faoilities for uni- 
versity and scientific training for the 3'oung. During 10 years, or 
more, prior to the summer of 1881, he was one of the trustees of 
William Jewell College, and earnestly co-operated with his asso- 
ciates in the promotion of the interests of that institution. Probably 
to no one in the State is it more indebted for its present high state of 
efficiency. 

Mr. Allen is not a member of any church, but he entertains a high 
respect for religion, and he conceives that reverence for it among the 
l^eople is the life and soul of healthful, well ordered society. He is 
highly public spirited, and ready at all times to aid and encourage 
those movements which tend to increase the material happiness and 
j)romote the culture of his community. His highest conception of the 
due execution of a inan's life work is the faithful performance of 
duty. In politics he is a firm, consistent Jefiersonian Democrat. 

JOHN M. ALLEN, M. D. 

(Physician .and Surgeon, Liijerty). ' 

Dr. Allen was a son of the late Col. Shubael Allen, for many years 
a prominent and influential citizen of Clay county, but originally from 
Orange count}', N. Y. Co\. Allen is elsewhere referred to in this 
volume. Dr. Allen was born in Clay county, July 23, 1833. He 
was reared in this county, and educated at the common schools and 
in William Jewell College. At that institution he took a course of 
two years, immediately preceding 1852, and entered the college at its 
first opening, in Januaiy, 1850. His taste in study inclined to mathe- 
matics, and, aftei- that, to history, natural philosophj' and astronomy. 
Young Allen became a proficient mathematician, and he advanced in 
Latin as far as the Sophomore class. Early in 1852 he began the 
study of medicine under the tutorage of Dr. Joseph iM. Wood, now 
of Kansas Citv, but then a resident phvsician of Liberty. In due 

14 



296 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

time young Allen matriculated at the St. Louis Medical College, and 
he continued a student there until he was graduated with credit in the 
class of '54. He was a severe and unremitting student while at med- 
ical college, as he had previously been when taking his general college 
course ; and the thoroughness he showed in his studies, and the 
proo-ress made by him, attracted the favorable attention of his pre- 
ceptors. Immediately after his graduation at St. Louis he was 
solicited by Dr. Pope, the dean of the St. Louis Medical College, to 
apply for the position of physician to the St. Louis City Hospital, art 
evidence of the high estimate Dr. Pope placed upon his attainments 
and ability as a physician. Dr. Allen, however, declined to make the 
application, preferring to enter at once upon the general practice of 
medicine. Returning home from St. Louis after his graduation, Dr. 
Allen located at Claysville, in the northeastern part of this county, 
and began the practice of his profession. When he arrived there he 
had but $6 in the world, and was $400 in debt. Stopping with Capt. 
William Cummons, a man whose largeness of heart was only equaled 
by his great purity of character and his almost religious veneration 
for North Carolina, his native State, young Dr. Allen frankly told 
him his financial condition, and that his assets consisted of a limited 
wardrobe, "Russell's Modern Europe," the Lord's Prayer and a 
small medical lil)rary. Capt. Cummons, who was evidently touched 
by reference to the Lord's Prayer, in the generosity of his great good 
nature, readily and graciously assured young Allen that he would 
gladly board him on trust, and would supply him with such reason- 
able sums of money as he might need. For this noble and generous 
act of kindness, and for the courtesy and consideration which was 
ever afterwards shown him in the family of Capt. Cummons as long 
as he remained with them, Dr. Allen cherishes a profound and lasting 
feeling of gratitude. The kindness of other friends, including that 
of those good men, Edward M. Samuel and Col. A. W . Doniphan, he 
liolds in like remembrance. Declining, however, all loans, he i"e- 
inaincd at Claysville for ai)out seven years, and built up an excellent 
practice, becoming one of the leading physicians of the northeastern 
part of the county. 

When Mr. Lincoln fulminated his first proclamation against the 
South in l8(;i, Dr. Allen was temporarii}^ absent from Claysville at- 
tending a post-graduate course of lectures at the St. Louis JNIedical 
College, in order to review his college course in medicine and surgery, 
and to acquaint himself with all the later and newer principles and 
theories of i)ructiccdevel()i)ed since his graduation in l<S.'i4. But be- 
lieving that war was now imminent, a,nd being determined to espouse 
the cause of the South, which he believed to be his duty as a loyal 
and patriotic citizen of Missouri, he at once returned home and pro- 
ceeded to the enlistment of a company for the Southern service. On 
the organization of the companv he was elected captain, and it became 
a part of Col. Benjamin A. Rives' regiment — who was killed at the 
head of his regiment in the i)attle of Elk Horn. But in May, 1861 J 
Dr. Allen accepted the office of surgeon of Rives' regiment, which 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 297 

became a part of the Fourth Missouri division, State Guard. His 
term of service in the State Gunrd lasted for several months, after 
the expiration of which he and a number of other prominent gentle- 
man in the Southern service from Missouri, organized the Tiiird Mis- 
souri, of the First Brigade, in the regular Confederate service, he be- 
coming regimental surgeon. He continued surgeon of that regiment 
until the fall of 1863, when, by order of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, 
he was promoted to the office of chief surgeon of the district of Mis- 
sissippi and East Louisiana, and attached to the stati' of Gen. Wirt 
Adams, with whom he continued until the close of tiie war. Through- 
out the war Dr. Allen studiously avoided the exercise of his privilege 
as a surgeon of not participating in the various engagements in which 
his command took part, but invariaiily went to the front, when not 
occupied with his duties to the wounded. He took part in many of 
the great battles of the war, including, in Missouri, those of Car- 
thage, Wilson's Creek, Dry AVood and the siege of Lexington ; and be- 
yond this State, those of Pjlk Horn, Corinth, luka, Gr;ind Gulf, 
Fort Gibson and a number of engagements of less importance. After 
the war Dr. Allen returned home to Clay county, and located at Lil)- 
erty, where he has ever since resided and been engaged in the active 
practice of his profession. He has been very successful as a physician 
and has taken a leading place among the prominent [)hysicians of tije 
State. He has always taken a pardonal)le pride in the good name and 
high character of the medical profession, and has diligently exerted 
himself on all proper occasions for its advancement. As early as 1856 
he took an active part in the organization of the Clay County Medi- 
cal Society, and from time to time after that was its president. In 
1858 he became a member of the National Medical Association, and 
has ever since contiinied to be honoi-ably identified with that organiza- 
tion. Later along he assisted to organize the Kansas City District 
Medical Society, and in recognition of his high stantliiig in the profes- 
sion and of the great value of his services in the orgnnization of the 
societ}^ he was made its first president. Dr. Allen, being a man of 
culture and decided literary tastes, takes a marked interest in the cause 
of education and literary matters. For many years he has been an active 
member of the Liberty Literary Club, a society of gentlemen at this 
place organized nearly 30 years ago, for the promotion of literature 
and social culture, and which contains among its members the i)rofes- 
sional men and literati of the place. He is also a strong advocate of 
temperance and has been coiuiected with all the temperance move- 
ments in this county since 1848. Dr. Allen never signed a petition 
for a dram-shop license in his life, but by his individual efforts and 
numerous addresses and lectures has contributed in no small degree 
to the presetit advanced position of the people of Clay county on thi 
temperance question. A man of good business habits and qualifica- 
tions, he has been satisfiictorily successful in accumulating the sub- 
stantial evidences of material comfort and independence. At the be- 
ginning of his practi(!e, over thirty years ago, he made it a rule to 
close up his books, either by cash settlements or requiring promissory 



2d8 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

notes, at the end of each year ; and whilst he has carnestlj' avoided 
pressing the poor, he has been hardly less careful to make those pay 
who were able to, especially that class described in the couplet : — 

" When the devil got sick, the devil a saint would be; 
But when the devil got well, the devil a saint was he." 

On the 15th of November, 1866, Dr. Allen was married to Miss 
Agnes McAlpine at Port Gibson, Miss. Mrs. Allen was a daughter of' 
the late William R. McAlpine, Esq., of that place, and is a lady of 
marked culture ^and refinement. 

As a citizen, Dr. Allen is public spirited, and readily appreciates 
those crises when the union of the intellect and energy of a commun- 
ity for action becomes necessary to secure results beneficial to all, and 
is at all times willing to bear his proportions of the burden of labor 
and expenditure needed to attain them. 

GEORGE A. BALDWIN 

(Superiutendeut of the Eleemosenary Farm, Post OflBcc, Liberty). 

Mr. Baldwin took charge of the county farm under contract of the 
county court in 1878, and has continued in charge of it ever since. 
The fact that he has been retained in this responsible position for so 
many years speaks well for his management of the place, his character 
in the service of the county, and the confidence in which he is held l)y 
the court and the people at large. There is an average of from ten 
to twelve poor persons on the farm all the time. In his treatment of 
them he is kind but firm, and so governs them that while they know 
they must respect and obey him, the}' nevertheless regard him with 
entire friendship, and show that they feel it a pleasure to have his 
good opinion. The county could probably not get a more suital)le 
man for the position he holds than it now has. Mr. Baldwin is a na- 
tive of Clay county, i)orn in 1842. His father was Andrew B. Bald- 
win, distantly related to Maj. Roderick Baldwin, of the Warrensburg 
/Standard, in this State. Mr. Baldwin's mother came of a good fam- 
ily. She was a Miss Harriet Moberly, a daughter of B. M. Moberly, 
formerly of Kentucky. They have four children : GeorgeT., Edna B., 
Ninety B. and Clyde A. One is deceased, Charles R. Mr. Baldwin 
and wife are members of the Christian Church, and he is a member of 
the I. O. O. F. 

JOHN A. BEAUCHAMP 

(Dealer in Groceries, Liberty;. 

Maj. Robbinson P. Boauchamp, the father of the subject of this 
sketcli and a prominent lawyer in Western Missouri in an early day, 
came here from Southern Kentucky in 1825, and for a number of 
years resided at Liberty. He assisted to organize the first court ever 
held in Jackson county, and being a man of collegiate education, he 
nnderstoodsurveying thoroughly and was induced to assist in 1825 in 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 299 

establishing the State bouiulary line of Western Missouri, from Iowa 
to Arkansas. Under John Qnincy Adams' administration he was ap- 
pointed Indian agent by President Adams, with headquarters at Ft. 
Leavenworth, in which (position lie continued until his death, in 1833. 
He died of cholera during the epidemic of that year, while on his way 
up the Missouri river on the boat Yellowstone,- and was buried at 
Belleview, near Council Bluffs. He was married in Kentucky bef(n'e 
coming to Missouri, his wife having been a Miss Dolly Winn, a daugh- 
ter of Jesse Winn, Sr., of that State. She tiled at Paris, Tenn., in 
18(i3. A family of live children were the fruits of their married life, 
including the subject of the present sketch. 

John A. Beauchamp, who was the eldest son in their family of 
children, was born at Glasgow, in Barren county, Kentucky, Decem- 
ber 19, 1817, and was still (juite young when the family removed to 
Missouri. Partly reared at Lil)erty, at tlie age of thirteen he accom- 
panied his parents to Ft. Leavenworth and remained there until 1832, 
after his father's death. His mother then went to Tennessee, but 
John A. obtained employment as salesman in a wholesale and retail 
house in St. Louis. He continued there for a])outfive years and then 
returned to Liberty. But in 1838, in connection with a partner, he 
established a dry goods and grocery house at Richmond, in Ray county, 
and also a similar house at Camden, he, himself taking charge of the 
Camden store. He continued in that business for al>out nine years, 
at the expiration of which time he retired from merchandising and 
settled on a farm he owned just outside the suburbs of Liberty. 

Mr. Beauchamp was actively engaged in farming on his place near 
Liberty for a period of over thirty years, or until 1880 ; and for nearly 
twenty years of that time he was extensively occupied in dealing in 
stock, trading, buying, selling, etc. However, for iive years follow- 
ing 1865, he resided in town and carried on a clothing store, besides 
running his farm and stock-dealing. Three years ago he sold the 
farm and is still remaining in town, where he established a grocery 
store, which he has ever since been conducting. He has a full stock 
of groceries, provisions, queens' and glassware, etc., etc. 

Mr. Beauchamp has been married twice. His first wife was a Miss 
Ann T. Lincoln, a daughter of George and Julia Ann (Gatewood) 
Lincoln, early settlers of this county from Kentucky. Her grand- 
father, Thomas Lincoln, originally of Rockingham county, Virginia, 
was a brother to .\l)raham Lincoln, the grandfither of President 
Lincoln. 

Mr. Beauchamp'sfirst wife died in 1853, leaving two sons, Robbinson 
P. and John S., botii of whom are now themselves the heads of families 
and residents of Nebraska. 

To his second wife Mr. Beauchamp was married in 1862. She was 
a Miss Sidney N. Owens, a daughter of Margaret M. and Samuel Owens, 
of Mason county, Kentucky. Five children are the fruits of this 
union : Lee, who clerks for his father in the store and is a iiraduate of 
the Liberty high school ; Maggie, Marietta, Fanny an<l Nellie. 

Mr. Beauchamp has held a number of local official positions and is 



300 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

a man as highly esteemed as any citizen of the county. He is a mem- 
ber of the Christian Church. His wife is a member of the Presbyte- 
rian Church. 

WILLIAM E. BRASFIELD 

(Farmer, Stock-raiser and Stock-dealer, Post-office, Liberty). 

For many 3'ears Mr. Brasfield has devoted his time and attention 
principally to stock. He is one of those men of energy and natural 
business tact who generally succeed in whatever they engage. The' 
qualities for successful business men are, to a large extent, natural, 
inherited, the result of a union, the conditions which tend to ti'ansmit 
to offsprings those characteristics and attributes in a large measure 
which afterwards go to make the successful man. It is said that the 
poet is born — not afterwards made bj^ education. This is very 
lai-gely true of many other spheres of activit}', both mental and 
industrial. Unless one have the natural attributes for a particular 
calling, his career in that calling will always be an uphill struggle, 
and, at the best, only comparative success is possible. Mr. Brasfield 
came of a line of ancestors remarked for their energy and enterprise 
as business farmers ; not only personally industrious themselves, but 
with a tact for making work around them move along, and for direct- 
ing their affairs in a business-like way to the best advantage. What- 
ever they saw to be the most profitable as farmers they followed, 
whether at one time it was raising grain, at another fattening stock 
for the markets, or, again, breeding fine stock for the general trade. 
Being men of sterling intelligence and business acumen, thej' were 
generally able to perceive what branch of farm life was the most 
remunerative, and that they invariably pursued. So with Mr. Bras- 
field, the subject of this sketch. He has long seen thatgrain growing 
can not continue a profitable industry, and his sagacit}' in this respect 
has already been verified. Wheat in the Northwest is now being 
produced for a market that has reached as low a point as 35 cents per 
bushel, and the general average of prices will continue to go down. 
He, therefore, turned his attention to stock, and has profited by his 
good judgment. But ordinary, common stock is rapidly reaching the 
point where there is no profit for a Missouri farmer, on account of the 
cheap stock of Texas and the territories. Therefore, he is gradually 
converting his place into a fine stock farm. Mr. Brasfield has been 
very successful as a stock-raiser and dealer, and is one of the leading 
stockmen in the county. He has a fine stock farm of 434 acres, with 
280 acres additional near by. His place is run nearly altogether in 
blue grass, reserving only enough for grain for stock feed in winter 
and for fattening purposes. He has an excellent grade of cattle on 
his place, and makes a business of raising and fattening beef cattle 
and liogs for the markets. He ships annuall}' a lai-ge number of each. 
His specialty in the stock line, however, is breeding and raising fine 
saddle and harness stallions and fine jacks. For these purposes he 
has provided himself with some of the best stock in the country. He 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 301 

makes a special study of blooded horses and' jacks, and selects his 
stock for breeding purposes from the classes, and, indeed, from the 
families of breeds which are recognized by common consent to be the 
best. Annually he sells a number of young stallions and jacks bred 
and raised on his place. He finds it but little more trouble and 
expense to raise a fine animal than it would to raise a scrub, whereas, 
with the first there is a large profit, and with the other little or no 
l)r()fit, if not a loss. Certainly he is correct in the idea that this is 
the only true and sensible theory of successful stock-raising. Mr. 
Brasfield was born in Chariton county. Mo., in December, 1827, but 
was reared in Clay county. His parents were Leonard and Lucretia 
Brasfield, who went from Virginia in an early day to INIadison county, 
Ky. From there he came to Missouri in 1821, and located in Howard 
county. From there they shortly' removed to Chariton count}', and 
then settled permanently in Clay county in 1829. The father was a 
successful farmer of this county, and an enterprising stock-raiser. 
He died here in 18(37; the mother died in 1871. William E., who 
was brought up to farming and stock-raising, went to California in 
1849, and was absent two 3'ears, engaged in mining on Wood's creek 
with some success. Returning in 1851, he resumed farming, and 
raising and dealing in stock, and in 1854 took a drove of cattle across 
the plains to California, where he sold them to good advantage. He 
then came back, and ever since that time has confined himself to his 
farm and the stock business in tiiis county. In 1855 he was married 
to Miss Sarah J. Estes, a daughter of William and Malinda Estes, the 
father a native of Virginia but her mother from Tennessee. They 
came to Missouri from Tennessee in 1817. They have four children : 
Amanda, the wife of John Dale ; Annie B., the wife of William Davis ; 
William L. and Hettie. Mr. Brasfield is a man who appreciates the 
import.ince of education, and gave his children the benefits of college 
instruction. 

HON. LUKE W. BURRIS 

(Clerk of the Coimty Coiii't, Clay county, Mo.). 

The period of Mr. Burris' adult life up to the present time has been 
chiefly spent in two counties of this State, and from both he has been 
the recii)ient of enviable political honors. The county in which he 
was princi|);dly reared — Washington county — he represented with 
honor and al)ility in the State Legislature, after having held numerous 
other pul)lic trusts. Removing thence to this county after the close 
of his term as representative of Washington county, in 1853, he has 
been repeated!}' honored here with the sutlVages of the people in a 
manner not less creditable to him personally and as a trusted oiEcial 
than were the confidence and esteem in which he was held where he 
was reared. In 1864 he was the nominee of the Democratic pai'ty on 
the ticket with Hon. Thomas L. Price for Lieutenant-Governor, and if 
the people of Missouri could then have had, as they now have, 
" a free ballot and a fair count " he would undoubtedly have been 
elected. 



302 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

Ill the fill! of 1870, after having twice represented Clay county in 
the Legislature, he was prevailed upon by his friends in this county to 
accept the oiBce of county court clerk, to which he was elected by a 
highly flattering majority, and ever since that time he has been content 
to continue in tliat position, having been consecutively rechosen to the 
oflBce by the people at each quadriennial election. At the close of 
his present term he will have served the people in this position for 16 
years. Mr. Burris was a son of one of the pioneer settlers of Central^ 
Missouri. His father, David Burris, came to this State from Ken- 
tucky when a young man, away back in the early territorial days of the 
country. He first located in Howard county, and planted and raised 
a crop of corn the year when corn was first raised in that county, but 
soon afterwards made his home in Cooper county, near Boonville. 
He was an active participant in all the early Indian wars of the coun- 
try, and was as brave an Indian fighter and deadlj' a shot with his 
trusted rifle as ever faced the foe of the forest or drew bead on a 
treacherous savage. Long after his death his widow drew a pension 
from the government on account of his services in protecting the iiomes 
of the early settlers of Missouri. He was married near Fayette in 
about 1812 to Miss Susan Monroe, a daughter of William Monroe, 
another brave-hearted pioneer settler from Kentucky. Their honey- 
moon and some years afterwards were spent principally in Cooper's 
Fort, for in those days no " pale-face" was safe where a red man's 
bullet could reach him from ambush. Luke W. Burris was born at 
Boonville August 2, 1817. In about 1830 the family removed to Texas, 
then a country even wilder and more weird than ^lissouri. But they 
returned in a short time to this State and settled in Washington county. 
In 1850 the father, though well advanced in years, still had the fire of 
the old pioneer in him, and felt equal to a journey across the plains to 
the Pactolian lands of the Pacific coast. He accordingly went to Cali- 
fornia and engaged in mining, but never lived to return. He died and 
was buried on the distant shore of the Pacific sea, where his remains 
still rest, wrapped in the sleep that shall be broken only by the final 
acclaim of inmiortal life. Mr. Burris was reared in Washington 
county, and as he grew up learned tlie lessons, by the experiences 
through which he passed, of industry, frugal liai)its and economy. These 
he has never forgotten. They have ever been characteristics of his sub- 
sequent life and conduct. Though brought up in a condition of society 
where the incentives for an education were V)y no means great, and 
where the opportunities for culture were even less, he had the intelli- 
gence and sagacity to see that learning, at least, a suflicient knowledge 
of books for all practical affairs of life, was of the first importance. 
Without the advantage of local schools, except for a period of about 
six months, he nevertheless applied himself to study. When 17 years 
of age, to use his own expression, he did not " know one figure from 
another; " but by close attention to his books at home during what 
leisure ho had from his daily employments, he succeeded in mastering 
the elements of an ordinary English education. He has always been 
remarked for his pleasant, allablc manners, his kindly disposition and 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 303 

the frankness antl generosity of liis nature. He has, therefore, ever 
been a popular man anions; all who knew him wherever he resided. 
Well qualified by education and natural aptitude for the discharge of 
ofScial duties, and a man of thorough integrity of character, it is 
therefore not surprising that most of his adult life has been spent in 
positions of public trust. When quite a young man he was elected 
constable of his township in Washington county, which he held with 
great satisfaction to the public and increasing popularity for several 
years. He was then elected county assessor, and at the close of his 
term, in 1844, in that office, was elected sheriff of the county. Fol- 
lowing his first term as sheriff he was re-elected, and immediately 
after his second term, in 1850, he was elected a member of the Legis- 
lature, where he made an honorable ;uul enviable record as a worthy 
and faithful representative. Mr. Burris came to Clay county in 1853, 
and for a number of years afterwards was actively engaged hei-e in in- 
dustrial pursuits. For five years he ran a saw and grist mill at Mis- 
souri Cit\', and then was a member of the firm of Arthur, Burris & Co., 
of Liberty Landing, in a hirge hemp manufactory, up to the time of 
the war. In 1860 he was elected a member of the Legislature from 
this county as a Whig, and in 1862 was re-elected by the people gen- 
erally without opposition. At the close of his second term in the 
Legislature from this county he became the Democratic nominee for 
Lieutenant-Governor, but, as stated elsewhere, he was defeated. 

Li the spring of 1865 he removed to St. Louis, and was en- 
gaged in the commission business for about four years, when he 
returned to Liberty. The year following his return he was elected 
county clerk, and, as stated above, he has continued to hold the office 
ever since that time. Though now i)ast the age of 67 he is still active 
and efficient in the discharge of his official duties, giving his personal 
attention to his office. He is well known among the officials of the 
State as one of the best county clerks within its borders, and is not 
less popular in official circles where he is known than among the 
people of his own county. On the 12th of October, 1848, at Potosi, 
Washington county, he was married to Miss C. E. Mitchell, daughter 
ofThonuis S. Mitchell, who died when she was quite 3'oung. She was 
a step-daughter of Dr. Henry Culver, and was born in Washington, 
D. C, but principally reared in Maryland. She was partly educated 
at St. Louis by the Mauro sisters. Mr. and Mrs. Burris reared Init 
one child, a son, William M. Burris, now a prominent attorney of 
Kansas City. Mr. Burris and wife are members of the Episcopal 
Church, and ho has been a member of the Odd Fellows' Order for 
over 40 years, holding all the positions in the different lodges with 
which he has been connected. 

COL. ALEXANDER J. CALHOUN 

(Retired Merchant, and Farmer and Fine Stock-raiser, Liberty). 

There is probably not another family in the United States whose 
representatives have played a more important and honorable part in 



304 HISTORT OF CLAY COUNTY. 

the history of the country than have those of the Calhoun family. 
With at least the name of one member of this distniguished family 
every civilized country has been made familiar, a name that stands 
second to none for ability and statesmanship, and patriotism and 
high personal honor in this or any other land. Whatever may now 
be the popular judgment upon the States Rights doctrines of John C. 
Calhoun, all admit that he was one of the greatest men, if not the 
greatest, and one of the most lofty and patriotic statesman thjs coun- 
try ever produced. Others, perhaps, exceeded him in the gloss of' 
eloquence, but as a logician, and for profound al)ility, he was with- 
out a superior. The Calhoun family have given other men of distinction 
to the country. In the annals of the National Legislature appear the 
names of no less than live distinguished representatives of this family, 
all either closely or distantly related. In the affairs of several States 
they have been prominent, also holding honorable positions of public 
trust, from the gubenuitorial chair down, since early colonial times ; 
and in the professions and in the various departments of science, in 
the industries and in business life, on the stage and in letters, repre- 
sentatives of the family have from time to time attained eminent dis- 
tinction. Looking, therefore, at the history of this family as it is 
reflected in the history of the country, one may with all truth and 
propriet}' say that if Rome cinild ever boast hev ge}ites patricice, the 
Calhoun family may with equal truth and propriety be called one of 
the patrician families of this country. 

The American Calhouns desceud from an ancient and honorable 
family of their name in Ireland. In the history of that country the 
name is frequently made mention of with credit and distinction. 
About the beginning of the second quarter of the last century three 
brothers of the name emigrated to America, all men of character and 
culture. Their first location in this country was in Pennsylvania. 
One of these brothers, Patrick Calhoun, became the father of Hon. John 
C. Calhoun; another (an older brother) became the father of Hon. 
John Ewing Calhoun, who preceded his cousin, Hon. John C, in the 
United States Senate from South Carolina ; and from the third brother, 
descended the subject of the present sketch. Samuel Calhoun was the 

sonof Calhoun, and from Samuel came Thomas Calhoun, the 

father of Col. Alexander J. Calhoun. 

From Peuns^'lvania the three Calhoun brothers emigrated within 
some years of each other to South Carolina, Patrick Calhoun, how- 
ever, stopping for a time in what is now West Virginia, where he in- 
tended to make his permanent home. But after Braddock's defeat the 
Indians became so eml)oldened that he was compelled to move ou 
further South, and finally located permanently on the i)<)rders of the 
Cherokee territory in South Carolina, near where his brothers had 
previously settled. From South Carolina branches of the three fam- 
ilies spread out into other States, including North Carolina, Virginia, 
Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, Missouri and nearly all the 
Western and Southern States ; and one branch settled in Massachu- 
setts, of which Hon. William B. Calhoun, a distinguished member of 



HISTORT OF CLAY COUNTY. 305 

Coiigcoss from the Springfield district, for about ten j^ears prior to 
1S43, and afterwards an elector on the Clay and Freliughujsen Presi- 
deudial ticket, was a representative of the branch of the family of 
which Col. Alexander Calhoun belongs. An interesting and well writ- 
ten account is given in a sketch of his life published in the United 
States Biographical Dictionary (Missouri Volume), in 1878, which we 
here reproduce, together with the body of the sketch : — 

Alexander J. Calhoun was born in Wilson county, Tenn., Novem- 
ber 10, 1814, ;ind is a descendant of one of the old families of the 
Carolinas, and the son of a deeply revered and eminentl}' pious gen- 
tleman. The first of the name emigrated from Ireland to America 
early in the history of the colonial settlement, and settled in South 
Carolina, where he reared a family. One of his sons, Samuel, was 
the grandfather of our subject. He was born in that State about 
1710, in manhood was a soldier in the Revolution ; after the war he 
moved to North Carolina, thence to Tennessee in 1798, and settled in 
Wilson county, near the Big Springs, in 1801, where he died in 1833. 
His wife was Nancy Neely ; she was born in Pennsylvania in 175.5, 
was of Scotch descent, and died in Tennessee in 1825. They had the 
following children: Hannah, married Hugh Roane; John, Polly, 
married Flavel Garrison ; Thomas, Jane, married John Provine ; 
Nancy, married Montgomery McCorkle ; Samuel and James. Thomas 
Calhoun, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in North 
Carolina, May 31, 1782. He was educated in that State, and moved 
with his parents to Wilson county, Tenn. He prepared himself for 
the ministry in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, of which re- 
ligious body he was one of the first members and was intimately con- 
nected with its founding and organization, in 1810, under Revs. Finis 
Ewing, Samuel King and Samuel McAdow. He was ordained and 
preached for that church full half a century. In 1808, he was mar- 
ried to Miss Mary Robertson Johnston, who was born in 1787, in North 
Carolina. Her father, Alexander Johnson, was born in the same 
State about 1760, was of Welsh descent, and died in 1800. Her 
mother, whose maiden name was Nellie Robertson, was born in Guil- 
ford county, N. C, about 17fi(3, and died in 1839. The children of 
Alexander and Nellie Johnson were : John, Mary R., married Thomas 
Calhoun ; Robertson, William, Daniel, and Jane married Col. Ga- 
briel Barton. There were born to Thomas Calhoun and his wife, Mary 
(Robertson) Calhoun, the following children: Ewing F., Nancy E., 
who marriotl Blythe McMnrray, and, after his death, John Foster, and • 
died in Mississippi, in 1844; Alexander J., Persis B., Jane died in 
youth; Thomas P., Samuel L. and Mary R. died in infancy. Alex- 
ander J. Calhoun, their second son, was raised and educated in his 
native county. In 1837 he moved to Columbus, Lowndes county, 
Miss., whore he engaged in merchandising. In 1845 he moved to Clay 
county. Mo., where he farmed and taught school until 1853, when he 
was elected circuit clerk and held the position until 1865. He then 
returned to the farm and remained until 1874, when he was elected to 



306 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

his former clerkship in Cia}^ county, which position he now holds. Col. 
Calhoun received his title in 1840, by commission from the Governor 
of Mississippi as colonel of the State militia. He is a member of the 
Masonic fraternity, in which order he has been master, hij^h priest and 
district deputy grand master. The Colonel is also a member of the Pa- 
trons of Husbandry and of the Good Templars. He is a member of 
the Cnniljerland Presbyterian Church. In politics he was a Henry 
Clay Whig, and since the death of that party has been acting with the 
Democracy. Col. Calhoun's first wife was a Miss Susan E. Huddle- 
ston, who was born in Washington, Ala., in 1819, and died in Clay 
county, Mo., in 1874. Her father, John Huddleston, was born in 
Georgia about 1793, of Scotch-Irish parents, and died at Pass Chris- 
tian, Miss., in 1863. His second wife was Miss Bettie Alder, of Clay 
county. Mo , a native of Virginia, born in 1841. Her father, David 
P. Alder, was born in Virginia, September 11, 1803, but moved to 
Clay county, Mo., in 1850, and died there June 3, 1857. He had 
been county surveyor of Rockingham county, Va., and was deputy 
surveyor of Clay county after moving west. He was of English de- 
scent. He married Lydia A. Wall, of Kentucky, who was born in 
1818, and died in Clay county in 1864. Their children were: Gard- 
ner, Bettie, married A. J. Calhoun ; Maria, married James Grooms ; 
Lurena, married Moses McCoy and after his death, W. P. Lucas ; 
Madison, Lydia, married David Thorp; Worthington, now dead, and 
John died in 1874. Col. Calhoun had no children by his first wife. 
By his second wife he has one child, a son named Thomas Alexander, 
born May 4, 1876. His wife is a member of the Baptist Church. 

JUDGE JOHN CHRISMAN 

(Formerly of Liberty, now of Kansas City) . 

Judge Chrisman is a native of Kentucky, born in Fayette county, 
October 3, 1825. His parents were Joseph and Eleanor H. (Soper) 
Chrisman, his father originally of Virginia, but his mother a native of 
Kentucky. The Sopers were on'^ of the pioneer families of Ken- 
tucky. They came there about the time, or soon after, the migration 
of Daniel Boone into the land of the Dark and Bloody Ground, and 
subsequently became quite prominent in the affairs of the State. 
Joseph Chrisman went out from Virginia to Kentucky when a young 
man, and was married to Miss Soper in Jessamine county. In 1851 
he removed to .Missouri with his family and located in Clay county, 
where he followed farming until his death, in 1875. He lived to the 
advanced age of 75 years. Mr. Chrisman, Sr., was quite successful 
as a farmer, and accumulated a comfortable property. Judge John 
Chrisman, the subject of this sketch, was reared in Fayette county, 
Kentucky, and his father being a man who appreciated mental cul- 
ture, and being in good circumstances, gave him excellent educational 
advantages. After taking a course in the common and intermediate 
schools, he attended Transylvania University. Subsequently he 
taught school in Kentucky for a few years and then came to Missouri, 



HISTOKT OF CLAY COUNTY. 307 

accompanyin<j his parents to this State in 1851. For some years after 
locating in Chiy county he followed farming, but in 1864 removed to 
Liberty from his farm and l)egan the study of law. In due time 
Judge Chrisman was admitted to the l)ar, and 9ul)sequently practiced 
his profession at Liberty for fifteen or twenty years. His business 
was mainly confined to office practice, and as a lawyer he was quite 
successful. Judge Chrisman made considerable money in his pro- 
fession, and in 1884 removed to Kansas City in order to use his means 
to better advantage and to have a large and more lucrative field for 
the practice. In 1865 he was appointed a judge of the county court, 
and held the ofiice one term. Sul)sequently he held other positions 
of public trust. In March, 1859, he was married to Miss Maria F. 
Petty, a daughter of William Petty, formerly of Virginia. She sur- 
vived her marriage some sixteen years, dying July 15, 1875. Mrs. 
Chrisman left two children : William, now of Liberty, and Katie, who 
is just completing her education at Lexington, Missouri. Besides 
doing a general practice at Kansas Cit}', Judge Chrisman is engaged 
in the real estate business. He is a man of good business qualifica- 
tions and high standing. Being full of energy, he is rapidly estab- 
lishing himself as one of the active, useful citizens of Kansas City. 

JAMES G. CLARK, LL.D. 

(Pi-ofessor of Mathematics aud French, William Jewell College, Liberty). 

Dr. Clark is a native of Virginia. "He was })orii at Millwood, in 
Clarke county, of that State, June 23, 1837. His father was James H. 
Clark. His mother's maiden name was Jane A. Gregory. She was 
originally from North Carolina. The father was a merchant by occu- 
pation, and a successful business man. However, he was broken up 
in fortune by the disasters incident to the Civil War. He died in 
Virginia in 1876. His wife, a lady of man\' estimable qualities of 
mind and heart, preceded him to the grave in 1859. Dr. Clark was 
reared in his native county, and spent his early youth principally 
at the schools of Millwood. At the age of 17 he matriculated at the 
State University of Virginia. Dr. Clark continued at the university 
until he had graduated in most of the departments of schools ; there- 
upon he was elected assistant professor of mathematics in that insti- 
tution, discharging the duties of the position with ability and 
satisfaction to all concerned for a iieriod of one year preceding 1858. 
At the expiration of that term he was appointed instructor in the 
Alexandria Boarding School. Two years later he was elected to the 
chair of mathematics in Columbia College, Washington, D. C. Dr. 
Clark remained at the head of the mathematical department until the 
outbreak of the Civil War. He then resigned his position and enlisted 
in the Confederate army, becoming a member of the sut)sequently 
noted Rock Bridge Artillery, attached to Stonewall Jackson's brigade. 
During the winter of 1862-63 he was transferred to an engineer corps, 
but the following summer was made captain of artillery on ordnance 
duty in Cheatham's division of the Army of Tennessee. During the 



308 HISTOKY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

remainder of the war, or until the surrender of his command at 
Greensborouwh, N. C, in 1865, he continued in this service which 
began at the great battle of Lookout Mountain. After the war Dr. 
Clark was rechosen professor of mathematics at Columbia College. 
He subsequently continued to occupy that position for about six 
3'ears, after which he again resigned, this time to engage in teaching 
a private school. On quitting Columbia College he taught at Wash- 
ington City for a time and then at Richmond, Va. Early in 1873 he 
was elected professor of mathematics at William Jewell College, in' 
Liberty, Mo., and, deciding to accept the position, he came at once 
to this place to assume the duties of the chair of mathematics to which 
he had been chosen. Ever since that time Dr. Clark has been identi- 
lied with this institution, and throughout his entire connection with it 
he has been at the head of the mathematical department. In 1873 
the duties of professor of the French language were also assigned to 
him, which he has ever since discharged. In view of what has already 
been said it is hardly necessary to remark that he is a scholar of 
superior and varied attainments. Having made teaching a profession, 
he has followed it with that industry and zeal which could hardly have 
resulted otherwise than tlicy have in making him a teacher of ability, 
success and envial)le standing. For many years he has made a special 
study of mathematics, and he has attained to a position of more than 
ordinary i)rominence among educators in that department of learning. 
Indeed, he has written a very able and valuable work on the " Infinit- 
esimal Calculus." In 188()br.'Ciark was honored with the degree of 
Doctor of Laws, by the Ba3'lor University of Texas. In 1883, 10 
years from the time he first became a member of the faculty of Will- 
iam Jewell College, he was elected chairman of the faculty, and now 
holds that position. Dr. Clark has long been a member of the Baptist 
Church, and has been a deacon in that denomination since 1875. In 
1865 he was married to Miss Jennie Hume, a daughter of Rev. Thomas 
Hume, of Virginia. She survived her marriage, however, only a short 
time. To his present wife he was married June 30, 1868. She was 
Miss Kate M. Morfit, a daughter of Henry M. Morfit (deceased), late 
of Baltimore, Md. He was a leading attorney of that city, and a 
lawyer of wide and envial)lo reputation. Mrs. Clark was principally 
educated at Washington City. She is a lady of culture and refinement. 
Mrs. C. is a meml)er of the Episcopal Church. 

WILLIAM CLARK. 

(Farmer and Stock Dealer, Post-office, Liberty). 

Mr. Clark is a native of Kentucky, born in Nicholas county, July 
11, 1847. His father was John L. Clark and his mother's maiden 
name, Mary Norton, both of that county. The family removed to 
Missouri in 1858, and located in Clay county, where the father bought 
a farm and engaged in farming, which he followed until his death, 
April 22, 1880. He possessed many sterling qualities. As a neighbor 
he was kind and considerate, and lil)eral and hospitable ; as a husband 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 309 

and father he was affectionate and devoted ; and as a citizen, he was 
just and honorable, and obedient to the hiws. Few pei'sons were so 
Ikuiiliaiij and favorably known as he. In personal bearing he was 
dignitied, easy and affable; and in every sense he was a man whose 
presence will long be kindly remembered. He was a successful farmer 
and rarely failed in any ©f his business ventures. All who shared his 
intimacy could receive the benefit of his rare insight into the affairs 
of life. William Clark, the subject of this sketch, grew to manhood 
on the farm in this county, and afterwards continued farming, to 
which he had been brought up. October 8, 18(58, he was married to 
Miss Mary Field, >a daughter of Joseph T. Field, deceased. She was 
born and reared in this county, and educated at the Liberty Female 
College and the Kansas City High School. Mr. and Mrs. Clark have 
two children, Lutie and John F. Mr. C. has a good farm of 347 
acres, which is well improved, and besides this there are 320 acres of 
tine Missouri river bottom land, partly improved. Mr. Clark is and 
has been for some years engaged in feeding and raising stock. He 
handles about 100 head of cattle annually. He has been quite suc- 
cessful as a stock man. 

JUDSON COCKRELL 

(Dealer iu Groceiies, Liberty) . 

John W. Cockrell, the father of the subject of this sketch and Hon. 
Francis M. Cockrell, United States Senator from Missouri, were the 
sons of the two brothers in the family of Cockrells of Virginia. 
Senator Cockrell's father, however, left the Old Dominion at an earlier 
day than that of the removal of John W. Cockrell's family to Missouri. 
John W. Cockrell was born in Virginia January 20, 1797, and was 
married there to Miss Elizabeth Mitchell, daughter of George G. 
Mitchell, who was born in Scotland. He received a classical educa- 
tion, lived and died in Staunton, Augusta county, Virginia, and was 
distinguished for scholarship, as hardly having his equal in education. 
Though dead he yet lives. They came to Clay county in 1846. He 
was a brickmaker, and built many of the first brick houses in this part of 
the country. He died here in about 1859. Judson Cockrell was in 
infancy when the family came to Missouri. He was born in Virginia, 
Septeml)er 14, 1845. Reared in Clay county, he was educated at Will- 
iam Jewell College, and following the example of his fether, he became 
a brick mason, and also learned brickmakiiig. He followed these 
continuously up to the time of engaging in the grocery business dur- 
ing the present year. He was fairly successful at his trades and 
accumulated some property. Mr. Cockrell has built a large number 
of houses at Liberty and in this vicinity, and is regarded as a thorough 
mechanic and upright, reliai)le builder. He engaged in his present 
business last spring, and is receiving a good ti'ade, doing quite as well 
as he expected. He has a good stock of goods in the grocery line, 
and being an energetic, economical l)nsiuess man, he can hardly fail ot 
success. In September, 1863, he was married to Miss Martha .1. 



310 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

Mereness, :i daughter of the kte A. M. Mereness. Mr. aud Mrs. C. 
had two children, Jolin J., now a young man twenty years of age, and 
a clerk in his father's store in Liberty, Missouri ; and one deceased. 
Mrs. Cockrell died in 1868, and Mr. C. has not since remarried. 
His mother keeps house for him, his father being also deceased, as 
stated above. 

OVID H. CORBIN 

(Of O. H. Corljiu & Co., Owuers and Proprietors of the Liberty Flouring and Woolen- 

MlUs). 

Mr. Corbin is a native of Virginia, born in Stafford county, October 
9, 1820. His father was Benjamin S. Corbin, and his mother's 
maiden name was Sarah Preston. The father was a carpenter by 
trade and followed that for a number of years. He then engaged in 
the milling business for some years before his retirement from active 
work. He was a soldier in the War of 1812. In 1849 he removed to 
Missouri with his family and located at Liberty, where he died in 
i860. His wife died here in 1863. Ovid H., the subject of this 
sketch, was reared in Stafford county and came to this State in com- 
pany with his parents in 1849. Under his father he learned the 
flouring mill business and also the millwright's trade. In fact, he 
was almost a natural mechanic. About the time he was of age he 
began working at the wagonmaker's trade, continuing that in connec- 
tion with carpentering and millwrighting. In a few years, however, 
he turned his attention to farming, which he followed until he came to 
Missouriwith his parents. Here he engaged in wagon and carriage 
making, and bought an established business in that line, which he con- 
tinued until 1856, having in the meantime purchased the interest of 
his partner, with whom he had previously been in business. In 1856 
he, with two others, bought the Liberty flouring mills, and four years 
later they added a plant of woolen machinery. Ever since that time 
they have been engaged in the manufacture of woolen goods and also 
running their flouring mill. They make all kinds of cashmeres, jeans, 
biaTikets, yarns, etc., etc. In their flouring mill they have three run 
of i)uhrs and are also prepared to grind corn, buckwheat, and other 
grains for breadstufls. November 10, 1841, Mr. Corbin was married 
in Spottsylvania county, Virginia, where he had removed three years 
before, to Miss Sarah A., a daughter of Jesse Petty, af that county. 
Mr. and Mrs. Corbin have ten children, Mary F., William H., James 
M. (the two eldest sons being their father's partners in business), 
Beverly B., Benjamin F., George W. (he being the only one married), 
Laura E., Herbert T., Adelaide J. and Hattie B. The children have 
all received each a good education, either at William Jewell College 
or the Female Seminary. Mr. Corbin, now in his si.\ty-tifth year, 
has retired from active work at the mill and turned the management 
of it largely over to his sons, William H. and James M. He himself, 
however, is still quite active aud well preserved. Whilst in appear- 
ance he is somewhat venerable looking, on account of his long, white 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 311 

silken whiskers and white hair, yet he is still erect of form, rather 
quick in his nioveoicnts, considering his age, and, all in all, seems 
much younger than he really is. He is one of the pleasant, agreeable 
old gentlemen whom one is always pleased to meet. 

CAPT. ARCHIBALD C. COURTNEY 

(Proprietor of the Arthur House, Liberty) . 

The Courtney family, so far as this country is concerned, was 
originally from Pennsylvania. Capt. Courtney's father, John Court- 
ney, served in the American army during the Revolution. He was a 
farmer by occupation, and became a man of well-to-do circumstances. 
Mr. Courtney, the elder, was twice married, and after the death of 
his first wife was married to Misii Lucinda Martin ; they were both of 
Pennsylvania, and each wife bore five children. Capt. Archibald C. 
Courtney was the third child l)y the last marriage, and was born in 
Garrard county, Kentucky, to which his father had previously 
removed. May 1, 1815. At the time of his father's death in 1830, 
he was about fifteen years of age, Init he afterwards remained with 
the family until his marriage, working industriously, though at lim- 
ited wages. Subsequently he engaged in stock trading and made 
several trips to Alabama and Georgia in that l)usiness, being quite 
successful. In 1840 Capt. Courtney came to Missouri on horseback 
and located on a farm of 200 acres near Kearney, where he subse- 
quently followed farming for twenty years, and was very successful. 
He owned at one time about (JOO acres of fine land. His reverses, 
however, commenced upou the outbreak of the war. Affairs were in 
an unsettled and dangerous condition but, despite his eflbrts, he was 
unable to retaiu a neutral position. Consequently, in 1803, as a 
matter of policy, he identified himself with the Home Guards, and 
became cajjtain of a company, which duty he performed for a while. 
His company was never out of the county. As a matter of fact his 
compau}' did much valuable service to the law-abiding classes of both 
sides by assisting to keep out those who were more bent on plunder 
and committing other depredations, than in serving the cause which 
they pretended to adhere to. During the war he removed his familv 
to Liberty and all his movable property that had not been stolen, and 
with the horses he had left established a livery stable. His two sous 
having without his knowledge taken sides in the war, went as their 
sympathies directed, with the South, and made gallant soldiers under 
Price until the close of the struggle. Capt. Courtney continued in 
the livery i)usiness for a time after the war and then bought out a 
general store, which he carried on for about two years. This he also 
subsequently sold, but bought into another business house and ran 
that for a short time. He ran the Arthur House for about ten years 
and in 1879 rented it to another party. Since then he has lived in 
retirement, except for about a year, during which he was engaged in 
the hardware business. Capt. Courtney has served as justice of the 
peace and in some other local offices. His life up to the beginning of 

15 



312 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

the war was veiy successful and he became comfortal)!}' situated, and 
he still has a modest competency, and can pass through the evening 
of life without the fear of destitution. Capt. Courtney is highly 
respected in this county and bears a name untarnished by a reproach. 
January 20, 1842, he was married to Miss Elizabeth A. Estes, a 
daughter of Henry Estes, one of the jiioneer settlers of Missouri, 
referred to elsewhoi-e in this work. Mrs. Courtney was born in Clay 
county, Missouri, and was only in her fifteenth year when she was^ 
married. She has been a most excellent helpmate to him and in the 
early days of his career hei'self helped in the laborious duties of farm 
life. Her energetic habits of tliat time have not left her in later 
years. Mr. and Mrs. Courtney have had twelve children, four dying 
when young. Those living are William J., an attorney at Kearney ; 
Henry E., Jane, wife of John Merritt ; Robert S., of Kansas City; 
Alexander M., a stock raiser of Colorado ; Levinia, wife of Henry 
Sinitii, a member of the State Legislature, from Kansas City; James 
A. and Archibald C, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. C. are members of the 
Presbyterian Church, and Mr. C. has been a deacon in the church for 
half a century. 

ELI R. CRAFTON 

(Mauufacturer of Spring Wagons, Carriages, etc., Liberty). 

Mr. Crafton is a native of Illinois, born in Adams county, August 
29, 1843. His father was John Crafton, from Kentucky, and his 
mother's maiden name Margaret Becket, who was born and reared in 
Indiana. They were married in the latter State and removed to 
Adams county, Illinois, about 1838. Tiic}^ resided there nearly thirt}^ 
years and then settled in Linn county, Missouri. He was reared in 
Adams county, Illinois, and early in the second year of the rebellion 
enlisted in the One Hundred and Nineteenth Illinois Infantry, in 
uiiich he served until the close of the war. He was in Banks' Red 
River Expedition under the command of A. J. Smith, and participated 
in the engagements at Alexandria, La., Sabine Cross Roads, Yellow 
Bayou, La., Tupelo and Nashville. Tenn., the siege and capture of Mo- 
bile and the fight at Montgomery, Ala., besides many others of 
less importance. He is naturally very proud of the services he ren- 
dered, and regards them as the greatest honor of his life. After the 
war Mr. Crafton returned to Adams county. III., and began an 
apprenticeship at the carriage and wagon-maker's trade. After com- 
pleting that he continued to work at his trade, working later along at 
Quincy, 111., St. Louis, Mo., St. Paul, Minn., and coming to Liberty 
in tiie summer of 18()9. Here he continued at his trade as a journey 
workman until March, 1880, when he set up for himself, and has 
been in the cari'iage and spring wagon making business ever since. 
He has been satisfactorily successful and has established a good busi- 
ness, having employed now some four or five hands in his shop. 
August 3, 1870, he was married at Utica, Mo., to Miss Laura S. 
Sprinkle, a daughter of S. H. Sprinkle, formerly of Huntington, Ind. 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 313 

They have live children : Olive, Etta, Bessie, Ealph, and Law- 
rence. Both parents are members of the Episcopal Church. 

GEORGE E. DAMON 

(Manager of the National Flouring Mill, Liberty). 

Mr. Damon is a native of Ohio, born in Lake count}', August 2, 
1847. His father was George Damon, a native of Massachusetts. 
His mother, whose maiden name was Mary Tyler, was a native of 
the same State. They were married in Massaciuisetts, and removed 
to Ohio in 1834, settling in Lake county, where they were of the pi- 
oneer settlers of the county. They resided in that county for nearly 
twenty years and then remf)ved to Dane county. Wis. Before the 
removal of the family to Wisconsin the father was a wagon and car- 
riage manufacturer. Afterwards he followed farming until his death, 
which occurred in April, 1861. George F. was horn in Lake county, 
O., August 2, 1847. He completed his majority in Wisconsin, wliere 
lie received a common-school education. At the age of twenty, how- 
ever, he began learning the miller's trade, at which he worked in 
Wisconsin until the fall of 1867, when he came to Missouri. Here he 
tirst worked at Westport and tlien at Kansas City. In 1878, being a 
thorough pratical miller by this time, he bought an interest in the 
mill at Moscow and ran that mill for three years. Mr. Damon came 
to Liberty in 1881, where he l)ought an interest in the National Flour- 
ing Mill, which is owned by :i joint stock companj^ known as the 
Clay County Milling Company, of which he is manager. These mills 
have the roller process of making flour and turn out as good flour as 
is to be seen in the country. They have a capacity of 100 barrels 
every twenty-four hours and do l)oth a custom and merchant milling 
business. The building is a three story l)rick. September 3, 1873, 
Mr. Damon was married to Miss Lizzie E. Stanton, a daughter of 
Samuel Stanton, of Kansas City. Tiiey have two children, William 
E. and Edna. 

WILLIAM H. H. DAVIS 

(Retired Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Liberty)- 

Mr. Davis, an old and respected citizen of this county, was one of 
the early settlers of the county. He came to Clay county in 1836. 
Mr. Davis was directly from Saline county to this county, but was 
from Arkansas to Missouri. His parents, Samuel B. and Elizabeth 
Davis, went to Arkansas from Kentucdiy when he was in childhood, 
away back in 1821, and settled in Hempstead county. William H. 
H. Davis, who was born in Logan county, Kentucky, June 3, 1816, 
was reared in Arkansas, and came to Missouri wiien a young man. 
He became a farmer and stock-raiser in Clay county, and in the fall 
of 1839 was married to Miss America W. Estes, a sisfer to W. W. 
Estes. He afterwards continued farming and stock-raising and in 1850 
went to California, but soon afterward returned. In 1859, however, 
he removed to Te.\as and made his homo in that State until after the 



;n-l lUSTOKY OF CI.AY COVNTY. 

I'loso ol' tlio Civil W:ir, lotnruiini- in ,1iiiu", 18i;i!. Aftor tliat tiiiioMr. 
Oavis was activolv oii>;;agod with his ranniiiiX aiul stiu'k-raisiiii:; intorosts 
iiiilil liis rotiiviiuMit from ai'tivo lal>or sonio roars ago. His lit'o as an 
agrioulturist has hoon oiio of suoooss. Ilo acoimuihitoil an ample 
proporty tor oKl aj^o, anil now has a tino stock farm of (>00 acros, 
whirh is woU stofUodanilwoll improved. Since his retirement, his son, 
William P., has liad control of the farm, and is carrying it on with 
marked energy and success. In November, 1880, Mr. Davis had tho 
misfortnue to lose his good wife, the true and bravo and generous- ' 
heart ed, ilevoted woman who had been the partner of his joys and sor- 
rows for over forty years, and with whose life his own being had become 
so thoroughly united that it seenuHi to him worse than death itself to 
lose her. Rut in that sad hour when the parting came tliere was one 
consolation, one hope that sustained him and made him brave to bear 
the heavy l)ereavement — the consolation anil hope that the separation 
could not be long, and that in a few years their lives would again bo 
united in a happier union, even, than they had known on this side the 
grave. Three children were the fruits of their long and happy mar- 
ried life: Thomas II., ,lames J. (deceased), and William P. William 
P. Davis was born on the farm where ho now resides, August 12, 
1849, and learned the practical details of farming and stock raising 
as ho grew up. In 187(> he was nuuried to Miss Annie Brastield, a 
daughter of William E. l>rastield, whose sketch precedes thi^. They 
have two children, ,1. W. Lesler ami Nellie. Mr. Davis, .Ir., like his 
father-in-law, Mr. Krasticld, makes a specialty of raising tine saddle 
and harness stallions and tine jacks. He has a representative of one 
of the best breeds of horses in this country. Tho stock originated in 
Virginia, and was named for a family in tho Old Commonwealth, 
noted for their tine appearance, chivalric tpialities, and all that sort of 
things, and the men for being remarkably " fast " — the Claibornes. 
They were one of the best families of Virginia, and knew that fact 
quite as well, if not better, than any one else. Mr. Davis' horse is 
nanud " Pat Claiborne," and any one can see at a glance that he is a 
regular, genuine, high-stepping, high-headed "pinked" Claiborne. 
Ho is one of tho finest horses in the country, a horse of which his 
owner may well be proud. AV. P. Davis makes a specialty of short- 
horn cattle, having his farm well stocked with some of the best 
blood, as well as good individuals. Ho has young stock for sale. 
The farm is situated three miles northeast of Liberty, on tho Han- 
nibal and St. Joe Kailroad. 

JOHN A. DENNY 

i^Ketireil .Mercliant, Liberty'). 

Mr. Denny, now retired from active business, is one of the oldest 
business men o( Clay county, and one of its most highly respected 
citizens. He began merchandising at Liberty in 18.'>2, having previ- 
ously clerked at this place for several years, and continued in mer- 
chandising with little or no interruption until his retirenient, one yiar 



IlIHTOUV OK f'l.AV <:<)[JS'rY. ill 5 

n'^o. IJ'i WiiM very HUC(;<;««fiil in IniHiiKissM, f;oii8i<](;riii;r tli<; |)opiil!ili')ti 
aii<J wcalUi of th(! pliico uii'I Miirrouri'liug ';oiiiitry, umJ ai.-ciiiiiiilatfjd a 
(•oiiiCorlnMc |)i-o|)<;r't y. 11'-' in now, .-un] for yeiirn pii.st liuh been, a 
))ro|)<!il,y liolder of Liberty. I'rior to tlie war lie did a vcvy lai'j^e 
biisiii(!HH lor that time, carrying a wtock of about $15,000. After tlie 
war biis IdiHJneHH waH not so lar;re aw before, but wan rnueli -iafer, beinjr 
<lone nearly alto^^etiiei' on a caKh liasih. Mr. Dfuiny in htill interested 
ill larniiii;^, and lias a handsome farn:i adjoinin;^ Liberty, on which he 
has resided for many years. Mr. Denny is a native of North C'dV')- 
liiia, born ill Guilfoni (;ouiity Septemlier 1 2, 1814. His father was 
deorge 1 Jenny, who inarri<;d January 14, 1808, Miss Jane Kenedy, 
both of early and well-to-do North (Jaroiina families. 'I'liey came to 
Missouri in IHS.*), and located on a farm in Clinton county, where they 
resided until their deaths. The father Imcame a substantial farmer of 
tiiat county, and remarkable for his lonjrevity and the preservation of 
all his powers, physical and mental, until the very last. He left five sons 
and three dauf^hters still living.'. He died in his iiin<;ty-sixth year, and 
only a i'nw weeks before his deatli had been out hunting with as'juirrel 
rifle, which he was able to shoot without the aid of jrlasscjs with won- 
derful accuracy. His death occurred .March 24, IHTJ. His good wife 
preceded him to the grave some ten years. Mr. Denny, the subject 
of this sketch, was reared in North (Jaroiina, where he received an 
advanced general English education, and also t'jok cours<;s of three 
3'ears in Latin and (/reek. He came to Missouri in 18;^'! and located 
in (Jlay county. ]]i;v(: he taught school for a Utw years, and then be- 
gan as a mei'chant's clerk, as statcid above. November 20, 18-14, he 
was married to Miss Harriet A., a daughter of James .Marsh, formerly 
of Kentucky, but an early settler in this county. Mr. and Mrs. 
Denny have four children living: Martha J., wife of H. F. Simrall, 
whose sketch is given elsewhere ; Lunette, Ernest R., now merchan- 
dising in Liberty, and Minnie ,M., the latter now completing her course 
at Female (.'ollege. One other is deceased, Portius E., who die<l at 
theager)f21, just before graduating at Westminster College. Mr. 
Denny and wife arc members of the Presbyterian (Jhurch. He ha8 
taken a prominent part in temperance work, and thinks that the cause 
must advance until prohibition crowns the work. Mr. Denny has 
served as city treasurer, and in other local positions of public trust, 
but has never sought nor desir<!d office. 

WILLIA.M W. DOlJCHKiriT, .M. D. 

(Pliyslclan and Surgeon, IJberly), 

Among the prominent re|)resentative citizens of Clay county Dr. 
Dougherty occupies a well recognized and justly enviable position. 
He was a comparatively early settler here, and has been a witness to 
and active, useful participant in the progress the county has made 
from the condition of a sparsely populated frontier community to that 
of one of the leading counties in the State. His efforts have been 
united with those of the other old and useful citizens of the county in 



316 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

building up the county and making it wiiat it is to-day. In view, there- 
fore, of his long and prominent identification with Chxy county, it would 
be an inexcusable omission not to present at least an outline of his life 
on these pages. Dr. Dougherty was born in Lawrence county, Ind., 
September 2, 1820, but he is a representative of an early and well 
known Kentucky family. The Doughertys settled in Kentucky from 
Virginia away back when the Blue Grass State was known as the 
" Dark and IJloody Ground," a name it received on account of the 
stubborn resistance the Indians made against the encroachments of - 
the white settlers, and the many terrible massacres and house burn- 
ings that were visited upon the early white pioneers. Dr. Dougherty 
was a son of William and Ellen Dougiierty, his parents being l)oth 
originally of the same name, and cousins. The Doctor's mother 
died, however, when he was in infancy, and he was taken by his i-ela- 
tions in Trimble county, that State, to rear. In 1831, when he was 
about 11 years of age, his relations, with whom he was living, removed 
to Missouri, bringing him with them and settled in Pike county. 
There he attended district and select schools for several years, and 
acquired the rudiments of a good, ordinary, practical education. But 
when about 16 years of age he accompanied his uncle, Maj. Dougherty, 
west to the mountains, his uncle being quite extensively engaged in 
the Indian trade. Young Dougherty spent four years among the 
Indians of the far, far West, at a time when white faces were hardly 
less rare there than the moccasined, painted savage is to-da}' in Mis- 
souri. Returning to Pike county in 1840, in 1844 he began to study 
medicine under Drs. Lane and Rodman, of Trimble county, Ky., going 
thence directly iVom Pike county. In due time young Dougherty en- 
tered the Medical Department of the University of Louisville, where he 
took a regular course and commenced the practice in the spring of 1845. 
After his first course he located at Madison, Ind., for the practice of 
his profession, but did not graduate for some 3'ears afterward, and was 
shortly married to Miss Hannah C. Doughert}^ daughter of Col. Robei't 
S. Dougherty, a second cousin to his father. Two years later Dr. 
Dougherty removed to Oi'ange county, Ind., where he practiced for 
about three years. While there he lost his first wife and only child, 
and a short time before leaving Orange county he was married to Miss 
Mary A., a daughter of John Frazier, an eminent civil engineer of that 
daj^ and who surveyed the routes of most of the early Western rail- 
roads. In 1850 Dr. Dougherty removed to Missouri, and, after 
stopping a short time at St. Joseph, located at Liberty. Here he 
entered actively upon the practice of his profession, and soon built 
up a large jjractice. Dr. Dougliert}- has been a resident of this county 
ever since that time, for a period now of nearly 35 years, except for 
al)Out two years which he spent in Platte county, preceding 1858. 
While in Platte county he was postmaster at latan, under the admin- 
istration of James Buclianan, and also served as justice of the peace, 
besides attending to his general practice. Before going to Platte he 
had served as city councilman and mayor of Liberty, and afterwards 
he has served several times as city councilman. In 1868 he was 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 317 

nominated 1>\' the Democrats to fill a vacancy from this county in the 
Legislature, but on account of sickness was prevented from accepting 
the honor. In 1878, however, he was again nominated for the Legis- 
lature, and was elected by a large majority, defeating several of the 
most popular men of the county who were candidates. In the 
jjractical work of legislation he took an active and prominent part at 
Jefferson City. He introduced the bill to establish the State Board 
of Health, and also introduced and pushed forward to successful 
enactment the bill authorizing l)enevolent insurance companies in this 
State, principally in the interest of the Masonic order, of which he is 
a leading member. Dr. Dougherty was member of the committee ou 
accounts in the House, and also of the committee on charities and 
benevolence, and on scientific and benevolent institutions. He nuxde an 
enviable record in the Legislature, one that reflected credit on his high 
character and usefulness as a legislator. By his second wife Dr. D. has 
been blessed with a family of five children: Ella, the wife of John D. 
Share, of Wellington, Kas., a prominent dry goods merchant ; Mattie, 
wile of William H. Martin, a successful lawyer of Bedford, Ind. ; 
John, a partner with Mr. Share, at Wellington, Kas.; William W., 
Jr., in mercantile business at St. Louis; Charles L., who is noiv 
studying medicine under his father; and Minnie, who died in 1872, 
at the age of six years. The Doctor and wife are members of the 
M. E. Church South. Dr. Dougherty is a prominent member of the 
Kansas City District Medical Society, of which he was among the 
originators, and helped to organize, and afterwards was its president. 

LEWLS B. DOUGHERTY 

(^Cashier of the Commercial Savings Bank, Liberty). 

On the second expedition of Lewis and Clark to the Rocky Moun- 
tains in about 1799, Maj. John Dougherty, the father of the subject 
of this sketch, first came West from Kentucky. He was then only a 
youth some 17 years of age, but made one of the most resolute pioneers 
in the expedition. Traveling extensively over the West, he was finally 
located at Ft. Leavenworth, Kas., as Indian agent, where, having 
married in the meantime, at St. Louis, Mo., his son, Lewis B., was 
born Decenil)er 7, 1828, and is l)elieved to have been the first white 
child born in Kansas. In 1830 Maj. Dougherty removed to St. Louis, 
of which city Mrs. Dougherty was a native. Her maiden name was 
Mary Hertzog. Maj. Dougherty removed to Council Bluffs from St. 
Louis in about 1833, where he was stationed for some time as Indian 
agent. He was afterwards stationed at Ft. Leavenworth, and after some 
years resided again in St. Louis. Returning to Leavenworth later 
along he was thereuntil 1837, in charge of the Indian agency. About 
this time he removed to Liberty and made his permanent home here. 
He became a leading and influential citizen of this county, and repre- 
sented it in the Legislature, a colleague with Gen. Doniphan and 
William Wood. He opened a large farm, some six or seven miles 
from Liberty, on which he resided until his death. Maj. Dougherty 



318 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

died in January, 1761, well known throughout Cla}' county, and, indeed, 
over a laro^e region of country surrounding he was as highly esteemed 
by all as he was well known. No man in the county stood higher in 
the opinions of the public and his neighbors. He was a man of high 
character, courage and generosity, and withal a man of great kindness 
of heart. Energetic, frugal in his manner of living, but never par- 
simonious, and a man of good business ability, he accumulated a com- 
fortable property, which he left intact to his children at his death. 
Moreover, he had been generous in providing them with the best ' 
means for mental culture and otherwise fitting them for the activities 
of life within his power. A t3'pical, good citizen, one whose industry 
and enterprise were not less valuable to the community than to him- 
self and an exemplaiy man in his own family, his memory is revered 
by his children and all who knew him as that of one whose example 
is worthy of all imitation. Lewis B. Dougherty, the subject of this 
sketch, was reared on his father's farm near Liberty. He was edu- 
cated at the State University in Columbia, from which he graduated in 
1847. The same j'ear of his graduation Mr. Dougherty went to Ft. 
Kearney, in Nebraska Territory, where he engaged in the suttling busi- 
ness, which he followed with success at that place four 3'ears. From 
there he went to Ft. Laramie, in Wyoming, about 1852, continuing 
in the same business at the latter place some four or five years. He 
was absent from Clay county in all about 10 years, and after his i-eturn 
in 1857 he settled on a farm, where he continued to reside, occupied 
principally with agricultural pursuits, some 12 or 15 years. When 
the Commercial Savings Bank of Liberty was organized, in he 
became a stockholder. About six years afterwards, in 1871, he was 
elected cashier of the bank, a position he has continued ever since to 
hold. The bank has a capital stock of $50,000. This is well 
known as one of the most substantial and reliable banks on 
the western border of the State, and for the enviaV)le reputation 
it has made, a large shai'e of credit is due to the good management of 
Mr. Dougherty. He is also still interested in farming, and has a val- 
uable farm in the county, as well as a good farm in Vernon county, 
and one in Douglas county. In 1874 Mi-. Dougherty was elected trea- 
smer of the county and discharged the duties of that responsible office 
with efficiency and fidelity and to the general satisfaction of the pub- 
lic. December 7, 1858, he was married to Miss Anna Care}', a daugh- 
ter of Daniel Carey, one of the pioneer settlers and substantial citizens 
of Platte county, but now deceased. Mi's. Dougherty was educated 
at Liberty and at the Camden Female College. Mr. and Mrs. D. have 
two children : Flora, now the wife of C. C. Courtney, of Kansas City, 
and John L. One besides is deceased, Mary, who died in 1880, at the 
age of eight years. Mr. and Mrs. D. are members of the Presby- 
terian Church, and Mr. Dougherty is a prominent member of the 
Masonic order, belonging to the Lodge, Chapter and Commander}'. 
Mr. D. had two brothers and a sister who lived to reach mature years, 
l)nt one of his brothers was killed at the battle of Franklin, Tenn., a 
member of the Tliird Missouri Confederate infantry, in the compan}' of 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 319 

the subject of this sketch. His other brother, O'F. Dougherty, is 
a resident of tiiis pUice, and his sister is the wife of Gen. C. F Ruff, 
of Phihidelphia. 

O'FALLON DOUGHERTY 

(Farmer, Stock-raiser and Stock-dealer, Liberty) . 

Mr. Dougherty was a son of MaJ. John Dougherty and is a brother 
to L. B. Dougherty, whose sketch precedes this. In the former 
sketch an outline of the family history has been given. Mr. Dough- 
erty was born in St. Louis June 5, 1832, but as the family subse- 
quently removed to this county, he was principally reared here. His 
education was acquired at William Jewell College, where he took a 
thorough course of four years and subse(iuently graduated. After the 
close of his college ccjurse he returned to the farm and engaged iu 
farming with his father with whom he continued until the latter's 
death. Mr. Dougherty inherited the old family homestead and stills 
owns it. He has a fine place of 1,1(32 acres, all improved except about 
200 acres of timber. He has been extensively engaged in farming 
and raising stock for many years, to which his place is well adapted. 
His improvements on the farm are of an excellent class, a large com- 
fortable, tastily built residence, good barns and other buildings, 
and good fences. November 30, 1865, Mr. Dougherty was married 
to Miss Sarah, a daughter of James and Eliza Nutter, early settlers of 
this county. Mrs. Dougherty was educated at the Liberty Female 
Seminary. They have two children : Katie and Mary Hertzog. In the 
spring of 1881 Mr. Dougherty removed to Liberty in order to edu- 
cate his daughters. He is now just completing a handsome, spacious 
two-story brick residence in town, where he will make his permanent 
home. Mr. and Mrs. D. are members of the Baptist Church and he 
is a member of the Chapter and Commandery in the Masonic order. 
Mr. Doughei'ty's father, Maj. Dougherty, was at one time engaged in 
this county in the unusual pursuit of raising butt'alo. He begun with 
one cow and in a few years his stock of buffalo had increased until 
during one summer he had 23 head of calves. He was a great ad- 
mirer of Henry Clay and sheared some wool from oueof his best buf- 
falo which his wife carded, -siHin and knit into a pair of mittens and a 
pair of socks. The Major sent them to the great Whig chief and states- 
man of that day, Henry Clay, from whom he received a most compli- 
mentary acknowledgment. After the death of Mr. Clay they were 
contributed by his heirs to the cabinet of reliques of public men at 
Washington, and they are now on exhibition in a glass case, with a 
card giving their history, in the Patent Office, in the Literior Depart- 
ment building. 

JAMES R. EATON, A. B., A. M., Ph. D. 

(Professor of Natunil Sciences, William Jewell College, Liberty, Missouri). 

Dr. Eaton is a native of New York He was born at Hamilton, Mad- 
ison county, that State, December 11, 1834. He was a son of Rev. 



320 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

Dr. Georo'e W. Eaton, one of the most accomplished scholars and 
eminent educators of New York. His whole life was devoted to the 
cause of education. The following concerning him and his services 
is reproduced from the report of the Commissioner of Education of 
the United States for the year 1872 : — 

Dr. James E. Eaton received his general education at the Madison 
University of NewYork. He graduated in 1856 and received the degree of 
Bachelor of Arts. Immediate)}' following his graduation from the Mad- 
ison University he entered the Hamilton Theological Seminary of the. 
Baptist Church, in which he continued as a student for a period of 
two vears, graduating in 1858 with the degree of Master of Arts. 

Well recommended for ripe scholarship and for the natural charac- 
teristics necessary to a successful and useful career as an educator, 
Prof. Eaton, after his graduation at Madison, was tendered, in 1859, 
the chair of Adjunct-Professor of Mathematics and Natural Sciences 
in the Union University of Murfreeshoro, Tenn., which he accepted. 
He tilled that position and discharged the duties which it imposed with 
ahilit}' and eminent satisfaction to all concerned for two years. He 
was then oflered and he accepted the professorship of Ancient Lan- 
guages in Bethel College of Rnssellville, Ky. The events of the 
war, however, soon unsettled affairs in Kentucky so much that he re- 
signed his position at Bethel College and left the State. 

Prof. Eaton now went to New York, and soon afterwards received 
the appointment of superintendent of the advertising department and 
of the foreign mail delivery in the post-office of the city of New 
York. He continued at the head of that department in the New 
York city post-office until the close of the war. Prof.Eaton found 
official life in the civil service of the government by no means as 
congenial as the profession of teaching, and in 1866 he accepted 
the chair of Natural Sciences in the Universitj' of Louisville, Ky. He 
contiiuied there for three years and until he came to Liberty, Mo., in 
1869, to enter upon the duties of Professor of Natural Sciences and 
Natural Theology in William Jewell College, a position to which he had 
been called by the boardof regents of this institution. He has occupied 
this position in William Jewell College from that time to the present, 
continuously, a iicriod of 16 years. In the meantime, in 1876, his Alma 
Mater, Mailison University of New York, honored him and herself by 
conferring ui)on him tiie degree of Doctor of Philosophy. The promise 
early given of a successful and useful career for Dr. Eaton as an edu- 
cator has already lieen fulfilled to an eminent degree. With him 
teaching is a labor of love, the source of his greatest pleasure outside 
of his family and his church; and he has devoted his life, all his ener- 
gies, to it with that zeal and disinterestedness, and that singleness of 
purpose — the mental and mora! elevation and improvement of those 
committed to his charge — which stamp him a man of great nobility 
of character, and one fitted for the delicate and rosjiousible duties of 
an educator, not less by the native qualities of his head and heart than 
by his superior attainments as a scholar. The Doctor is justly re- 
garded as one of the leadinsr educators of the State. For ten vears 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 321 

he was president of the Education Board of William Jewell College, 
and until he resigned the position. His resignation was accepted with 
gi'eat reluctance. 

Dr. Eaton is also active and prominent in the church and his ser- 
vices have been of great value to his denomination at Liberty and 
to the cause of religion. Though a scientist of profound learning and 
great abiHty and a devoted Ijeliever in the great principles establislied 
by scientific research, unlike many of greater pretentions but of 
unquestionably less depth of thought and thoroughness of investiga- 
tion, he has never found anything to shake his faith in the Word of 
God, the doctrine of faith in Christ as contained in the Holy 
Scriptures. On the contrary, he has ever found science an unerring 
witness for religion, the faithful handmaid of religious truth. 

Dr. Eaton devotes much of his leisure from his regular duties to 
general reading, and in the course of his studies of a general charac- 
ter he has collected an unusually large and valuable library, probably 
the best general library in this i)art of the State, outside of a largo 
city. He has nearly twelve hundred volumes, all works of solid merit, 
and most of them standard authors on the subjects which they respect- 
ively treat. 

On the 6th of June, 1872, Dr. Eaton was married at Liberty, Mo., to 
Miss Mattie E. Lewright. She is a lady of superior education and in- 
telligence. She is a native of Missouri, born in Franklin county, and 
was educated by a private tutor, a gentleman who was a graduate 
of the ancient and famous University of Edinburgh, Scotland. 
She is a daughter of Wm. P. Lewright, formerly of Virginia. 

The Doctor and Mrs. Eaton have one child living, Hubert L., a prom- 
ising son aged about four years. Two others are deceased, both sons, 
Harold W. and Lewright B. 

Dr. Eaton has an interesting and valuable collection of geological 
specimens, many of which he gathered himself in the West and else- 
where in the United States. He also has an interesting cabinet of 
curios of various kinds, collected from ditl'ereut parts of the world, and 
one of the finest collections of ancient and rare coins in the United 
States. His collection of coins, in fact, is said to be the best, though 
not the largest, one outside of Europe. It was exhibited at the Louis- 
ville Exposition in 1884 and one of the i)apers of that city made the 
following notice of it : — 

" Among the uew features at the Exposition will be the rare collection of coins 
belonKing to Dr. J. R. Eaton, of William .Jewell College. He has been 30 years mak- 
ing this collection, and it is probably the best and most complete one this side of the 
British Museum. All the coins mentioned in the Scriptures are here, from the gold 
darlc, contributed to build Solomon's temple, to the mite, such as the poor widow cast 
into the treasury. Here al.^o are the old Greek coins from the didrachma of .Egina, 
which must have been coined before the year 8()'.» B. C, to the quarter obohts, the 
smallest coin ever circulated. The sacred ubolus which was placed in the mouth of 
each corpse to pay the dead mail's ferriage across the river Styx. The coins of Alex- 
ander the Great and his successors. 

The collection embraces all the varieties of Roman coins. There is the original 
^Is.of bronze and weighing one pound, the largest coin in existence. It was recently 
exhumed at Naples and is a better specimen than the one in the British Museum. 
Besides these there are moderncoins of all nations now in use." 



322 HISTORY or clay county. 



WILLIAM W. ESTES 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-offlce, Liberty) . 

Whutever may be said of the productive quality of mucli of the farm- 
ing hiiid of Virginia, no one who knows anything about Virginians 
will question the fact that they know a good piece of land when they 
see it. In all the emigrations from different States to the West, Vir- 
ginians have generally gotten the best of their fellow-emigrants from- 
other States iu the choice of good lands. Away back in the territorial 
days of Missouri, the more intelligent class of people in Virginia have 
made themselves familiar with the general character of the lands in 
this part of the country ; especially well informed were those who ex- 
pected to emigrate West. Among these was the father of the subject 
of the present sketch, together with a large number of other Vir- 
ginians. Before coming to this State he had visited Kentucky when 
quite a young man, but returning to Virginia he was married and 
shortly afterwards, in company with quite a colony, came out to Mis- 
souri and settled in Salinecounty. That wasas early as 1819. About 
two years afterwards he and a number of his fellow-emigrants came up 
tlie river, and crossing over, settled on the fertile lands of Clay county. 
This was one of the early settlements made in the county. Thomas 
Estes became a well-to-do farmer of this county and respected Ijy all 
who knew him. He died here in 1854. His wife died in 1866. Their 
homestead was about a u.-'.e and a half northeast of Liberty. He left 
a large landed property at his death and a number of slaves. It should 
have been remarked before this, however, that after his first wife's 
death he was married again. By each wife he left a family of children. 
Of the first family only one is now living, and also one of the last 
marriage. William W. Estes was born in Saline county, March 7, 
1821, but was reared on the family homestead in Clay county. In 
1849 he, with a company composed of twelve young men of Clay 
county and twelve from Howard county, went to California overland, 
being about three months on the road. He spent two years in Cali- 
fornia engaged in mining. Returning in the fall of 1851, he came by 
way of Panama and New Orleans, and on reaching home settled down 
permanently to farming and stock-raising, which he has ever since 
followed. June 1, 1852, he was married to Miss Catherine Lincoln, 
a daughter of David Lincoln, one of the pioneer settlers of the county. 
She lived to l)rightcn his home for nearly thirty years, but was at last 
taken away by death, Septeml)er 25, 1881. She" was a good and true 
and faithful wife and was esteemed by her neighbors and acquaintances 
only less than she was loved in her own family. Hut one child was 
reared to mature years. She is still living, Elizalielh D., the wife of 
James Bevins, who resides on the Estes' homestead and assists in the 
management of the farm. Mr. and Mrs. Bevins have two children, 
Katie C. and Plum, and have lost two, all of whom died in infancy. 
The farm contains 230 acres and is one of the choice farms of the 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 323 

vicinity. Messrs. Estes and Bevins are justl}' esteemed as among the 
l)est citizens of the community. 

ROBERT C. EWING 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-ofBce, Liberty). 

Mr. Ewing is a representative of a family, whose name he bears, 
that has given to several of the Western States, including Missouri, 
Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois, some of their leading citizens. 
He was a son of J. B. Ewing, who came to this county from Ken- 
tucky in an early day, and who was a nephew of Rev. Finis Ewing, 
one of the noted preachers of his day, a man of finished education, 
fine presence, a magniiicent oi'ator and of profound piety. J. R. 
Ewing came to Clay county a young man in 1821. His parents had 
previously settled in Lafayette county, this State, at a very early day. 
He was married here to Miss Ruth IMoore, a daughter of James 
Moore, formerly of North Carolina. After his marriage he settled 
on a farm adjoining the one where his son now resides. Robert 
C, the subject of this sketch, was born on that place, October 23, 
1833. On the 5th of January, 1859, he was married to Miss Sarah 
Downing, a daughter of Charles Downing, formerly of Kentucky. 
After his marriage Mr. Ewing continued farming, which he had 
previously engaged in, for himself and i)y industry and good manage- 
ment he has become comfortably situated. Mr. and Mrs. Ewing have 
three children, Charles R., John D. and Robert C. One is deceased, 
Nettie. She died in the fall of 1881, being at the time the wife of 
Lilburn Arnold. Mrs. E. is a member of the Baptist Church. 

JUDGE JOSEPH THORNBURG FIELD (deceased) 

(Vicinity of Liberty). 

He whose name heads this sketch was for many years, and until his 
death, regarded as one of the prominent repi-esentati,ve citizens of 
Clay county. He was long a leading farmer and held many positions 
of public trust, as well as being prominently identified with business 
affairs and in every relation of life acquitted himself with great credit. 
He was born in Madison county, Va., December 10, 1798, and was the 
eldest of a family of nine children. In 1800 the family removed to 
Kentucky and settled in Bourbon county, where he grew to manhood, 
and resided until approaching middle age of life. In 1838 he went 
to Boone county, that State, where he made his home for several 
3'ears and became a prominent citizen of that county. He was elected 
sheriff while there and discharged the duties of that ofSce with marked 
elEcieucy and popularity. From Boone county, Ky., he emigrated 
to Missouri, and made a permanent settlement in Clay county. Here 
he was married in 1845 to Miss Mary A. Thompson, of Caldwell 
county, but formerly of Kentucky. She survived her marriage, how- 
ever, only a short time, and left him one child, Sarah E., now the 
wife of John Chancellor. To his second wife Judge Field was mar- 



324 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

ried in the spring of 1848. She was a Miss Margaret Wymore, 
daughter of Samuel Wj'raore, of this count}', an earlj^ settler from 
Kentucky. Meantime he had bought land and improved a farm and 
by his industr_y and good management was steadily coming to the 
front as a prominent farmer and stock-raiser. Later along he was 
honored with different official positions in the county and among others 
was twice elected a member of the county court and served one term 
as county treasurer. As a county judge he is said to have been one 
of the most efficient ever honored with that position in Clay county,' 
and in various other positions he held he acquitted himself with not 
less credit and popularity. He also became interested in banking and 
was director of the Liberty branch of the Farmers' Bank of Missouri. 
During the latter years of the career of the liank he served as its 
president, and under his management it obtained a wide and enviable 
rei)utation. By his economy and industry and admirable good judg- 
ment, he was enabled to acquire a comfortable fortune. He died at 
his homestead in this county March 19, 1881, at the ripe old age of 
82. Judge Field was a valuable, good citizen, and as a friend, generous 
and faithful. As a husband and father, he was all that loved ones 
could have wished him to be, a good and true man in every relation 
of life and one whose memory is kindly cherished by those who knew 
him. In business affairs he was remarkably methodical and systema- 
tic and punctual and precise in all his transactions. His second wife 
died only a short time after her marriage, and he was subsequently 
married to Miss Amanda J., daugiiter of Leonard Brastield, who came 
to this county from Kentucky in 1818. Four children were the fruits 
of his last marriage: Mary J., wife of William Clark; Ada, wife of 
Hon. James M. Bohart, of Clinton count}' ; Joseph E. and Daniel B. 
Tiie latter has charge of the old family homestead and is a young 
man of liberal educa,tion and of marked enterprise and personal 
worth. 

JAMES D. FORD 

(Mayor of Liberty and Deputy County Collector). 

Prominent among the young men of Clay county who, by their own 
merits, are steadily and surely coming to the front in public and busi- 
ness affairs, is the subject of the present sketch. Mr. Ford, who is a 
young man of industry and sterling character, received more than an 
average general education at Lii)erty High School and at William 
Jewell College. Sul)sequently he followed farming for two vears and 
then, in 1877, engaged in the grocery business at Liberty. Three 
}'ears later he sold his interest in the grocery trade and became a 
<!lerk in the clothing house of J. J. Stogdale, one of the leading 
houses in that line in the county. Since Mr. Stogdale's election to 
the office of county collector, Mr. F. has had entire control of the 
store and also fills the office of deputy collector under Mr. Stogdale. 
lu the spring of 1880 Mr. Ford was elected mayor of Liberty, and 
was the youngest mayor who ever occupied the office at this place. 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 325 

Although he has taken an active interest in politics for some years, 
and is regarded on all hands as one of the influential young men of 
the county, he has never himself been a candidate for office, except 
when he ran for mayor. March 13, 1884, he was married to Mrs. S. 
J. Haskill, a young widow lady, daugiiter of James H. Hubbard, of 
Plattsburg. Mrs. F. is a member of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. 
Ford was born at Libert}', March 13, 185G. His father is Capt. 
James H. Ford, a retired and highly respected citizen of this place. 
Capt. Ford was deputy sherifl' when he entered the Southern army 
in 1862. Since the war he has held the offices of deputy sheriff and 
deputy collector. He came to this county from Kentucky in 1837, 
wliere he was afterwards married to Miss Mary Duncan, also formerly 
of Kentucky. 

PHILIP P^RAHER 
(Of Fraher& Son, Manufacturers aud Dealers iu Boots and Shoes, Liberty). 
Philip Fraher, the senior member of the aljove named firm, was 
l)orn in Ballinamona, County Limerick, Ireland, April 2, 1822, and was 
the third son of Thomas Fraher and Johannah Herbert. He received 
a fair education, and learned the shoeniaking trade. After completing 
his apprenticeship he carried on business on his own account for a few 
years, but, concluding to emigrate, came to the United States in 
May, 1846. After spending short periods in Massachusetts, Con- 
necticut, Pennsylvania and New York City, he came West and located 
in Liberty, Mo., in March, 1851. He formed a business partnership 
with his brother, James, which was continued u[) to January 10, 1874, 
at which time the partnership between the brothers was dissolved, 
and the separate firms of Philip Fraher & Son and James Fraher & 
Sons were established. Previous to the late war the old firm of P. 
& J. Fraher did a large business in manufacturing boots and shoes to 
order, employing as many as thirteen hands during the busy season. 
Of late years the use of improved machinery by large manufacturers 
has so lessened the cost of production, and the products themselves 
have improved so much in style and quality, as to decrease the de- 
mand for the home-made article and increase the business in ready- 
made boots and shoes, in which the present firm of Philip Fraher & 
Son, in connection with their custom department, are extensive 
dealers, carrying the largest stock in the county and having built up 
a very satisfactory trade. Philip Fraher was married June 17, 1849, 
in St. Peter's Catholic Church, New York City, the Rev. Father 
Quinn officiating, to Miss Mary Anne Frazer, oldest daughter of 
Thomas Frazer and Elizabeth McLean, of Scrabby, County Cavan, 
Ireland. Miss Frazer was born May 15, 1828, and came to the 
United States also in 1846. After their marriage, she came West 
with her husband, locating, as above stated, in Liberty, Mo., where 
she died July 30, 1879, universally beloved and respected. Of this 
marriage there was born one son, Thomas J., who is a graduate of 
William Jewell College, and since attaining his majority has been 
associated with his father in business. He is a young man of good 



32G HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

habits and business qualifications, and possesses a high social and 
business standing in the community. 

THOMAS H. FRAME 

(Editor and Proprietor of the Liberty Advance). 

Ml". Frame was a son of Col. Thomas T. Frame, of Daviess county, 
this State, and was reared and educated in that county. He com- 
pleted his education at the Gallatin High School, where he graduated 
in the spring of 1861. Following that, he began an apprenticeship 
at the printer's trade in the office of the Stm, at Gallatin, having de- 
cided to devote himself to the profession of journalism, and desiring 
to become familiar with the practical details of printing in order to 
make his success as a journalist the more assured. Mr. Frame worked 
at the case about three years and during that time also did consider- 
able work as a writer for the paper in both its local and editorial de- 
partments. In 1865 he bought the Torch-Light newspaper, and 
afterwards was editor and proprietor of that paper for five years. 
While in charge of the Torch-Light he greatly improved it, both in 
mechanical make-up and influence, and its circulation and patronage 
steadily increased. Under his management the Torch-Light was 
brought to an enviable position among the country newspapers of the 
State. In 1870 Mr. Frame sold his newspaper office in order to ac- 
cept a position at the head of the local department of the Kansas City 
Times, which had been tendered him. There, as in charge of the 
Torch-Light, his services were of much value to the paper. For five 
years he was connected with the Times as local editor, and it is well 
known to every one at all familiar with newspaper affairs in this State 
that while he was connected with the Times its local department was 
generally remarked for life, enterprise and ability. The Times be- 
came the popular local paper of Kansas City, and was looked upon as 
a model in this respect. But it is one thing to work on a salary, with 
little or no hope of accumulating means or establishing one's self in 
life, and another thing to have a business of one's own, the growth 
and increase in value of which is one's own profit. i\Ir. Frame pre- 
ferred to return to country journalism, in the hope of securing a good 
paper and building it up. An opportunitj' of this kind was oli'ercd at 
Liberty. Accordingly, in 1875, he came to this place and took charge 
of the Advance, and two years later he purchased the office. His 
long experience in newspaper life enabled him to bring the Advance, 
by a few years of hard work and good management, to an envial)le 
position of influence and prosperity. Its history for the last eight or 
nine years is one of gratifying progress in every feature that renders 
a newspaper valuable and influential. The circulation ®f the paper 
has largely increased. The office has been greatly improved by re- 
peated purchases of new and additional material, and its advertising 
patronage is more than ordinarily large, considering the general busi- 
ness of Liberty and the count}'. The Advance is one of the leading 
Democratic country papers of the State, and Mr. Frame, himself, is 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 327 

recognized as ii prominent and influential member of the Democratic 
party of Western Missouri. In 1884 lie was delegate to the National 
Democratic Convention at Chicago. He is an earnest, consistent 
Democrat, but not an extremist, and as an editor he is a vigorous, 
pungent writer, one who gets his subject in hand before putting ids 
views in print, and who expresses himself cleaidy, briefly and with 
more than ordinary pointedness and vigor. Mr. Frame is justly 
recognized as one of the representative, public-spirited citizens of 
Liberty. Twice he has been elected to the office of mayor, and in all 
matters of public advantage, either to Lilierty or the county, he is 
ever ready to do his full share by contributing both his means, as far 
as he is able, and his time and personal exertions. Fel)ruary 4, 1871 
Mr. Frame was married to Jliss Hosa L. Riggins, a refined and ac- 
complished daughter of B. L. Riggins, Esq., of Kansas City. They 
were married at Glasgow, Mo., where Mrs F. had Ijeen attending the 
Pritchett Institute for some time. Mr. and Mrs. F. have three chil- 
dren, Fredonia, Callie and Olin. He and wife are members of the 
M. E. Church. Mr. Frame's father. Col. Thomas T. Frame, was orig- 
inally from Virginia. He was married in that State to Miss Myriani 
C. Catlett, and removed to Missouri with his family in 1830, locating 
in Daviess county. In a few years afterwards he was elected circuit 
and county clerk, and subsequently held one or both of these ofE<!es 
almost continuously for a period of nearly twenty 3'ears. In 18.56 
he was a candidate for State Treasurer, l)ut was defeated by the Dem- 
ocratic nominee. He died at Jetiersou City in 18(51. 

WILLIAM J. FRANCIS 

(Fanner aod Stock-raiser, Post-office, Liberty). 

Mr. Francis came to this State when in childhood, away back in the 
" twenties." The family first settled in Gasconade count}', where the 
father, Pearle Francis, died in 1850. The mother died in that county 
in 18G3. William J. Francis was born in Lincoln county, Ky., iu 
1825. Principally reared in Gasconade county. Mo., he was married 
in 1852 to Miss Martha Waller, a daughter of Judge J. G. Waller, of 
Warren county, but originally of Henry county, Va. Meantime Mr. 
Francis had begun life for himself as a farmer, and was then engaged 
in that occupation. But during the Mexican War he had served a 
part of the time under Gen. Doniphan, but principallj' under Gen. 
Price, being nevertheless under Gen. Kearney also a short time. Mr. 
Francis removed to Clay county in 1866, and has been a resident of 
this county continuously ever since. His business has been that of 
farming and raising stock, and also dealing in stock. He has a good 
farm of 360 acres with more than average improvements. His farm is 
almost devoted exclusively to stock-raising, and is run in blue grass 
principally. In 1873 Mr. Francis had the misfortune to lose his'first 
wife; She had long been a member of the Missionary Baptist Church, 
and was a true-hearted Christian lady and a devoted mothei' and wife. 

16" 



328 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

She left six children : William W., Louisa B., wife of James Collier, 
of Fort Worth, Texas ; Mary A., wife of French Boo^gess ; Leoma A., 
Sarah E., wife of Gen. Price Boggess, and Emmet L. Mr. Francis' 
present wife was a Miss Abbie E. Ecton, a daughter of John Ecton, of 
Chiy county. They have one child, Betsey Brooks. Mrs. Francis is 
an estimable lady, and she is a member of the Christian Church. Her 
husband belongs to the Missionary Baptist Church. 

CAPT. WILLIAM G. GARTH 

(Stock-dealer, Liberty) . 

The Garth family, or rather that branch of it to which our subject 
belongs, were early settlers in Central Missouri. His grandparents 
were from Virginia — the Russels on his mother's side, she being Miss 
Mary Ann Russel before her marriage to Jefferson Garth. Capt. 
Garth was born near Georgetown, Ky., November 19, 1832. His 
father moving to Missouri in his early childhood, he was reared on a 
farm overlooking the town of Columbia, where his father still lives, 
and even yet in his old age holds a prominent place in public enter- 
prise. Capt. Garth's education was mostly received in the State 
Universit}', to the location of which institution his father was a liberal 
contributor. In 1847 Capt. Garth enlisted in the U. S. army for five 
years or during the war, serving as a private under (now) Col. Will- 
iam H. Royal, of the U. S. army. The surrender of New Mexico 
returned him home at the end of the year, from which place the next 
year he started to California, making the overland journey of over 
2,000 miles on the back of a mule. After a sojourn of two years in 
that then wild country he again turned his face homeward by way of 
Vera Cruz and the city of Old Mexico. The next three years he 
remained at his father's, farming and stock-raising, when, again leav- 
ing home, he located in Holt county. Mo., where he bought land and 
lived some two years. In the year of 1856 he was married to Miss 
Katharine Berry, daugliter of John Berry, a prominent citizen of 
Liberty, Mo., to which place Capt. Garth removed and settled down 
to a useful, busy and active life, devoting himself to the handling of 
live stock. Successful in most his efforts, he is known in the various 
markets as a shipper whose judgment and ability can be relied upon. 
He owns three handsome farms ; a substantial citizen of his county, 
his home for 24 years has been in the town of Liberty, identified 
with all its interests and enterprises. He served three years during 
the war as captain of a company of militia, which was organized and 
stationed in this county, and represented his county during one term 
of the Legislature. Capt. and Mrs. Garth have had two boys born to 
them, but reared but one (John B. Garth), who is now a young man. 
engaged in stock-raising in New Mexico. They are members of 
the Christian Church, and he is a member of the Blue Lodije of tiie 
A. F. and A. M. 



HISTOKY OF CLAY COUNTY. 329 

CHRISTOPHER GEIB 

(Dealer in and Manufacturer of Harness, Saddles, Etc., Liberty). 

Mr. Geib commenced his trade as saddle and harnessmaker at the 
age of 15 ill 1854 at Mineral Point, Wis., and has been at work at it 
as workman, foreman, or proprietor ever since. There is probably 
not a man in the State who understands the Inisiness better than he 
does. He served an apprenticeship of three years and a half at Min- 
eral Point, Wis., and then ^vorked in a large establishment at St. Louis 
until he entered the government service. May 5, 18(50, and became 
foreman of the harness establishment at Fort Leavenworth Arsenal, and 
remained foreman 13 years. Since that time he has worked at differ- 
ent points, and once again for the government at Rock Island, 111., 
being for a time at the head of a harness and saddle establisimient for 
a company at Kansas City. During this time, until he located at 
Lil)erty in the spring of 1877, he has been at Wichita, Kas., Leaven- 
worth, at different points in Iowa, at Rock Island and Kansas City. 
For a time he carried on business himself at Allerton, Iowa. When 
he began business at Liberty Mr. Geib had strongcompetition to meet, 
but being a fine workman, economical and an upright man, he soon 
gained the confidence of the people and overcame all opposition. He 
carries a good stock of saddles, harness and other goods in his line. 
Mr. Geib was married in 1862 to Miss Maria J. Johnson, daughter 
of Greenup Johnson, formerly of Kentucky. She was reared in 
Platte county. They have six children : Mary A., Annie, Emma, 
Christopher, Thomas and Allen. Mr. and Mrs. Geib are members of 
the Catholic Church. Mr. Geib was born in Lu.xemburg, Germany, 
September 13, 183i». His father was John Geib, and his mother's 
maiden name, Mary Rume. The family came to America in 1847 and 
settled at Mineral Point, Wis., where the father still resides. The 
mother died in 1877. Mr. Geib was educated at the common schools 
and a private academ}'. 

MAJ. JAMES A. GILLESPIE 

(County Collector, and late Proprietor of the Arthur House, Liberty). 

When a lad about 11 years of age Maj. Gillespie was left an orphan 
by the death of his father. He was one of a largo family of chiUh-en. 
Some of the older children of the family had already grown to mature 
years, and one had married. In 1855, on the death of his mother, 
James A., with two others of the children, went to live with their 
married sister, Mrs. R. A. Stout, of Woodford county, Ky., where 
the family had long been settled. In 185(! Mr. Stout I'emoved to Mis- 
souri and settled in Clay county, young James A., who was then in 
his nineteenth year, coming with him. Some years afterwards Mr. 
Stout returned to Kentuck}', but young Gillespie remained in Clay 
county. In 1858 he obtained a clerkship in a general store at Liberty, 
and in 1860 engaged in business with Richard Evans, at Liberty (tirni 



330 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

of Evans & Gillespie), until the breaking out of the war. He then 
enlisted in Thompson's regiment, of Stein'a infantry lirigade, under 
Gov. Jackson's call, and became second lieutenant of Capt. L. B. 
Dougherty's company. After about five months' service under Col. 
Thompson in the State Guard, he resigned and re-enlisted in the 
Southern service, becoming a volunteer in the regular Confederate 
army. At first he was a member of Col. John T. Hughes' battalion, but 
afterwards became a private in Co. B, Third Missouri infantry, but 
was shortly promoted to a first lieutenancy and ordered to report tor 
the Twelt'th battalion of Arkansas sharpshooters. He was with that 
l)attalion until the fall of Vicksburg, when he was directed to report 
at Washington, Ark., to reorganize his command, and was there given 
charge of a regiment with the rank of first lieutenant. At the battle 
of Saline river, though only holding a lieutenant's commission, he 
commanded a regiment, being made a brevet-major for the occasion. 
His brigade commander especially commended his gallantry and im- 
poitant services in this engagement. Subsequently he went to 
Northern Arkansas where he recruited a battalion for the Confederate 
service, and was elected its major. He. served in that position until 
the close of the war, surrendering finally at Natchitoches, La. In 
the course of the war, among other engagements in which he par- 
ticipated were the battles of Lexington, Pea Ridge, Corinth, luka, 
Baker's Creek and Vicksburg. At Baker's Creek he received quite a 
severe flesh wound and was dii^abled for service for about a month. 
At the fall of Vicksburg he was, of course, captured, but was shortly 
paroled and exchanged, and, as stated above, was thereupon ordered 
to rejoin his command at Washington, Ark. After the war Maj. Gilles- 
pie returned to Liberty, and having lost all he had by the war, he 
shortly accepted a clerkship at Kansas City, where he was employed 
about six months. On the 2d of November, 18(55, he was married to 
Mrs. Alice Breeden, daughter of Capt. John SuUenger, of Woodford 
count}', Ky. In 1867 Maj. Gillespie engaged in the grocery business 
at Lil)erty for Mr. Bearing, which he continued for about six 3'ears. 
Returning to Kentucky in 1875, he made his home in Woodford and 
Scott counties until 1880, when he came back to Lil)erty and en- 
gaged in the hotel business. He had charge of the Arthur House for 
two years, and by his good management, hospitality and fair dealing 
as a landlord, placed the house in the front rank of popular hotels in 
this part of the State. Maj. Gillespie is an ardent Democrat, and 
takes an active and public-spirited interest in political matters. la 
1884 he was a candidate at the general election for county collector, 
and was elected l)y a large majority. He is now (1885) serving the 
first year of his term in that office. He is a man of high standing, 
good business qualifications and justly popular wherever he is known. 
Maj. and Mrs. Gillespie have two sous: Elmer Lee and Willa John- 
son. Maj. Gillespie was born in Woodford county, Ky., July 11, 
1837. His parents were George E. and Louisa (Campbell) Gillespie, 
the father originallv from Virginia, and the mother of a former Vir- 
ginia family. James A. was the eighth in a family of 10 children. 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 331 

namel}^ : Melvina, now Mrs. M. L. Wallace, of Hayes county, Texas; 
Fannie, the wife of R. H. Stout, present slieriti' of Woodford county, 
Ky. ; John W., present jud^e of the county court of that county; 
Ciiarles, assistant in the Secretary of State's office at Jetierson City; 
the others now being deceased. The mother died in 1855. 

JOSEPH C. GOODWIN 

(Dealer iu Furuitiu'e, Liberty). 

Joseph Goodwhi, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was 
a gallant soldier in the War of the Revolution, and commanded a com- 
pany of brave Virginians in that long and terrible struggle for inde- 
pendence. He participated in a number of the leading battles of the 
war and assisted to win the final triumph of the Revolution at York- 
town. His son, Capt. William Goodwin, became the father of the 
subject of this sketch. Capt. William Goodwin was an officer in the 
militia organization of Virginia, holding the rank of captain. He 
married in that State Miss Mary Wells, and made Virginia his perma- 
nent home. Joseph C. Goodwin, the subject of this sketch, was 
b(U'n in Henrico county, near Richmond, March 27, 1824. Up to 
the age of sixteen his time was principally spent at school. He then 
began an ap])i"enticeship of five years at the cal^inetmaker's trade. 
Completing this, he subsequently worked at different places in Vir- 
ginia, NorUi Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Ten- 
nessee. Later along he located at Bowling Green, Ky., and 
after awhile at Lexington, that State. There he was married July 15, 
1853, to Mrs. Rosana, relict of John Young, and daughter of Will- 
iam Rickets. In 1853 Mr. Goodwin came to Missouri and located 
at Liberty. A year later, in 1856, he established a shop of his own 
which ho carried on until the outbreak of the war, having a full stock 
of furniture. He also had a stock of dry goods and groceries. But 
during the war his business house was robbed. After that he removed 
to Lexington, Ky., and in 1864 to Illinois, engaging in mer- 
chandising at Zanesville. From there Mr. Goodwin removed to Au- 
gusta, Arkansas, and sold goods with a partner under the firm name 
of Goodwin & Bost, for about four years. But in 1869 he returned 
to Liberty and the following year resumed the furniture business and 
has been in business ever since. Mr. Goodwin is a substantial 
property holder at Liberty, owning a good business house and three 
residence houses. Recently he has been engaged in shipping apples, 
and this year shipped about 12,000 l)arrels. Mr. Goodwin's wife 
died in 1866. She left him one daughter, Rosana, who is the wife 
of Thomas Gasney. 

JUDGE WILLIAM F. GORDON 

(President of the Liberty Saviiigs Ass'u, aud Farmer and Fine Stoclv Raiser, Liberty). 

The history of every community is made up, so far as its more inter- 
esting and importaut features are concerned, of the events and trans- 



332 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

actions of the lives of its prominent, representative citizens. No 
worthy representative history of Chvy county would, therefore, be com- 
plete which failed to include at least an outline of the life of the 
subject of the present sketch, and something of the record of his 
family. Judge Gordon's parents came here among the early settlers 
of the county. His father, Hon. Thomas C. Gordon, was originally' 
from Virginia, but was brought out at an early age to Kentucky by 
his parents, who settled in Clark county. Mr. Gordon, senior, grew 
to manhood in that county and in young manhood was married in 
Kentucky to Miss Charlotte Grigsby, of an early family in that State. 
They resided in Clark county for a time after their marriage and while 
there the subject of the present sketch was born June 24, 1831. The 
same year of his birth the family came to Missouri and settled eight 
miles northwest of Liberty, in Clay county. Here the father bought 
a large body of land and improved a farm. He owned a large number 
of slaves and engaged in farming quite extensively, which he followed 
with success. He also dealt in stock and all in all accumulated an 
ample property. Mr. Gordon, senior, repi-esented Clay county for a 
uumt)er of terms in the Legislature and was a member of the House 
from this county at the time of his death, which occurred January 8, 
1866. He was at the time at home from Jefferson City spending the 
holidays. For many years he had been a member cff the Christian 
Church and was an earnest worker and liberal contributor in his 
church. Judge Gordon, the subject of this sketch, was the eldest in 
his father's family of eight children, four sons and as many daugh- 
ters ; all grew to mature years, and all, save one, lived to become the 
heads of families themselves. Two of the brothers and three of the 
sisters are still living. Judge Gordon was reared on his father's farm, 
eight miles northwest of this place, and spent his youth at farm work 
and in neighborhood schools until he was about 18 3'ears of age. At 
this time the California gold excitement broke out and he was one of 
the first in the county to determine on crossing the plains and visit 
the land of stored wealth on the Pacific sea. He started across the 
Continent early in 1850, and took a drove of 150 head of cattle and 
a number of mules with him. He had a squad of fifteen men to accom- 
pany him as help and as guard against the Indians. They were on the 
way one hundred and ten days up to the day they for the first time grazed 
their cattle on the height overlooking the city of Sacramento. The 
Judge's impression of that scene as he descrii)es it would make a sub- 
ject worthy the pencil of a Diefonbach. There fed his cattle above 
the valley of the Sacramento, here and there in small groups, with a 
travel-stained and weary herder or cowbov near each group, either 
astride his trusted jmny and with a long whip in one hand and his 
bridle rein in the other while the wide rim of his great sombrei'O 
quivered in the breeze; or, .else, lying outstretched on the ground, 
refreshing himself with a peaceful slumber and naught above him but 
the clear blue sky, whilst his pony grazed around him all saddled and 
bridled for use at a moment's call and made secure by a long lariat 
staked to the ground. Below in the mist of the valley stood the 



HISTORY or CLAY COUNTY. 333 

quaint and wierd little city of Sacramento, with the steeple of its 
single cathedral piercing above into the clear light of the sky. The 
queerness of the dress of its few inhabitants and the promiscuity of 
their apjjearance and nationalities added an additional interest to the 
scene. Away off, thousands of miles from civilization, with the 
boundless, l)oundless sea on one hand and an almost impassal)le waste 
of country' on the other, stopping there down the distant slope of the 
Cordilleras with no signs of civilized life near save the little semi- 
civilized city of Sacramento with its strange buildings, little, narrow, 
crooked streets and its admixture of [)eople from every quarter of the 
globe, among the native Mexicans and Indians and half and quarter 
lireeds, it was, indeed, a sight to be seen only in one generation in 
the history of a country. Judge Gordon remained in California, prin- 
cipally engaged in freighting and dealing in stock, for nearly two 
years, and then returned to his old home in Clay county, l)y way of 
Panama and New York. On his return home he visited Philadelphia, 
Pittsbni-g, Cincinnati and St. Louis, fully "doing" each city, as 
young men were then, as they now are, wont to " do " cities on their 
first visit. Coming on up home he settled down quietly and engaged 
in farming, having seen the world and interviewed the great " white 
elephant " to his entire satisfaction. Industry and close attention to 
his farming interests soon began to bear their usual fruits and in 
ample abundance. In a word, he shortly became one of the well 
established and prosperous farmers in the county. He also engaged 
in stock raising and in handling stock, after awhile turning his atten- 
tion largely to fine short horn cattle. Judge Gordon finally bought 
and improved two other farms, the management of which he has been 
superintending for a number of yeai's. Though engaging in the 
banking business as far back as 1865, he has nevertheless continued to 
carry on his farming and stock interests. Judge Gordon now has one 
of the best herds of short horn cattle in the county. He has been 
breeding and handling short horns for nearly twenty years, and was 
among the first farmers of the county to introduce them here. In 
1865 he engaged in merchandising at Liberty as a member of the firm 
of GfU'don, Reymon & Co.. and continued in the business with success 
for about three years. He was one of the original organizers of the 
bank association of this place, which engaged in the banking business 
in 1865, and started at first on a capital of $1,000, but now has a 
capital of $3('), 000. His father was also one of the first stockholders 
of the association and was its first president. The Judge has been 
pi'esident of the l)ank since September, 1873. In 1878 he was elected 
presiding judge of the county court for a period of six years, but held 
it only two years on account of the change of law. On the 17th of 
October, 1853, he was married to Miss Rebecca Bland, a daughter of 
James Bland, formerly of Warren county. She was educated, how- 
ever, at the Liberty Female College. On the 2d of April, 1872, she 
was taken from him by death, leaving eight children: Mary E., 
James B., Katie, wife of S. Burkhead ; Frank Lee, Minnie, Carrie, 
William and Lena. On the 27th of January, 1875, Judge Gordon 



334 HISTOKY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

was married to Miss Louisa Oliver, a daughter of S. A. Oliver. His 
present wife was also educated at Lil)erty. They have one son, 
Oliver. The Judge and Mrs. Gordon are members of the Christian 
Church, and he is a member of the Blue Lodge, Chapter and Com- 
mandery, in the Masonic Order. 

CAPT. JOHN S. GROOM 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Liberty). 

The family name of the subject of the present sketch is one so long 
and worthily identified with Clay county, that no history of the county 
could fairly be considered complete which failed to make proper 
allusion to the Groom family. Capt. Groom's father, Josepli Groom, 
was a Virginian b}' nativity, but was reared in Kentucky. His father 
was a pioneer settler of Clark county, in that State, having removed 
there from Virginia during the latter part of the last century. Joseph 
Groom was reared in Clark county, and in early nnmhood was mar- 
ried to Miss Nancy Hudtison, a daughter of Col. Hudtison, another 
pioneer from Virginia and a brave old veteran of the Revolution. 
After their marriage Joseph Groom and wife removed to Missouri 
and settled in Clay county, back in 1824. The inhabitants of what 
is now Clay county could then have been numbered on one's fingers, 
so few and far between were the settlements in the county. He 
bought land and improved a farm and resides on the place he then 
improved to this day, now closely approaching a continuous residence 
on one farm of sixty years. His life, during the years of his activity, 
was one of industry and much usefulness, and from the beginning he 
has always [)rescrved a character and good name that reflect only 
credit upon himself, his family and the community with which his life 
has been so long identified. Although now in his eighty-ninth j^ear, 
he is still well preserved in mind and body, uncommonly so consider- 
ing his advanced age. His good wife passed away some years ago, a 
motherly, noble-hearted old lady, loved and venerated by all who 
knew her. They reared a numerous family of children, all of whom 
are now worthy members of their respective communities. Capt. 
Groom, the subject of this sketch, was born about four years after his 
parents came to Clay county, November 28, 1828. He was reared in 
the county, and in youth attended the comnu)n schools of his neigh- 
borhood. On the outbreak of the Mexican war, early in 1846, he 
enlisted in the service under Col. A. W. Doniphan, i)ecoming a mem- 
ber of Capt. O. P. Moss' company. With his command Capt. Groom 
took part in the expedition to Santa Fe, being finall}' ordered to New 
Orleans at the close of the war, by wav of Matamoras, where he was 
honorably discharged. Li common with his command he participated 
in the battles of Brazeta and Sacramento and in some lesser engage- 
ments. After his return from the Mexican War Capt. Groom engaged 
in farming, to which he had been brought up. and on the 24th of 
February, 1848, was married to Miss Catherine Hadley, a daughter of 
Samuel Hadlc}', deceased, an early settler of this county from Todd 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 335 

county, Ky. Capt. Groom continued farming after his marriage, 
and with good success. He bought a fsirm eight miles west of Liberty, 
where he resided some eight 3'ears, and in 1859 bought a phice a mile 
from Liberty, west of town. The same year he was elected assessor 
of the county, and discharged the duties of that office something over 
a year, when the Civil War broke out. Like the great body of the 
property holders and the intelligence and character of the people of 
Clay county, he warmly espoused the cause of the South, and 
promptly enlisted in the Southern service. He organized Co. A, of 
Col. Thompson's regiment, being elected captain of the company, 
and soon, for the second time in his life, was taking part in the trials 
and dangers and hardships of war. He was in the active service for 
nearly three years, and during that time participated in the battles of 
Lexington, Pea Ridge, Independence and Lone Jack. In the latter, 
one of the deadliest and most resolute engagements of the war, 
though not a great battle in point of numV)ers, he was shot through 
the shoulder and disabled for further service. The battle lasted for 
nearly eight hours, and every inch of ground was resolutely contested. 
Col. Yard. Cockrell commanded on the Southern side, and Muj. 
Emory S. Foster had command of the Federals. Both were Missou- 
rians, and had been reared neighbor boys together, and their men 
were all of neighboring counties. So, there, Greek met Greek, and 
it was a matter of personal pride in each side to win the battle. The 
Southerners, however, finally won the field. According to the num- 
bers engaged, there were more men killed than in any other battle of 
the war. \Yith the exception of two other fights, it is believed that 
this is true. After the battle Capt. Groom returned home for a short 
time and soon recovered, at least became strong enough, as he 
thought, to re-enter the service. He thereupon organized another 
company in Clay county, and at once started South with his men to 
rejoin the Southern army. But when about five miles from Liberty 
he was met by a body of Federals, and a fight ensued. During the 
fight Capt. Groom's horse was killed under him, and his men were 
routed and scattered, he himself l)arely escaping with his life ; and 
for nine days afterward he was compelled to secrete himself in the 
brush, whilst the woods were literally "driven" for him, as hunters 
say when on a deer hunt. From Clay county he made his way to 
Denver, in Colorado, and remained there and in Nebraska until the 
close of the war, principally engaged in merchandising. After re- 
turning to Clay county he resumed farming again, but in 1866 estab- 
lished a store at Kearney, where he sold goods for about eight years. 
He was then, in 1874, elected sheriff, in which office he served for 
two terms. Immediately following that he was elected county col- 
lector, and served in that office for four years. He then bought the 
place where he now resides, in the vicinity of Liberty, a good farm 
of about 40 acres, where he is engaged in farming. He also has 
another farm of 320 acres, and other lands on the Misscniri river. 
Capt. Groom is engaged in raising fine thoroughbred short horn 
cattle to some extent, and is having excellent success. On the 11th 
of August, 1864, he had the misfortune to lose his first wife. She left 



336 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

him four children : Fannie, wife of Richard Myall, of May's Lick, Ky. ; 
Ruth, deceased, late wife of A. S. Brown : Jennie, wife of Charles 
Mosby, and Walter. To his present wife Capt. Groom was married 
in 18t5(]. She was a sister to his first wife. There are no children by 
this union. Mrs. G. is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and 
her husband of the Christian. 

MICHAEL A. GROOM 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Liberty) . 
Like a large majority of the people of Clay county, Mr. Groom is 
of Kentucky antecedents. His father, Joseph Groom, came to this 
county from the Blue Grass State in an early day, settling with his 
family about two miles west of Liberty. Mr. Groom, the subject of 
this sketch, was reared on his father's farm in this county, and in 1861, 
the beginning of the late Civil War, he entered the State Guard under 
Gen. Price and served in Col. Thompson's regiment, in Capt. Groom's 
company, until in 1862, when he entered the regular Confederate ser- 
vice, serving in the Trans-Mississippi department. During this time 
he took part in a number of leading battles and many lesser engage- 
ments and skirmishes until the surrender, after which he returned 
home, and resumed farming and also engaged in dealing in stock. He 
was married to Emma P., daughter of D. J. Adkins, in Clay county, 
November 5, 1867, and in 1882 he had the misfortune to lose his 
wife. She left him six children, namely : Eima, Ruth, Darwean, Artie 
E., Minnie G., and Lizzie E. Groom. Mr. Groom feeds cattle for 
the markets and is one of the energetic stockmen of the township. 
He has a good farm of about 500 acres, which is well improved, in- 
cluding a handsome brick residence and a new and commodious barn. 
His farm is principally run in blue grass for stock purposes. His pres- 
ent wife was a Mrs. Amelia Collins, widow of the late Jesse B. Collins, 
of this county, and a daughter of James M. Watkins. She has two 
children by her first husband, Jesse B. and Martha J. Collins. Mr. 
Groom is a man of warm domestic attachment and is greatly devoted 
to his family. With him there is in truth no place like home, and to 
both his own and his second wife's children he is all that a kind and 
afiectionate father could well be. His first wife was an earnest and 
life-long member of the Christian Church and a devoted wife and 
mother. His present wife is a member of the Baptist Church and a 
worthy, excellent lady. Mr. Groom is a memiier of no secret order 
and often remarks that his own family is as pleasant and welcome a 
loilge as he cares to spend his leisure evenings in. Still, he is not 
insensible to the great good done by many of the secret orders and 
warmly approves the object for which they are instituted. He is a 
member of the Christian Church. 

SAMUEL HARDWICKE 

(Attorney at Law, Liberty). 
For more than 25 years Mr. Hardwicke has lieeu engaged in the 
active practice of his profession at Liberty and in the courts of this 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 337 

State. A young man of a thorough cUissical education to begin 
with, a teacher of the classics in fact, and subsequently qualifying 
himself thoroughly for the l)ar by a regular and exhaustive course 
of study under Judge Norton, then one of the leading practicing 
lawyers of West Missouri and since 187(j a distinguished member 
of the Supreme Court, he entered upon his career as an attorney at 
Libert}' immediately following his admission in 1857, under auspices 
of a successful and honorable future in the legal profession. Nor 
has his record in the practice disappointed the just expectations that 
were formed of him at the beginning. For years he has held a prom- 
inent and honorable position among the leading lawyers of his 
judicial circuit, and he has long been recogTiized as one of the first 
lawyers in point of ability and success at the Liberty bar. Close 
habits of studiousness have always been one of his most marked 
characteristics, and while he is thoroughly wedded to his profession, 
a constant student of the science of law, by which he has become 
one of the best read lawyers in this part of the State, he has at 
the same time found leisure to gratify his taste for general litera- 
ture and the classics. His knowledge of the law and his judgment 
upon legal questions command respectful consideration from the 
court and bar wherever his duties as a lawyer call him, whilst his 
culture, eloquence and ability as an advocate and his integrity, profes- 
sionally and in private life, are recognized by all. Though an active, 
successful lawyer, Mr. Hardwicke is a man of unusually quiet nuui- 
ners, and of a retiring disposition, more given to the study of his books 
and to reflection than to the enjoyment of society or the pleasures of 
conversation. He has a fine law library, where most of his time is 
spent when not in the court-room or at home with his family. His 
library is by far the best in the county, and one of the best in the 
circuit. Samuel Hardwicke was born in Clay county, Mo., September 
8, 1833. His father was Capt. Philip Allen Hardwicke, from Brooks 
county, Va., and his mother. Miss Margaret Gregg (then called 
"Peggy"), born in Tennessee, I)Ut reared in Howard county, 
Mo. She was the daughter of Hannon Gregg, whom Gen. A. W. 
Doniphan pronounced one of the strongest men in native intellect he 
ever met. Her brother, Josiah Gregg, was distinguished in science and 
as an author. Mrs. Hardwicke was brought out to this State by her 
parents when she was in childhood, and for a time they lived in 
Cooper's Fort for protection against the Indians. She was a witness 
to the death of Capt. Cooper, who was shot by the Lidians in the fort. 
Mr. Hardwicke' s grandfather was a gallant old Eevolutiouary soldier 
from Virginia, and received a grant of land from the State for his ser- 
vices in the struggle for independence. An incident in this connection 
is worth mentioning, as it gave rise to two ways of spelling the family 
name. In the instrument of grant, or patent, the name was spelled 
" Hardwick " instead of Hardwicke, the proper orthography. Since 
then some of his desceiulants have kept up the former way of spelling 
the name. In a very early day the grandfather, Hardwicke, died in 
Virginia. His son Philip was then a small boy. He was l)ound out 



338 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

to the cabiiietmakei-'s trade. Before he was grown, however, lie went 
to Loijan countv, Ky., where he helped to build the first house in 
Lebanon, a town in that county. About the time of attaining his ma- 
jority Philip Hardwicke came to Missouri and located in Howard 
county. There he met and was married to Miss Margaret Gregg 
(then called " Peggy"), mentioned above. In the early Indian wars 
Capt. Hardwicke took an active and prominent part, and commanded 
a company of volunteers through several campaigns. In 1824 he re- 
movecl to Clay county, having land about five miles north of Kansas 
City, where he improved a large and valuable farm and lived a nseful 
and respected life until his death. He was a very successful farmer, 
and was a man of marked influence in the community. Often urged 
to stand as a candidate for official position he uniformly refused, being 
tlioroughh' averse to every idea and practice of the politician's life. 
He had no taste for the turmoil, confusion, slander, iusincerit}' and 
double dealing incident to politics, and scrupulously avoided every- 
thing of the kind, though lie believed earnestly in the principles of the 
old Whig party, and never failed to vote his honest convictions. In 
1849 he joined the general movement of Argonauts to the Pacific 
coast, and died on his return the following year on the ocean, and was 
buried at Acapulco. Mr. Samuel Hardwicke was reared on his father's 
farm in this county, and received a general and classical education at 
the Sugar Tree Grove Academy, then an institution of more than local 
repute, which he attended for a period of three years. After this he 
was professor, in that institution, of Greek and Latin for a year, at the 
close of which he resigned his professorship to engage in the study of 
law. As stated above, he read law under Judge Morton at Platte 
City, and was admitted to the bar in the spring of 1857. He at once 
located at Liberty for the practice of his profession, and has been here 
continuously ever since, except during an absence of about eighteen 
months while at St. Paul, Minn. Mr. Hardwicke's professional career 
has already been spoken of. It is only necessary to add here that there 
has scarcely been a case of any importtincc in the county for years past 
with which he has not been identified as one of the counsel. Mr. 
Hardwicke has given little or no attention to politics, except to vote 
his honest convictions, and at times to help his friends. He has there- 
fore neither held nor desired any strictly political position. When a 
young man he was city attorney of Liberty for a time, and in 1874 his 
name was canvassed by his friends for the Democratic nomination for 
<|fJj^i?Guit judge. His candidacy was very favorably received, and liutfor 
political trickery he would have been declared the regular nominee, 
for he fairly and honorably won the nomination. On the 27th of De- 
cember, 18(!(), Mr. Hardwicke was married to Miss Ada Hall, a refined 
and accomplished daughter of the late John D. Hall, formerly a lead- 
ing and wealthy citizen of this county. Mrs. Hardwicke was educated 
at Clay Seminar\% where she graduated in the class of '59. Mr. and 
Mrs. Hardwicke have four children, namely: Miss Maude, a young 
lady of superior accomplishments, a graduate of the Baptist Female 
College of Lexington, where she won six medals for superiority in the 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 339 

many different departments of culture, and afterwards tausfht music 
in that institution ; Claude, who was educated at William Jewell Col- 
lege, which he attended for six years — he is now conducting a cattle 
ranch in Arizona; Philifi and Norton, both youths, still at home and 
attending school. Mr. H. is amemher of the Cuml)erland Presl)yterian 
Church, and his wife is a member of the Christian Church. Mr. H. 
is a prominent and active member of the Masonic Order, and founded 
theCommandery at this place. His mother is still living, at the advanced 
age of 81, remarkably well preserved in health and mental vigor. 

PROF. GEORGE HUGHES 

(County School Commissiouer, Liberty). 

Prof. Hughes is a native of this count}', born in what is now Galla- 
tin township, July 1, 1826. His father was Daniel Hughes, and his 
mother's maiden name Elizal)eth Woods. Both were originally from 
Kentucky, his father from Bourbon count}' and his mother from Mad- 
ison county. Mrs. Hughes was a daughter of Rev. Peter Woods, 
who early came to Missouri and was one of the pioneer Primitive Bap- 
tist preachers of the central [)art of the State. He settled in Cooper 
county. Mr. Hughes, Sr., came out to Missouri in 1824 and stopjied 
for a time in Cooper county, where he met and was shortly married 
to Miss Woods. They then came to Clay county and located on land 
in Gallatin township, where he im|)roved a farm, and where the son, 
the subject of this sketch, was born. Mr. Hughes, Sr., served as mag- 
istrate of the township for a numljer of years. He was also an earnest 
and useful member of the Primitive Baptist Church. Though not an 
e.xtreme partisan he was an active and consistent member of the Whig 
party until its final defeat and disorganization in 18.56. After that as 
against the Republicans he was a Democrat and voted the Democratic 
ticket. He died at his homestead in Gallatin township July 9, 1875, 
in the seventy-sixth year of his age. His wife, however, still sur- 
vives in comparative good health, at the age of seventy- seven, and 
quite active considering her years. Prf)f. Hughes is the eldest of 
five children of the family living, three sons and two daughters. Four 
others lived to reach mature years, two brothers and two sisters. Prof. 
Hughes received his general elementary education in the public schools 
of the county, though afterwards he continued tostudv outside of the 
school-room and materially advanced himself in the higher branches. 
Indeed, he has been a constant studentall his life, as well as a teacher 
most of the time for nearly forty years. In point of experience he is 
unquestionably the father of the teacher's profession in this county. 
In 1854 ho succeeded Gen. Donii)han as school commissioner of the 
county, and has held the office ever since, a period of thirt}' years. 
For tliree years he was a teacher in William Jewell College imme- 
diately prior to its reorganization after the war. Subsequently he 
was three years principal of the Liberty High School for young ladies. 
Under his long administration in the office of school commissioner, 
the public schools of the county have made remarkable progress in 



340 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

numbers and efficiency. When he took charge of the office they were 
not considered the chief reliance of the youth of the county for an ed- 
ucation. Now the public schools of Clay county are among the best 
aud most successful to be found in any of the counties of the State, 
and are so constituted as to amply qualify those who attend them and 
complete the curriculum studies prescribed for all the ordinar_v busi- 
ness affairs of life. September 29, 1859, Prof. Hughes was married 
to Miss Margaret, a daughter of the late Andrew Russell, of this 
township, one of the early settlers of the county. They have two' 
children, Frank and Ralph. The Professor and wife are members of 
the Christian Church. Prof. Hughes served three years as mayor of 
Liberty and was councilman for a number of terms. Prof. Hughes 
gives much of his leisure time to literary pursuits, being an active 
member of the principal literary societies of the community in which 
he lives. 

DANIEL HUGHES 

(Dealer in Drugs, Medicines, Paints, Oils, Etc., Liberty). 

Mr. Hughes, who is a regular registered pharmacist and a druggist 
of experience and enviable reputation, began to learn the drug business 
nearly 20 years ago, when he was in his eighteenth year. He worked at 
it as a clerk for five years, and iu 1870 formed a partnership with S. W. 
Warren, and began business on his own account at Liberty, buying 
out his former employer and succeeding iiim in business. Two years 
later he bought out his partner and became sole proprietor of the 
business, which he has ever since carried on alone, for a period now of 
over 14 years. He has been satisfactorily successful, and has one of the 
principal drug stores at Liberty. Mr. Hughes carries a large and 
well selected stock of goods in his line, and has a good trade. Per- 
sonally, he is a man of pleasant, popular address, of an agreeable 
social disposition, and is much esteemed in the community. July 27, 
1871, he was married to Miss Annie McCarty, a daughter of William 
A. McCarty, and niece of Capt. Thomas McCarty, deceased, former 
State Senator from this district. Mrs. Hugiies was educated at 
Liberty, and is a gradinite of the Female Seminary at this place. 
They have four children : Alia, George, Albert and Charles. Mr. aud 
Mrs. H. are members of the Christian Church. Mr. H. is a member 
of the Masonic Order, including the Chapter, Commandery and Blue 
Lodge. Mr. Hughes was born in this county December 6, 1847, and 
was a son of Daniel Hughes, mentioned in the sketch of George 
Hughes, on a former page. Daniel Hughes, Jr., the subject of this 
sketch, was reared in this county and educated at the common and 
high schools and at William Jewell College. 

GEORGE W. JONES 

(Farmer and Stock Dealer, Post-office, Liberty). 

Mr. Jones descends from an old Virginia family, one that has been 
settled in this county since the earliest days of that colony, as the large 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. S41 

number of Jones in eveiy quarter of the Union conclusively attest. 
He was horn in Rappahannock county, Va., September 22, 1825, and 
was a sou of William and Elizabeth E. (Easham) Jones, his father a 
veteran of the War of 1812, and a substantial planter of Virginia. 
Geoi'ge W. received an advanced education, attending New Baltimore 
Academy, under the tutorship of that distinguished educator Prof. 
Ogilvie. Afterwards he came West, locating at Buffalo, Mo., 
where or in the vicinity of which he taught school for seven years. 
Mr. Jones came to Clay county in 1847. Here he also followed 
teaching for some j'ears. He had a number of negroes, but these he 
hired out to other parties for farm work, etc. He married Miss Eliza- 
beth, a daughter of William Bywater, an early settler of Platte 
county, from Virginia. He then engaged in farming and raising 
stock in Platte county, and so continued up to 1862, when, on account 
of war troubles, he went to Virginia, which seemed a good deal like 
jumping out of the frying pan into the fire. Nevertheless, he obtained 
the favor of both sides in Virginia and was granted free passport 
through their lines to go and come as he pleased. There he did a 
thriving business in furnishing stock and supplies for the two armies. 
In the fall of 1863, however, he returned to Missouri, and located on 
a farm in Lafayette comity. There he followed farming and also 
handling stock until the spring of 1881, when he came back to Clay 
county, and bought the place where he now resides. This is about 
two miles east of Liberty, and contains nearly a quarter of a section 
of land. Mr. Jones, besides farming in a general way and dealing in 
stock, makes a specialty of raising Poland-China hogs, of which he 
has some of the finest to seen in the country. Mr. Jones has been 
unirried three times. His first wife died a number of years before 
the Civil War. His second wife was a Miss M. A. Tillery, who 
only survived her marriage about two years. He was married to his 
third wife in the spring of 1863. She was a Miss Belle H. Hudson, 
a daughter of Capt. J. M. Hudson, of Saline county, this State. She 
is a member of the Christian Church, as he is, also, himself. By Mr. 
Jones' first marriage two children were reared : Alline E., the wife of 
James M. Elliott, of Cooper county, and William E., who was a 
graduate of the State University and of the Jeflerson Medical College 
pf Philadelphia, but died early in February, 1883, being at the time 
the leading physician of Jamestown, Misscniri. Thomas L. Jones, 
the second son, was born of his father's second marriage. He is a 
substantial farmer in the vicinity of Liberty. By Mr. Jones' present 
wife there are four children: Mattie B., Jesse B., Unis B. and 
Dilburn D. He is a member of the Odd Fellow's Order. 

JAMES M. KELLER 

[Farmer and Short Horu Dealer and Breeder, Liberty). 

Like most of the early settlers of Missouri, Mr. Keller is of Vir- 
ginia descent. Both his grandfather, John Keller, and father, Jacob 
Keller, were natives of the Old Dominion. His grandfather served 



342 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

three years in the War of the Revolution and afterwards became one 
of the pioneer settlers of what became Jessamine county, Ky. There 
he sei'ved in several of the earh' Indian wars, as did also his son, Jacob 
Keller. Jacob Keller was married in Kentucky to Miss Mary M. 
Rice, formerly of Maryland, and became a large farmer and also ex- 
tensively interested in distilling. He died in Jessamine county, at an 
advanced age, in 1824. James M., the subject of this sketch, was the 
third in the family of children. He was born in Jessamine county, 
Ky., October 13, 1809, and was reared in his native county, witb 
farming experience and at work in the distillery. However, after his 
father's death he learned the gunsmith's and blacksmith's trades, 
continuing to work at that in Kentucky for about eight years. Feb- 
ruaiy 27, 1833, he was married to Miss Elizabeth Dillingham, a 
daughter of Henry H. Dillingham of Madison county, that State. 
Three years later Mr. Keller removed to Missouri, and opened a shop 
at Liberty, where he soon secured a large custom as a gunsmith and 
blacksmith. He continued at work in his shop until about 1857, when 
he bought land about three miles northeast of Liberty, to whicii he 
removed, engaging there in farming. Ever since that time he has 
been actively identified with farming and for many years past has been 
engaged in stock raising. Mr. Keller has a small herd of fine short- 
horn cattle, which class of stock he is making a specialty of breed- 
ing and raising for the markets, and in which he has iiad good success. 
Mr. and Mrs. K. have three children, namely: Mary E., wife of 
James G. Adkinson of Kansas City ; Pauline, a widow of Thomas J. 
Harper, deceased ; Mrs. H. being now a resident of Lil)erty, and 
herself the mother of three children; and Amanda B., wife of D. 
K. Bogie, who resides on the Keller homestead, and is interested in 
the farming and stock business of the place. He is a native of Ken- 
tucky and a l)rother to Dr. Bogie, of Kansas City. He and wife have 
three children: Marcus, Keller and Mary H. Mr. Keller is a man 
who has led a life of industr}' and strict integrity and has brought to 
him and to the retirement of old age the esteem of all who know him. 

HON. JOHN R. KELLER 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-offlce, Liberty). 

Among the old and prominent citizens of Clay county, the subject 
of the present sketch has long held a well recognized and enviable 
position. Mr. Keller is a son of Jacob Keller, reference to whom is 
made in the slietcii of James M. Keller, elsewhere given. He was 
born in Jessamine county, Kentucky, December 18, 1812. Reared 
in that county, June 6, 1833, he was married to Miss Eliza J. Faul- 
coner, daughter of Nelson Faulcouer, of Fayette county, K3\ 
After his marriage he settled down in Fayette county, where Mr. 
Keller followed farming for about five years. But in 1837 he came 
on a prospecting trip to Missouri and traveled through several 
counties, particularly in the Platte Purchase. While on this trip 
he decided to make his home in Clay county, and, according]}^ dis- 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 34." 

posing of liis saddle horse, having come ont from Kentucky horse- 
back, he went hack by river, and at once went to work arranging his 
affairs for removal. In due time he returned to Missouri and bought 
a place of 320 acres, near to what is known to old settlers as Gladpen 
Siirings, for which he paid about $17 an acre. Since tiien he has 
adtled to his landed estate until he now has about 700 acres, but 
still resides on the old homestead on which he settled when he first 
came to the county. Mr. Keller is very comfortably situated, has, in 
fact, one of the best homesteads in many respects in the county. He 
suffered considerable loss during the war, and was compelled to leave 
home for a time, but returned as soon as peace was restored and has 
ever since, as he had always been ])efore, been regarded as one of the 
useful and prominent citizens of the county. In 1874 he was elected 
to the State Senate and served with marked ability in that body for 
two years. He also served on the State Boai-d of Equalization and 
has filled other positions of trust, all with entire credit to himself and 
to the public service. Mr. and Mrs. Keller have a family of six chil- 
dren: Elizabeth, wife of M. B. Brooks ; Sarah, wife of John D. Harper ; 
George N., Thomas J., Martha J. and Joseph F. Mr. and Mrs. 
Keller are members of the Christian Church, and have been for 50 
years. As the above facts show, Mr. Keller has been a resident or 
this county for nearly half a century. But he has not been a man to 
confine his full time and attention to the acquisition of means or pi'op- 
erty. He has been a man who has given much study to (]uestious of 
public interest .'ind has well informed himself upon the politics of 
the day and the (iolitical history of the country. He has also read a 
great ileal in general literature, histoi-y and other branches, and is 
well informed. Nor has he neglected the information to be derived 
from travel, but has visited different parts of the country, and being 
always a close observer, he has profited much in this way. Mr. Kel- 
ler is one of the intelligent, well informed representative citizens of 
the county. 

MAJ. ALVAN LIGHTBURNE 

(Retired Farmer and Business Man, Post-office, Liberty). 

No name is Justly entitled to a more enviable place in the history of 
Clay county than the one which heads this sketch. For nearly half a 
century Maj. Lightburne has been usefully and honorably identified 
with the growth and dcveloi)ment of the county, with its advancement 
in every woi'thy particular. Abundantly successfully himself in the 
activities of life, his industry and business enterprise have been even 
of more value to the community where his fortunes were cast than to 
himself. Not only has he been useful in promoting the material inter- 
ests of the comity, but his public spirit and liberalit}' have been 
worthil}' represented in every step taken for the higher social interests 
of the people — the establishment of advanced educational facilities, 
the encouragement of mental culture and moral improvements, and 
support of the churches, and the building up of a healthy, religious 

17 



344: HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

sentiment — the best safeguard of society. In a word, the influence 
of his life upon those around him has been only for good, and of 
marked force and value. The family originated in England, from 
whence some of his ancestors went to Ireland. i\Ir. Lightburne is a 
Keutuckian by nativity, born in Scott county, December 13, 1803. 
His father was Richard Lightburne, a son of Lieut. Richard Light- 
burne, of the Virginia State nav}', who served in the American navy dur- 
ing the War of the Revolution. There were only two children, Staf- 
ord and Deborah. The children of Richard Lightburne were all born' 
and raised in Scott couuty, Ky. ': Richard P., on tiie 23d of July, 
1805, but died at Louisville, K3\, December 4, 1883 ; John S., born 
April 11, 1811, living in Clay count)', Mo., and William L., born June 
4, 1820, living at Stamping Ground, Scott couuty, Ky. Stafl^ord 
Lightburne was the founder of the family in this country, whose im- 
migration here was something of a romance. He was an Irish lad, 
about 16 years of age, in his native county, when he was " kidnaped " 
on a British vessel, which sailed for the New World. He was left on 
the cost of Virginia, and afterwards he found a home in a hospitable 
fumil}' in Caroline county, Va., where he remained until after he at- 
tained his majority. Stafl^ord Lightburne was the father of Richard 
Lightburne, Jr., the father of the subject of this sketch. Richard 
Lightburne, Jr., came out from Kentucky when a young man, in about 
1790. He was sul)sequeutl_y married in Scott county, that State, to 
Miss Temperance Sutton, formerly of Caroline county, Va. They 
made their permanent home in Kentucky after their marriage, and 
reared a family of children. Richard Lightburne, Jr., an energetic 
farmer by occupation, died in 1820. The mother survived until 1855. 
They had eight children, six sons and two daughters, and of their 
family of children, Alvan (Maj. Lightburne) was the eldest. Maj. 
Lightburne received a good common school education as he grew up, 
which was supplemeuted by instruction at private school and a course 
in a local seminary. Of a bright, quick, active mind and of studious 
habits, he soon became qualified for teaching, and for any oi'dinarj' 
business pursuits, so far as educational attainments were concerned. At 
the age of 17 he was appointed deputy circuit clerk, the duties of which 
position he discharged with efficiency and general satisfaction. Maj. 
Lightl)urne's father died the same year that the Major was appointed 
deputy circuit clerk, and from that time forward he had the care of 
his mother's family, with the responsibility and burdens his position 
as the eldest son imposed. The family was large, and had but little 
means to go upon, so that the chief dependency was upon him. But 
he i)r()ved himself worth}' of his difficult position, and was at once 
a father to his younger brothers and sisters, a kind and atfectionate son 
to his mother, and a competent, liberal provider for the family. He 
remained with them for some 14 years after his father's death, until 
most of the children had grown up and stai-ted out for themselves. 
After his close of service in the circuit clerk's office, his time was 
busily and jirofitubly occupied with farming and teaching school, 
though principally the latter. He taught, however, for some 12 or 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 345 

14 years, cluring the usual school terms in his county. During the 
year 1831 he was a clerk on a steamboat, plyiug between Louisville 
and St. Louis. In 1832 he was elected constable of Scott county, the 
duties of which ofBce were only second in importance to that of the 
sheriff', so that almost ail his time was occupied. In 1834, having 
accumulated a little means, he went to Cynthiana, Ky., where he formed 
a partnership with Manlius V. Thompson, under the firm name of 
Lightl)urne & Tliompson, for the manufacture of rope, twine and bag- 
ging, which they followed with success until they were burned out 
during the following year. His old partner, Manlius V. Thompson, 
was afterwards Lieutenant-Governor of Kentucliy. From Cynthiana 
Maj. Lightburne returned to Scott county, where he established a rope 
factory. A year later he decided to cast his fortunes with those of 
the then new State beyond the Mississippi, Missouri ; and lie accord- 
ingly came out to this new country. This was in 1836. He came 
out on horseljack and " prospected " all through the Missouri river 
counties of the State. Finally Maj. Lightburne located at Lib- 
erty, where he establislicd a hemp factory, and a year later, in 
1833, bought the farm adjoining town, where he now resides. 
The Major continued in the hem}) industry for a period of 
22 years, and was very successful. He retired from the business, 
however, in 1859, and after that devoted his whole time and attention 
to his farming interests. He became the owner of a number of 
valual>le farms, and managed them with marked energy and enter- 
prise. Though burned out twice while engaged in the manufacture of 
hemp, lie never allowed himself to become discouraged, but went to 
work with redoubled energy to make up for losses, which be soon 
succeeded in doing. During the Mormon War he was a major of 
Missouri volunteers under Col. Doniphan, and was major of militia 
under the old militia laws of the State. He was mayor of Liberty, 
and from time to time has been prominently identified with enter- 
prises for the improvement of the place and the advancement of the 
interests of the community. He was one of the leading spirits in 
securing the location of William Jewell College at this place and in 
founding that institution. As early as 1847 he went to work on the 
enterprise and spent the principal part of three years at work to 
se(!ure the establishment of the institution and building it up, to the 
neglect of his own l)usiness. He made a thorough canvass of the 
people of the county for subscriptions, and by his and other citizens' 
efforts secured $24,767, which he turned over to the college committee. 
(Al)out 1872 the subscription by town and county amounted to near 
$40,000). At the time of the committee for location, Hon. E. M. Sam- 
uel, Judge J. T. V. Thompson and Gen. A. W. Doniphan's departure 
from Libert}' Landing, Maj. Lightburne arrived, handed subscription 
l)apers and said : " Gentlemen, you go to get the college ; if the amount 
is not sufficient on your arrival at Boonvillo, add $3,000 or $5,000 
more — secure the college." The proffered aid was not needed. For 
lliis noble institution, a credit to the State and an honor to the com- 
munity in which it is located, people are inider no greater obligations 
to any one than to Maj. Lightburne. His zeal and public spirit for 



346 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

the college ai'e entitled to udditioiial credit from the fact that he was 
not interested in it so far as his own family are concerned, for he has 
never been blessed with children of his own. In numerous other 
enterprises looking to the educational, moral and social improvement 
of the communitj', as well as in those of a material character, he has 
been hardl}' less public-spirited and liberal of his time and means than 
in his efforts in behalf of the college. He has also been an active and 
prominent worker in the Masonic Order, and has held the offices of 
High Priest and Eminent Commander. He has also represented his ' 
lodge in the Grand Lodge and Grand Chapter. In whatever he has 
interested himself he has worked with zeal, energy and ability, and 
has made it a success. As earl}' as 1837 he took an active part in 
founding the Female Seminary at this place, and putting it on a success- 
ful basi^, contributing liberally to itsfund. On theSdof May, 1846, Maj. 
Lightburne was married to Miss Ellen J. Sutton, a daugliter of Capt. 
William Sutton, of Scott county, Ky. She and Maj. Lightburne 
were children together, and were reared on adjoining farms. They 
played together in childhood, and in the morning of life formed that 
attachment for each other which has continued unbroken through the 
lapse of years, and has bound their lives together in a union which 
only death can sever. Their married life has been one of singular 
congeniality and happiness, and from the beginning each has seemed 
to study and labor to make the other happy. Mrs. Lightburne, 
though now advanced in years, is a lady of marked grace and dignity, 
and makes a most favorable impression ujion all by her manifest 
superiorit}' of intelligence, her amiability of disposition, and her 
gentle, motherly bearing. Maj. Lightburne is a man whose name 
stands a synonym for honorable and useful citizenship, and for purity 
and ui)rightness of character. For some years past he has been 
retired from business activities ; and in the Indian summer of a 
well spent life is enjoying the comforts and pleasures which his 
industry lias brought him and his good name and large circle of 
friends afford. He has a handsome residence property, a spacious and 
stately brick in the suburbs of town, provided with every comfort and 
convenience, where he is living in ease and retirement, esteemed and 
venerated for the nobility of his nature and the good that he has done. 
He and his good wife have reared several orphan children, for whom 
they have made ample provision, and by whom they are esteemed and 
loved as the best of parents. Certainly two lives, crowned as these 
have been and jewelled with so many noble deeds, arc worthy to l)e 
commemorated in any just history of the county. Consistent mem- 
bers of the Cliristian Church for many years, and having lived lives 
in keeping with the teachings of the Father of all, the}' may now 
look l)ack without i-egret, and forward to the final end with hope and 
jov. 

JAMES T. MARSH, M. D. 
(Physician and Surgeon, Liberty). 

Dr. Marsh's father, James Marsh, came to Clay county with Iiis 
family, from Kentucky, in 1827. Hero he became a large landholder 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 347 

and Iciuliiiii; faniiei-. He died here in 1840, leaving five children, four 
of whom are living, the Doctor, an older brother and two sisters. 
Dr. Marsh was born on the family homestead in this count}' Feliruary 
18, 1833. In early youth he attended the common schools and after- 
wards took a course of two years at William Jewell College. He then 
entered Westminster College, in whicli he continued two j'ears, grad- 
uating in 1857, witli the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Imniediatcdy 
following his graduation he began the stud}' of medicine. In due 
time young Marsh matriculated at the St. Louis Medical College, and 
subsequently took a course of two terms there, graduating in the 
class of '60. After his graduation Dr. Marsh located at Weston, in 
Platte county, liut a year later removed to Clinton county, where he 
practiced until the spring of 18()3. Dr. Marsh then came to Liberty, 
and has been in the active practice of his profession at this place ever 
since. Dr. Marsh is a member of the County District Medical So- 
ciety and of the State and the National Medical Association. In the 
spring of 1860 Dr. Marsh was married to Miss lioxanna Brashear, a 
daughter of the late Cyrus Brashear, one of the pioneer settlers of 
Clay county. Dr. and Mrs. Marsh have four children, Carlton, Laura, 
Nellie and Morton. Mrs. Marsh is a lady of culture and refinement. 
She is a graduate of the Baptist Female College, at Liberty, and has 
long been a diligent and discriminating reader of the better class of 
literature. Dr. and Mrs. M. are members of the Presbyterian Church, 
and the Doctor is a memlier of the I. O. O. F. 

JOSEPH F. MEFFERT, M. D. 

(■physician and Surgeon, Liberty, Missouri). 

It is no empty compliment, but the statement of a plain fact neces- 
sary to be written in any truthful biography of the suliject of the pres- 
ent sketch, that Dr. Meffert, liy his unusual energy, ability and 
ambition, has rapidly pushed himself forward in his profession, in 
point both of education and practice, until now, although a young 
man only little past the age of 27, he occupies an enviable position 
among the leading ]jhysicians of the State. Graduating with honor 
at William Jewell College in the class of 1878, he at once thereafter 
began the study of medicine under Dr. Records of this place, having 
a decided preference, and a more than ordinary aptitude, as the result 
is showing, for that profession. Making extraordinary vapid progress 
in his studies, he shortly miitriculated in the Medical Department of 
the University of Louisville, Ky., and tiicre by hard study he 
succeeded in graduating in June, 187!). Without stopping he entered 
the Kentucky School of Medicine where he graduated the following 
fall. From there he entered upon a course in the Hospital Depart- 
ment of Central University, of Kentucky, which he succeeded in com- 
pleting the following spring. At that time the position of Hospital 
Surgeon and City Physician was vacant, which was to be filled l)y 
appointment, and the appointee to be selected by a competitive ex- 
amination as to his qualifications and medical attainments. Dr. 



348 HISTORY or clay county. 

Meffert and a number of other physicians applied for the place, as it 
was quite a lucrative and prominent position in the profession. Upon 
competitive examination Dr. Meffert was selected as having shown the 
best qualifications among all those competing for the place. He 
desired the position not alone for its prominence in the profession 
and the salary, but also because the large and varied experience he 
would obtain there in a few years would be worth more to him than 
the practice of half a lifetime. He held the position for two years, 
until from overwork he was completely broken down and compelled 
to resign for rest and recuperation. However, he did not remain 
idle, but at once entered a medical institution at Buffalo, N. Y., 
where he spent several months, and afterwards occupied several 
months visiting the different hospitals of New York City and making 
a stud}' of special cases. While there he received the appointment 
of physician to the State Lunatic Asylum of Arkansas, at Little Kock, 
which, however, he declined, for the reason among others that his 
presence was required at home, in Liberty, at that time to take charge 
of his father's business. On returning home at this place he shortly 
entered actively upon the practice of his profession and has continued 
in it ever since. He has a very large practice, having special cases, 
in tact, from other States, and, as has been said, occupies a position 
among the leading physicians of the State. He is administrator of 
his father's estate, and superintends the management of the proiierty 
of the family. Dr. Meffert was a son of Frederick and Mary (Hub- 
bach) Meffert, both formerly of Germany, but from Louisville, Ky., 
to Liberty. His father was largely engaged in the wholesale 
boot and shoe business in this State, first at Missouri Cit}-, Mo., 
then at Leavenworth, Kan., and finally he removed to Liberty in 
1866, wiiere he carried on a boot and shoe house for a number of 
years. He was a leading member of the Masonic Order and held a 
number of prominent positions in that order. During the last seven 
years of his life he was engaged in the drug business at Liberty. He 
died here August 20, 1884. "' 

JOHN MESSICK 

(Liberty, Missouri). 

Considering that Mr. Messick is still comparatively a 3'^oung man, 
and that he began for himself with little or no moans to start on, his 
career has been a more than ordinarily successful one. At the age of 
43, he is now one of the substantial property holders at Liberty. 
His means he has accumulated by successful business enterprise. He 
was born in Jessamine county, Ky., November 10, 1841. His father, 
John Messick, Sr., has resided in Indiana since 1861. Mr. Messick, 
Jr., received a good general education in the common schools and 
academy of Nicholasville, his native place, and at the age of 23 came 
out further West to Alton, Illinois, where he became clerk in a hard- 
ware store. After two years spent at Alton he had succeeded by 
economy in saving some monej' from his salary, and he returned to 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 34!> 

Kentucky, where be was married, February 15, 1870, to Miss Mar- 
garet Sherley, a daughter of Elijah Sherley, of Jessamine county. 
Directly after his marriage Mr. Messick came to Missouri and located 
at Liberty, where he bought an interest in a hardware store already 
established. Five years later he bought the entire business and con- 
ducted it with unbroken and excellent success until February of last 
yenv, when he closed out to good advantage. He is now completing 
a large brick building in which to engage in the manufacture of car- 
riages, and to carry on blacksmithing, repairing, etc. He also has a 
number of valuable properties at Liberty, and already is in comfort- 
able circumstances. He is a mau of thorough-going energy, a good 
business manager, and doubtless will continue his heretofore success- 
ful career. Mr. Messick has been married twice. His first wife died 
in February of the year following their marriage. In August, 1873, 
he returned to Kentucky and was married to Miss Nannie S. Speares, 
a daughter of Lee Speares, deceased, late of Fayette county, that 
State. By his last marriage there are four children : John, Jr., 
Charles, George and Miranda. Mr. Messick's mother was a Miss 
Jennie Hawkins, of Kentucky, but originally of Virginia. She died 
in 1848. His father is now married to his third wife and resides 
in Indiana. 

THOMAS F. MESSICK 

(Real Estate Dealer and Hardware Merchant, Liberty) . 

Mr. Messick has been a citizen of Chiy county and resident of Lib- 
erty for only about ten years, but such has been his enterprise and 
success as a business man, that for some years he has held a worthy 
place among the leading and useful citizens of Liberty in business 
and general affairs. He began life for himself when a youth as clerk 
in a mercantile house, and afterwards continued in that em[)loymeut 
for a period of about nine years, learning all the details of the busi- 
ness thoroughly. Not only that. But those habits of constant and 
close attention to business were formed and that knowledge of the fact 
was obtained that for one to succeed he must economize in every pos- 
sible direction, which, together with good judgment, strict integrity 
and untiring industry, enabled him subsequently, when he came to 
engage in business on his own account, to make success an assured 
fact and to achieve it much sooner than would otherwise have been 
possible. Mr. Messick was partly reared in Indiana and came to 
Liberty in 1874. By this time, although he was a young man only 
about tweuty-fi.ve years of age, he had succeeded in accumulating 
some means, which, on coming here, he invested in a hardware store. 
He, therefore, became a partner with his brother, John Messick, and 
the firm of Messick & Bro. continued successfully in the iuirdware bus- 
iness until last spring, when Thomas F., the subject of this sketch, sold 
his interest in the store. They carried a very full line of shelf and heavy 
hardware and also a large stock of farm machinery, wagons, etc., 
and did a good business. Aside from this, Mr. Messick was most of 
the time dealing in real estate, Ijoth town i)roperty and farms. At 



350 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

Liberty, he built some seven or eight residence properties, several of 
them very handsome places, and four of them he still owns. His 
homestead property at this place is one of the neatest and handsomest 
at Liberty, a picture of good taste, convenience and comfort. He 
also owns two good farms in the vicinity. In handling real estate, 
exchano'ing, bu3'ing, selling, etc., he has had even better success than in 
merchandising. Mr. Messick is now giving his entire time and atten- 
tion to real estate. December 22, 1870, he was married to Miss 
Lennie Harrison, a daughter of M. C. Harrison, deceased, of Mont- , 
gomery county, Luliana. Mr. and Mrs. M. have four children, 
Harry, Emma, Mattie and Thomas. He and wife are members of the 
Christian Church, and Mr. M. is a prominent member of the Masonic 
order. He is also identified with the temperance cause and is an 
ardent believer in the doctrine of prohibition. He thinks that if it is 
right to sell whisky, sell it like hardware, dry goods, etc., are sold ; 
take awa}' all restrictions. If wrong, stop it. Mr. Messick has been a 
member of the town council at Liberty. He was born in Jessamine 
county, Kentucky, September 22, 1849. His parents, John and 
Margaret Messick, removed to Indiana when he was about thirteen 
years of age, settling in Montgomery county, where he was reared. 
He was by his father's second marriage and was the only child of that 
union. After his mother's death his father was again married. By 
each of his father's first and last marriages there was a numerous fam- 
ily of children. 

EGBERT HUGH MILLER 

(Liberty). 

Robert Hugh Miller was born in Richmond, Va., November 27, 
182(i. His parents were John E. and Mary A. (Rogers) Miller. His 
father's family was of Scotch extraction. About the year 1832, his 
parents immigrated to Barren county, Ky., and, after residing there 
nearly six years, removed to Missouri and settled in Monroe county. 
Soon after he was sent to Columl)ia, Mo., to learn the printing busi- 
ness, and there entered tiie office of the CoJumhia Patriot, published 
by F. A. Hamilton, W. T. B. Sanford, Thomas Miller and James S. 
Rollins, all of whom ;u-e now dead except the latter. Before the expira- 
tion of his apprenticeship, the Patriot ceased to exist, and entering 
the office of the Missouri Statesman, also published in Columbia, he 
remained there some months. 

In April, 1846, in connection with the late John B. Williams, of 
the Fulton Tfler/rap/i,he established the Liberty Trihunp,\n Liberty, 
Clay county. Mo., whither he immediately removed and there he has 
ever since made his home. The connection l)etween himself and Mr. 
Williams in the publication of the Tribune was terminated within a 
year after the first issue, and he became and has since remained the 
.«ole proprietor of that papei-. The Tribune, in its history, has had 
no suspension, and but one failure of issue, which occurred in Sep- 
tember, 1861. 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 351 

He w:is married June 28, 1848, to Miss Eniia F. Peters, daughter 
of the hite John R. Peters, of Clay count}', Mo. She died December 
3, 1867, leaving four children. May 3, 1871, Mr. Miller married Miss 
Lulu Wilson, daughter of the late Hon. John Wilson, of Platte 
county. Mo. 

His educational advantages were such as could be obtained in his 
youth in the common schools of the country, and this he supplemented 
by research and observation. From his earliest acquaintance with 
politics to the dissolution of the Whig party, he was an enthusiastic 
member of it. Since then he has l)een a member of the Democratic 
party and earnestl}' co-operates in the advocacy of its principles. He 
was reared and educated under the intluences of the Old School Pres- 
byterian Church, and though not a communicant of any church, he 
retains a great respect and reverence for that grand and venerable 
body of Christians. 

He has ever been an earnest advocate of all public enterprises in- 
augurated in Clay county — its railroads, schools, colleges, agricul- 
tural society, etc. — indeed, of all measures and conceptions whose 
purpose and tendency were to increase the wealth and social and 
moral well being of the people among whom he has so long lived. 

Mr. Miller's characteristics are untiring industry, great tenacity of 
purpose, close adherence to approveil forms, customs and usages, 
conscientious attachment to truth and right, and steady, unflinching 
devotion to friends. 

JOHN J. MOORE 

(Farmer and ex-Couuty Collector, Postroffice, Liberty) . 

Mr. Moore was born in Orange county, N. C, March 2, 1882. His 
father. Col. James Moore, was one of the prominent citizens of that 
county, and was colonel of militia and the founder of Mooresville, of 
which he was for many years postmaster. The mother, who was a 
Miss Margaret Robertson, was a lady of marked intelligence and of one 
of the best families in that part of the country. John J. Moore grew 
up in Orange county and remained at home until 184(3, when he came 
to Missouri and made his home in Clay county. Here he shortly en- 
listed for the Mexican War under Col. Doniphan, and was out until the 
close of the war. He then returned to Clay county and followed 
farming for a few years, at the expiration of which time he engaged 
in the livery business at Liberty. For several years preceding 1861 
he served as deputy sheriff of the county, and then enlisted in the 
Confederate service under Gen. Price. The tirst two years of the war 
he served east of the Mississippi, and the rest of the time in the 
Trans-Mississippi department. He was a member of the Foi'ty-third 
Missouri infantry, and was with his regiment in all the engagements 
in which it took part. Returning after the war, he resumed the livery 
business and continued it with success up to 1872, when he was elected 
county collector. Two years later he was re-elected, and he was again 
re-elected in 1876, serving until March, 1879. Since the close of his 
last term Mr. Moore has been residing on the farm, which he owns, 



352 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

near Liberty, containing about 200 acres. In the summer of 1852 he 
was married to Miss Eliza, a daughter of John Lee, formerly of North 
Carolina. His wife was reaied in the same neighborhood as himself, 
but just across the line in Caswell county. They have two children: 
William E., in the dry goods business at Liberty, and Ruth, the wife 
of John W. Norton, Esq., an attorney at Kansas City, a son of Judge 
Norton of the Supreme Court. Mrs. Moore is a member of the M. E. 
Church South, and Mr. Moore is a member of the I. O. O. F. 

ELISHA A. MOORE 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Liberty) . 

During the war Mr. Moore was in the Union service, and did his 
full share of duty toward preserving the Uuiou, which both Southern- 
ers and the loyal people of the North are now glad, or profess to 
be, is an established fact. He was born in Andrew county. Mo., 
April 8, 1845, but was partly reared in Chiy county, this State, 
where his parents, William and Lucinda Moore, removed when 
Elisha A. was in infancy. His father was a native of South Caro- 
lina, and was a carpenter by trade. He came to Missouri when a 
young man. Mr. Jloore's mother was a daughter of Judge Elisha 
Cameron, of Clay county. In 1850 the father, William Moore, went 
on a trip to California, and died there about a year afterwards. 
When Elisha A. was about eight years of age his mother came back 
to Clay county, and here he grew to manhood. lu June, 1863, he 
enlisted in Co. B, Sixth Missouri cavalry. State militia, under Col. 
E. C. Catherwood. He served until the close of the war, and was 
honorably mustered out at St. Louis in 1865. He then came back 
to Clay county, but soon afterwards engaged in freighting across 
the plains, and followed that for several years, becoming wagon- 
master of a train. Returjiing in 1868, he now made Clay county his 
home for a>)out a 3'ear. In June, 1869, he was married to Miss 
Mary C. Williams, of Jackson count}', a daughter of Samuel S. 
Williams, formerly of Fleming county, Ky., but now deceased. 
After his marriage Mr. Moore followed farming in Jacksou county 
for, about six years, and bought a farm there. But selling out at 
the expiration of that time he came back to this county and settled 
on his present place, which he had previously bought. He has a 
good place of 135 acres, well improved, including a fine orchard of 
300 bearing trees. Mr. Moore is president of the district school 
board, and has been a school director nearh' ever since he came back 
to the county. Mrs. Moore is a member ot'the M. E. Church. They 
have four children: Mary Ellen, Arthur W., Walter H., and 
Charles C. 

JAMES W. MOSBY 

fFarmer and Stock-raiser, Post-ofBce Liberty) . 

The Mosby family is originally of Virginia, and Gen. Mosby, of 
Confederate fame, is one of its prominent re[)resentatives. The sub- 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 35?> 

ject of the present sketch, however, conies of a Kentucky branch of 
the family. He was a son of Wade Mosby, a native of Woodford 
county, Kentucky. The father removed to Chiy county, Missouri, as 
early as 1824. He was a farmer by occupation and died here in 1857. 
The mother, who was a Miss Rebecca Shouse before her marriage, 
died in 1865. James W. Mosby was born October 1, 1836, and was 
reared in this county. He was brought up a farmer, and in 1860 was 
married to Miss Sue Riley, a daughter of Alfred M. Riley, an eai-ly 
settler of Clay county. The result of this union has been one child, 
Charles, who is now a j'outh, twenty-four years of age. Mr. and 
Mrs. M.'are members of the Christian Church. Mr. Mosby has a good 
farm of 320 acres, a half mile from Robinson's Station, on the H. & St. 
Jo. Railroad, and is comfortal)ly situated. He breeds and deals in 
short horn cattle and feeds cattle and hogs for the wholesale market; 
in fact, he is quite a stock dealer, and is satisfactorily successful. He 
has always taken quite an interest in schools and does much to keep 
up a high standard of efficiency in the schools of his vicinity. 

CHARLES MOSBY 

(Farmer and Fiue Stock-raiser, Post-office, Liberty). 

Mr. Mosby is a son of James W'. Mosby and was born on his father's 
homestead in this county in October, 1861. He was reared on a farm 
and in 1881, at the age of twenty, or, rather in his twenty-first year, 
he was married to Miss Jennie Grooms, a daughter of Capt. John S. 
Grooms, an old and prominent citizen of this county. Mr. and Mrs. 
M. have two children, James F. and John G. Mr. Mosby was 
reared a fiirmer and stock-raiser and has continued in the calling to 
which he was brought up. He has a handsome farm of 300 acres, 
situated two miles and a half north of Liberty, which is substantially 
and comfortably improved. He makes a specialty of raising fine 
Polland-Angus cattle and has a handsome herd of that breed of stock. 
On several of his stock he has been awarded premiums at different 
fairs. At the head of his herd he has a fine bull, Byron, imported from 
Seotlan(^. Mr. Mosby also fattens a number of Ijeef cattle and quite 
a number of hogs each winter for the wholesale markets. He is a 
farmer of enterprise and a man of good education. He was educated 
at William Jewell College, and afterwards took a course at Jackson- 
ville Business College. Mr. M. is one of the prominent young farmers 
of the county. He has excellent youngstock for sale at all times. 

WILLL\M H. NEWLEE 

(Dealer in Drugs, Medicines, Paints, Oils, Etc., Etc., Liberty). 

Mr. Newlee was born in Claitiorne county, Teim., at Cumber- 
land Gap, December 22, 1853. His father, C. A. Newlee, was from 
Virginia, and made his home in Tennessee when a young man. He- 
was there married to Miss Mary C. Huff, and in 1857 they removed 
to Missouri and located at Liberty. He was a merchant tailor by 



354 HISTORY OF CLAY COLXTY. 

trade and followed that here for a number of j-ears. AYilliam H. was 
reared at Libertj'^ and educated at William Jewell College. At the 
age of nineteen he commenced learning the drug business under Mr. 
Huo'hes at this place and continued under him for six j^ears. In 1878 
he became a member of the firm of Bradley & Newlee, dealers iu 
druo^s, and five years later he bought out Air. Bradley and has ever 
since continued the business alone. He carries a complete stock of 
drugs, medicines and all other goods of kindred lines and his trade is 
steadil}' growing. March 16, 1880, Mr. Newlee was married to Miss 
Clara Miller, a daughter of David S. Miller, deceased, one of theearh' 
settlers of this county. Mrs. Newlee was educated at the Clay Sem- 
inary. They have two children : Arthur Martin, and Charles Embree. 
Mrs. Newlee is a member of the Presbyterian Church. 

LANCE W. NEWMAN 

(Attorney at Law and Prosecuting Attorney, Liberty). 

Mr. Newman is a young law3^er who is steadih^ and surely making 
his way to the front in his profession, and as a prominent and useful 
citizen. A man of thorough collegiate education, a close student of 
and well versed in the law, he at the same time has, to a more than 
ordinary degree, the natural attributes essential to a successful career 
at the bar and in public life. Favored with a strong, vigorous con- 
stitution, full of life and spirit, he is also a man of studious habits, 
and closely and diligently applies himself to whatever he has in hand. 
Gifted with an active, well balanced mind, and of sober, mature judg- 
ment on all questions coming under his consideration, smooth and 
graceful in his address, a pleasing and forcible speaker, a man of a 
high sense of honor, unquestioneil integrity and singular fairness and 
liberality, of a mind just and liberal, and generous of heart and 
character, he is very naturally highly esteemed l)y all who know 
him, and of much personal popularit}'. Air. Newman, like the repre- 
sentatives of most of the early families in this section of the State, 
descends from old Virginia ancestry. His fiither, Peyton Newman, 
was a native of the Old Dominion, but was reared in Kentucky, 
whither his parents removed when he was a mere bo}'. He grew up 
ill Boyd county, that State, but when a young man came to Missouri 
and located in Platte county, near the present town of Edgertou, 
where he bought land and improved a farm. That was as early as 
1838, and he was one of the pioneer settlers of that county. There, 
a few years afterwards, he was married to Miss Susan, a daughter of 
Lance Woodward, an early settler of that county from Kentuck}', but 
originally from Stafford county, Va. He (Mr. Woodward) is still 
living on his farm in Platte county, and is now in his eighty-ninth 
year. His daughter, Mrs. Newman, was principally reared iu Madison 
count}', Ky., where she resided before coming to Missouri. Mr. New- 
man, Sr., is a successful farmer and stock-raiser of Platte county. 
Lance W. Newman, the subject of this sketch, was reared on his 
father's farm in Platte county, and in early youth attended the common 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 365 

schools of the vicinity. Afterward he matriculated at William Jewell 
College, and continuetl a student here until he was honorably graduated 
in the class of 1880. After his graduation young Newman was 
appointed clerk of the probate court of Clay county, and while dis- 
cliai'ging the duties of that position he studied law under the tutorage 
of Maj. Samuel Hardwicke, whose sketch appears elsewhere. Two 
vears later, after a thorough course of preparatory study, he was 
admitted to the bar, in 1882. About this time he was appointed jus- 
tice of the peace, and he held this position until he resigned it to 
accept his present ofSce, that of prosecuting attorney, to which he 
was elected in the fall of 1884. Meantime, in 1883, he had been 
elected city attorney of Liberty, and he discharged the duties of that 
office for one term. In the fall of 1884, as indicated above, he was a 
candidate for prosecuting attorney. He made the race in a free-for-all 
contest, and had two opponents, Messrs. James VV. Fraher and James 
L. Sheetz, both highly pf)pnlarand thoroughly capable young lawyers. 
The race was warmly but honorabl}^ and good-naturedly contested. 
Mr. Newman was successful by 103 plurality. Mr. N. entered upon 
his duties as prosecuting attorney in January, 1885. He will, 
unquestional)ly, make an able and successful, but, we believe, a just 
and not illiberal public prosecutor, one who will show good judgment 
and heart enough not to make his office an engine of inhumanity and 
injustice. Seeing to it that the laws are faithfully enforced, when 
their enforcement is necessary or can be made to accomplish any 
substantial good, he will doubtless, nevertheless, show mere}' that is 
due and proper : 

" Foi- earthly power (loth show likest to God's, 
When mercy seasons justice." 

Mr. Newman is not a married man ; but if the whisperings of the 
wind can be relied upon, he is already suppliant at the feet of the fair 
mistress of the heart, for mercy unto himself; and doubtless he 
who can win the suffrages of his fellow-citizens can win the heart and 
hand of one more tender and sympathetic than even the most sensitive 
of the sterner sex. 

DARWIN J. NUTTER 

(Farmer ami Stock-raiser, Liberty) . 

Mr. Nutter was reared in this county, and received a more than 
average general education as he grew up. He had the benefit of two 
years' course at the Georgetown Collcg(>, of Kentucky. At the out- 
break of the war, or rather in the fall of 18(51, he enlisted in the Con- 
federate service, under Gen. Stein, and was out about eight months. 
While encamped in Arkansas the malaria of its swamps fastened upon 
him and thoroughly shattered his health. On that account he received 
an honorable discharge Thence returning home, where he remained 
a short time, he went W^est to Coloi^ido, both to eradicate the mala- 
ria from his system and to avoid the militia, who were as little to be 



356 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

endured as the malaria. Mr. Nutter was out there nearly four j'ears 
engaged in the stock business, but returned in 1865, and resumed 
forming in this county, to which he had been brought up. He has 
followed that occupation ever since and has made it a satisfactory 
success. He has a good farm of nearly 400 acres, five miles west of 
Liberty, and has his place well improved and well stocked. He moved 
into town several years ago for the purpose of educating his children, 
but still carries on his farm himself. He is now town counselor and 
on every hand is accounted one of the worthy, substantial citizens of' 
the place. September 1!), 1873, he was married to Miss Lucy Cor- 
bin, a daughter of the late Dr. Corbin, of Nicholas countv, Ky., who 
died there in 1853, just as he was preparing to remove to this State 
with his family. Mr. and Mrs. N. have four children : Theophilus, 
Warda, Gertie and Allie. Mr. Nutter, himself, was born in this 
county, November 5, 1841. He was a son of James and Elizabeth M. 
( Adkins) Nutter, both from Kentucky, his father from Scott county. 
Thev came here in about 1838, and the father, a successful farmer, 
died in 1846. 

JAMES D. OLDHAM 

(Retired Farmer, Post-Offlce, Liberty). 

Mr. Oldham, now in his seventy-fourth _vear, has been a resident of 
Clay county for many years, and is well known as one of the worthy 
and respected citizens of the county. By a lifetime of honest 
industry he has situated himself comfortably in life and has ample 
provision for old age. He has a good farm of 200 acres well stocked 
and fairly improved and his home is provided with every necessary 
sober comfort to be desired. He was born in Shelby county, Ky., 
January 2^, 1811, and was reared in his native county. His 
fatlier, James T. Oldham, came from Virginia, when a youth, with his 
parents and grew up in Scott county. At about the age of twenty 
3'ears, he located in Shelljy county, where he was married to Miss 
Maggie R. Davis, in 1808. She was born and reared in Scott county, 
and her father's family was said to be the first family that settled iu 
that county. Mr. Oldliam, senior, died in 1824 in middle age. His 
wife survived until 1876. There were seven children in the fam- 
ily, all of whom lived to reach mature years. James D. Oldham, the 
subject of this sketch, after he grew up, was married in Scott county, 
Kentucky, November 14, 1836, to Miss Annie Neil!, daughter of 
Rodman and Mary Ncill. Thirteen years afterwards Mr. O. removed 
to Lawrence county, Lidiana, with his family, where he resided for 
iwent}' years. He then came to Clay county, and has made his home 
liere ever since. Farming and raising stock have been his regular 
pursuit, and in this he has been fairly successful. In 1877 Mr. Old- 
ham had the misfortune to lose his good wife. Slie had borne him 
fifteen children, ten of whom are living: William, Baxter, John, 
Mary, August, Callie, Nevin, Nathaniel, Lee O. and Henry. James, 
Rodham, George, Nathan and Wari-en are deceased. Mrs. O. was 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 357 

an earnest member of the Prcsl)yteriau Cliiiicli, and Mr. Oldham has 
himself long been a member of that denomhiation, and takes a com- 
mendable interest in the welfare of the church and the cause of 
religion. 

CYEUS PARK 

(Farmer and Stock-dealer, Post-office, Liberty). 

Mr. Park was born in Madison county, Ky., September 7, 
1838, and was reared in his native county. His education was com- 
pleted at the high school, sustained by private subscription and lo- 
cated on his father's farm. Young Park took a thorough course in the 
English branches, mathematics, and also obtained a good knowledge 
of Latin. He remained on the family homestead with his father 
engaged in farming and handling stock for some eight or ten years 
after he reached his majority. But on January 2, 1868, he was mar- 
ried to Miss Mary E. Cobb, a daughter of Jesse Cobb, of Estill county, 
Ky., and the same year he removed to Missouri. Mrs. Park 
was born November 4, 1843, and was educated in Lincoln county, 
Ky., and at Madison Female Institute, Richmond, Ky. Mr. 
and Mrs. Park are both members of the Christian Church. On 
coming to Missouri, Mr. Park located in Clay county and followed 
farming, being also all the time engaged in trading in stock. He now 
owns a neat homestead just inside the town limits of Liberty, and 
near the college building. He boughf this place in 1880, in order to 
be near the college, so as to educate his children. Mr. and Mrs. 
Park have had two children, Jessie E. and Marcus Tavlor ; the latter 
died Jtmuary 11, 1884, in his fourteenth year. He was a singularly 
bright and promising boy and greatl}' loved by all who knew him. 
The following notice of his death is taken from the Liljerty Tribune. 

IN MEMORY OF MARCUS TAYLOR PARK, 

Aged 13 years, 4 months and 15 days. Thus early hi life has passed away one who 
bid fair to live out the allotted time of man. But alas! "the grim monster Death " 
claims as his victims the young and tender boy as well as the feeble old man. So on 
the morning of January Uth, 1884, while the stars were paling their beautiful light 
before the great king of day, Taylor's spirit tooks its flight to the golden shores that 
lie beyond the dark valley of death. His voice no more to be heard on earth, will join 
the heavenly choir to sing the chorus of the song so sweetly sung to his memory — 
" God's children gathering home." 

But Oh! how hard it was to give him up. Although for twenty long and weary 
weeks lie was the victim of disease and suffering, yet he never murmured or com- 
plained, always submissive to the wishes of fond and loving parents, who so faith- 
fully aud tenderly watched over him to the last. 

During his sickness he would often say: " Pa I'm so anxious to get well. I want 
to live to be a good and useful man." And liavint; known him from the day of his 
birth, I feel confident in saying that had his young life been spared, he would have 
been a noble Christian man — God's grandest work. 

But such could not be ; for while deeply enshrined in the hearts of parents, friends, 
teachers and schoolmates, God in his faultless wisdom thought best to take his pure 
spirit to a better world, while kind friends laid to rest his little body beneath the beauti- 
ful flowers that decorated his casket, there to wait till the resurrection morn, when 
Taylor, in apura and spotless robe, will welcome his loved ones to the " Sweet by-and- 
by." - A Friend. 



358 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 



RICHARD L. RAYxMOND 

(Farmer aud Fine Stock Raiser; Post-office, Liberty). 

Mr. Raymond was about 14 years of age when his parents removed 
to this county from NichoUis county, Ky. His father, Hon. John M. 
Raymond, was a pi-ominent citizen of that county, and had served in 
the Leo'islature of the State. Mr. R.'s mother was a Miss Sarah 
Griffith, from Harrison county, Ky. Her father had also served in ' 
the Legislature several terms, and was a member of the Senate when 
he died, and the family was one of the prominent influential families 
of the county. On coming to Clay county Mr. Raj'mond, Sr., set- 
tled about eight miles from Liberty, where he was successfully en- 
nfaf^ed in farming and stock raising until his death, which occurred in 
1863. R. L. Raymond, the subject of this sketch, was born in 
Nicholas county, Ky., October 27, 1842. He was reared on a farm 
(after the age of 14) near Liberty, Mo. After arriving at his ma- 
jority he followed clerking in a store for awhile and then formed a 
partnership with Judge Gordon and H. A. Bland, in connection with 
whom he sold goods for about five years. Subsequently he sold his 
interest in the mercantile business and resumed forming and raising 
stock, to which he had been brought up. For years Air. Raymond 
has made a specialty of fine stock. His farm contains about 300 
acres of choice land, and is well improved. The class of stock in 
which he is principally interested is fine short horn cattle, and he has 
a large herd of these, some 90, one of the largest and finest in the 
county. Besides, Mr. Raymond is interested with John Garth and 
James C. Leary in a ranch in New Mexico, where they own jointly 
about 1,000 head of cattle. Mr. R. is at present secretary of the 
Clay County Fine Stock Association. In 1881 he removed to Liberty, 
where he now resides. Mr. R. has a handsome residence property at 
this place, and is otherwise comfortably and pleasantly situated. 
December 1, 1868, he was married to INIiss Mattie R. Wilson, a 
daughter of Thomas J. Wilson, deceased, late of Kansas City, but a 
native of Maryland, and one of the earliest settlers in Kansas City. 
Mr. and Mis. Raymond have three children : Katie, Irene and Mattie 
R. He and wife are members of the Christian Church. 

CAPT. ALLEN G. REED 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Liberty). 

Capt. Reed, like perhaps a majorit}' of the old residents of Clay 
county, is a Kentuckian i)y nativity. He was born Mav 26, 1812, 
in Clark county. Capt. Reed was a son of Capt. Joseph Reed, and a 
grandson of Samuel Reed, of South Carolina, who serveii under Wash- 
ington throughout the War for Independence. Sanniel Reed's wife 
was a sister of Col. Hampton, father of G«n. Wade Hampton, of colo- 
nial and revolutionary times, and who served with distinction in the 
War of 1812; he was for years a distinguished member of Congress, 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 359 

holding, iilso, other ofEcial positions of distinction, and being at one 
time tiie owner ot" over 3,000 shives, besides being one of the largest 
plantation proprietors in the South. Gen. Wade Hampton, now of 
the United States Senate, and Capt. Reed are therefore second cous- 
ins, being the grandsons of brother and sister. Capt. Reed's father 
commanded a company in the War of 1812. His parents had emi- 
grated to Kentucky in an early day from South Carolina. In 1810 
Capt. Joseph Reed was married in Clark county, Ky., to Miss Cathe- 
rine F. Griggsby. Over 20 years afterwards he removed with his 
family to Missouri, and settled in Clay county, buying land near Lib- 
erty, where he improved a farm and resided until his death. He died 
here in 1844. The mother died in 1850. Capt. Allen G. Reed, the 
subject of this sketch, was reared in Clark county, Ky., and at the age 
of 21, in 1833, preceded his father's family to Missouri. He came 
direct to Clay county, the family following during the next year. 
After farming for about a year in this county, he engaged as a clerk 
in a store at Lilierty and two years later bought an interest in the 
store. In 1838 he bought a farm some six miles northwest of Lil)erty, 
retiring from the mercantile i)usiness, and followed farming for about 
eight years. He then engaged in partnership with Maj. John Dough- 
3rty, of Clay, in freighting west to Santa Fe and other points, and con- 
tinued in the freighting business until 1846, becoming very successful 
and one of tiie largest freighters west. At one time he was running 
as many as 140 teams. Besides this he was engaged in merchandising 
during the last two years of his freighting experience. After quitting 
the West he bought out his partner's interest in the store at Liberty, 
and carried on the store at that place until 1858. Although actively 
engaged in merchandising at Liberty during this time, he had consid- 
erable outside business, and during a part of the time was again largely 
interested in freighting. In 1858 Cajit. Reed failed in business, his 
liabilities being" $10,000 and his assets $40,000. Thus he paid 
every dollar of indeljtedness and subsequently went to Denver, Col., 
where he engaged in the stock business. He built the first brick 
house erected at Denver. While extensively engaged in the stock 
business, he was also largely engaged in railway contracting, furnish- 
ing ties to the Union Pacific Railroad, having his headquarters in that 
business at Laramie City, W. T. At one time he had as high as 400 
men in his employ as railway contractor. But while his business was 
quite profitable, he was called upon to boar a misfortune which moi'e 
than offset all the mere material success this life can afford. His eld- 
est son Robert Reed was his paymaster, and after drawing the money at 
the express ofiice at Laramie City to pay the hands with, he was mur- 
dered in cold blood in the streets of the place and in open daylight by 
several desperate characters for the purpose of robbery. It is a trite 
saying that one's misfortunes never come singly. So it proved with 
Capt. Reed. About the same time, having over3, 500 head of sheep in 
a moiuitain ravine, a sudden heavy rain came on, or water-spout l)roke 
al)ove the head of the ravine, and the water was thus suddenly raised 
to the depth of from five to twelve feet, and his entire flock of sheep 

18 



3gQ HISTORY OF CLAY COTJNTY. 

T 1 „,i ThU took the last dollar he had but 

were swept away and drowned Thi. ^f'^^ ^.^^^^ ^, , y,-^^ ^alue 

he was out of debt. Out ^If ^^ J!^^; f f^^^j^^, of ^ respectable for- 

pUvce of 250 acres On the farm he has ^^^^^^^^ J,^, ,% 
said by competent ^l^^""^. the St te It has not been developed 
the water ot any springs f ^ ^\;^^^^^^^^^^ ..^t used as a resort, as 
and advertised, however, and is t' e ^^e ^^ wonderful 

doubtless it otherwise ^'°"^^\^?; .-^'f „„e' tia^ class of men whom 
energy and fne business ^^ ^^ -^'^j;^. ^Id had some money left 
even " bad luck ^'Ui t keep co i^^j,,,,,„a invested very wisely 

her from her father s e.tate, which he n ^^^Un■■,.do she was 

and to advantage in cattle. Upon the i^.u ^ ^_ ^3^^ 

enabled to pay a second time torthe aim he eme.^ 

two children at her death : Irene now he mte o^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^ . 

and Kobert whowas -urdern^ t ^--e^C^'^^^ „,arriageonly a 

was married to Mi.sP<lyi-lU ^ ^^.^^ ^^^^^^, a. A Bivens. 

lew weeks. His pieseiu ^..^^ u.-^e three children : James F., 

daughter of TenmanB.vens The^ fve t ee ^,^^^. ^^^^ 

sheriff of Clay count3Swho^eskechap^ ^^^^^^ ^_^^^^ .^^ 

£:i C;;'! •uS'l^;;- si. Eeed and three daughters are mem- 
bers of the Presbyterian Church. 

JAMES F. KEED 

(Sheriff of Clay county, Liberty). 
Mr. Eeed, the popular ^^^nffof Uns cou.^ wa. 1,^ 
here, and the confidence which tl^e ^^J f.^ ;^7,;^^ , ,„,hood and have 
telligently placed, for they have YT^^J^^"^^ qualifications. It 
had every opportunity to juclge "t - chaiactew^^ eommunity of 
is easy enough for one oi ^^ -^^ ^%^^f f,,,,,,,le impression, 
strangers and by proper efto t t" "^'^l *^ ;\ .'-^ J^ ,,1,0 k„ow little about 
thus securing the ^^teem =uul coi Wcnce o t^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^.^^^^.^^, i„ 

him. But it is not so with the one who }''' '^ ^j- t,,e people, 

thecommunitywhcrehepu shimseltup to hc.uQK^^ ^ ^^_ 

If there is any kink in his f^^^^^^^^'J^Z h\n...\( he will 
pudiate him, for however big a ra.ca a ^otei inaj ^^^ ^^^^,^ 

lurn up his nose and -f-e « vo e * - ^i^^on^^^^^^^ „, ^,,,,_, ,„d 
virtuous indignation as it he ^^'5 f"; \. m,.. Reed was born at 
essence of all the excellencies of «^' '^^teK . 1 ^^^^^^^. ^ 

Liberty, April l^' 1^02, and was a son o A -C..^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^ 

St t;^^.nr She iStid-s second wife, and is s.i.l 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 361 

living a resident o( this county. Tho father came here with his 
parents when a youth and afterwards married and made this his home 
Tn IS^Oh" r ' p',' ^'""T"', ■'^"'•««1'^^"tly married to Miss Bivens.' 

In 1859 he went to Pike's Peak, lived in Colorado ten years, and then 
returned to Liberty, Mo., where he still lives. James-p. Eeed <vrew 
up in this county and has lived in this county all his life, except six 
years spen m Colorado and one year in Texas': When a ;oun/nJan 
he engaged in stock t^rading and farming. In 1878 he waJappoiZ 
• veTf Ir; ss'r "• ^'■- Ti-'-rlake, under whom he served 'fl,r four 
yeais. In 1882 he was elected siieriff, and in 1884 was re-elected 
without opposition. While .leputy sherili" he was city marshal ft r two 
years March 20, 1883, he was married to Miss Fannie Wymore u 
daughter of W. luxm H'. Wymore, formerly of Kentucky. M^- Ree 
IS a graduate of the Clay Seminary, and is'^alady of reth.emei t.' She 

odd'^iio:;' chl^r''^'^"^^" ""''''"'■ '''■ ^-•' '^ '^ --^-' "^ ^^- 

CAPT. JAMES T. RILEY 

(Dealer iu Furniture, UiulertaUer's Goods and Carpets, Liberty). 

' cn^?^;-^,''''''' ''''"' ''■'' ^''' '■' ''^'■^ ='^^^'^«^ °''"'*^*^'' =i"tl one not without 
substantial success, was born and reared in this county, and at the aoe 
ot seventeen began clerking in a country store near Mt." Gilead Church 
After a year spent there he became clerk for Denny & Clark of Lib 
erty, and continued with them for four years. The next live years he 
clerked or Miller, McCarty & Co., at Liberty, the le'dinr lousiness 

trade, and bought a large drove of sheep, which he took to Texas for 
*ale. Atter his return he resumed clerking and was en-a-rgd in that 

SXr'n".;: " T ""■ ''■"'' °"^- ^="-''^ '" ''''''' -^l-ted in the 
under CI tT'Vh""!"^' ' ;"""''''' "*' ^>t- McCarty's company 
undei Col. John T Hughes. Capt. Riley was in nearly all the en- 
gagements fought m this State in the early part of the war. At t e 
batle ot Carthage he received a flesh wound, which, however, was 
no serious. He was also slightly wounded at the battle of Oak HiH 
After that engagement, early in 1862, being then in Texas, he became 

ShS 't. •'''''^'- '^- '''■ S«"-rnc's company, under Col. J W 
bheight. This regiment was shortly ordered to Galveston an.l later 
along was consobdated with Col. Cook's regiment of heavy art I e ry 
u which Capt. Riley served until the close'of the war. For mer o^ 
nous conduct and gallantry he arose from the ranks as a private to the 
commission of captain in command of Co. A. At the' retiki </of 
Galveston he was again wounde.l. At the close of the war he fVmnd 
himself without a dollar. However, he went to work in TeV. " d 
ma short time gathered up some little means with which he louth 
(Ijai-tly on time) a drove of cattle at the low prices thin rev i ^^ 

tei thi. Capt. Riley returned to Clay county, but went back to Texas 



360 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

were swept away and drowned. This took the last doUar he had bnt 
he was out ot debt. Out there where sheep were rated at a high value 
at that time that reverse, of itself, was the loss of a respectable for- 
tune. After this Capt. Reed returned home to Clay count}' and once 
more turned his attention to farming near Liberty on a handsome 
place of 250 acres. On the farm he has a valuable mineral spring, 
said by competent chemists to show as good medicinal qualities as 
the water of any springs in the State. It has not been developed 
and advertised, however, and is therefore not used as a resort, as" 
doubtless it otherwise would be. Capt. Reed is a man of wonderful 
energy and fine business qualifications, one of that class of men whom 
even " bad luck " can't keep down. Mrs. Reed had some nionej' left 
her from her father's estate, which her husband invested very wisely 
and to advantage in cattle. Upon their return from Colorado she was 
enabled to pay a second time for the farm here mentioned. Capt. Reed 
very modestly disclaims an}' credit arising from his supposed excellent 
financial condition, attributing it to his wife. Capt Reed has been 
married three times. His first wife, nee Miss Luciuda Adkins, was a 
sister to D. J. Adkins, whose sketch appears elsewhere. She left 
two children at her death : Irene, now the wife of A. T. Litchfield, 
and Robert who was murdered at Laramie City, W. T. In 1868 hr ' 
was married to Miss Polly Neill, who survived her marriage only a 
few weeks. His present wife was a Miss Missouri A. A. Bivens, 
daughter of Tenman Bivens. They have three children : James F., 
sheriff of Clay county, whose sketch appears l)elow ; Katie, the 
wife of William H. Saeger, cashier of the Citizens' National Bank, at 
Kansas City, and Emma. Mrs. Reed and three daughters are mem- 
bers of the Presbyterian Church. 

JAMES F. REED 

(Sheriff of Clay county, Liberty) . 

Mr. Reed, the popular sheriff of this county, was liorn and reared 
here, and the confidence which the pcoj)le have in him is therefore in- 
telligently placed, for they have known him from l)oyhood and have 
had every o[)portunity to judge of his character and qualifications. It 
is easy enough for one of good address to go into a community of 
strangers and by proper effort to make a highly favorable impression, 
thus securing the esteem and confidence of those who know little about 
him. But it is not so with the ono who has been born and reai'ed in 
the community where he puts himself up for the sufl'rages of the people. 
If there is any kiuk in his character they know it and will re- 
jjudiate him, for however big a rascal a voter may be himself he will 
turn up his nose and refuse to vote for a dishonest man with as much 
virtuous indignation as if he were the impersonation of puiity and 
essence of all the excellencies of character. Mr. Reed was born at 
Liberty, April 11, 1852, and was a son of Allen G. and Missouri A. 
Reed, the fatiier formerly of Kentucky, bnt the mother born ami 
I'eared in this county. She was her husband's second wife, and is still 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 3(11 

living, a resident of this county. Tlie fiither came here with his 
parents when a youth, and afterwards married and made this his home. 
His first wife died, and lie was siibsequeutly married to Miss Bivens. 
In 1859 ho went to Pike's Peak, lived in Colorado ten years, an<l then 
returned to Libert}', Mo., where he still lives. James F. Reeil grew 
up iu this county, and has lived in this county all his life, except six 
years spent in Colorado and one year in Texas. When a young man 
he engaged iu stock trading and farming. In 1878 he was appointed 
deputy sheriff under Mr. Tiinherlake, under whom he served for four 
years. In 1882 he was elected sheriff, and in 1884 was re-elected 
without opposition. While deputy sheriff he was city marshal for two 
years. March 20, 1883, he was married to Miss Fannie Wymore, a 
daughter of William H'. Wymore, formerly of Kentucky. Mrs. Reed 
is a graduate of the Clay Seminary, and is a lady of refinement. She 
is a member of the Christian Church. Mr. Reed is a member of the 
Odd Fellows' Order. 

CAPT. JAMES T. RILEY 

CDealer iu Furniture, UiidertaUer's Goods and Carpets, Liberty). 

Capt. Riley, who has had a very active career and one not without 
substantial success, was born and reared in this county, and at the age 
of seventeen began clei'king in a country store near Mt. Gilead Church. 
After a year spent there he became clerk for Denny & Clark, of Lib- 
erty, and continued with them for four years. The next five years he 
clerked for Miller, McCarty & Co., at Liberty, the leading i)usiness 
house of the county. In 1800 he quit clerking to engage in the sheep 
trade, and bought a large drove of sheep, which he took to Texas for 
sale. After his return he resumed clerking and was engaged in that 
occupation when the war broke out. Early in 18(51 he enlisted iu the 
Southern service, becoming a member of Capt. McCarty's company 
under Col. John T. Hughes. Capt. Riley was in nearly all the en- 
gagements fought in this State in the early part of the war. At the 
battle of Carthage he received a flesh wound, which, however, was 
not serious. He was also slightly wounded at the battle of Oak Hill. 
After that engagement, early in 1862, being then iu Texas, he became 
a memlier of Capt. J. W. Sedberrie's company, under Col. J. W. 
Sheight. This regiment was shortly ordered to Galveston and later 
along was consolidated with Col. Cook's regiment of heavy artillery, 
in which Capt. Riley served until the close of the war. For merito- 
rious conduct and gallantry he arose from the ranks as a private to the 
commission of captain in command of Co. A. At the retaking of 
Galveston he was again wounded. At the close of the war he found 
himself without a dollar. However, he went to work in Texas and 
in a short time gathered up some little means with which he bought 
(partly on time) a drove of cattle at the low prices than prevailing. 
These he took to Memphis, Tenn., where he sold them, with a good 
profit left after the purchase money and all expenses were paid. Af- 
ter this Capt. Riley returned to Clay county, but went back to Texas 



3fi2 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

Ill u short tune, Sfoiiig, however, by way of St. Louis and New Or- 
leans, and taking on his trip, in partnership with Maj. M. Dearing, a 
large quantity of supplies from St. Louis to the Crescent City, as a 
business enterprise. This also proved a profitable investment. In 
Texas, Rilev and Dearing l)ought a drove of 400 head of cattle and 
brought them to Barton county, where they sold them at a good 
protit. Cajjf. Kiley then returned to Libert}' and became a partner in the 
lirni of D. D. Miller & Co., in general merchandise. Five years later 
the firm became Stone & Eiley. In. 1878, Capt. Riley sold his interest' 
in the above named firm and then engaged in the furniture business, 
which he has since continued. He has the leading furniture estab- 
lishment of the county. In the spring of 1884 he established a branch 
furniture store at Kearney, which is doing a good business. Decem- 
ber 1, 186JI, Mr. Riley was married to Miss Mollie Stone, daughter of 
George Stone and sister of R. J. Stone, his former partner in 
business. Mrs. R. is a lady of education and culture, a graduate 
of Clay Seminary. The Captain and Mrs. R. have four child- 
ren : Kate, Louise, Nannie and Mary Ross. Both parents are 
members of the Christian Churcli. He has served as city treasurer, 
and in 1880 was elected public administrator of Clay county, which 
office he filled for four years, and was re-elected in 1884. Capt. Riley 
was born in this county May 22, 1836, and was a son of H. M. and 
Caltha (Cotton) Riley, who came here from Fayette county, Ky., in 
1727. They located near Ciilead Church, where they resided a num- 
ber of years and then removed to Liberty. Tlie father died here in 
1860. 

JAMES S. ROBB 

(Farmer and Fine Stock Raiser, Post-offlce, Liberty) . 

Tlie ftunily of which Mr. Robb is a representative settled in this 
country originallv in PennysU'ania. Mr. R.'s grandfather, William 
RobI), who early removed to Kentucky, was a brother of Judge Robert 
Rolib, who was adjutant-general in the \^'ar of 1812, and for many 
years district judge in Kentucky. Two other brothers, David and 
Joshua, located in Ohio. David made the race for Congress at a 
time when his district included nearly all of Eastern Ohio ; he was de- 
feated by his opponent by oulv four majority, after which Gen. 
Jackson, who was then President, a])pointed him Indian Agent. A 
son of Judge Robert Robb, Josei)h Robb, iield the office of judge and 
clerk of Lewis countj^ Ky., for 44 years. Mr. R.'s grandfather set- 
tled in Lewis county, Ky., and there William W. Robb, James S.'s 
father, was l)orn and reared. He married a Miss Margaret M. Piper, 
and of this union James S. was born April 2, 1846, in Mason county, 
Ky., in which county his father settled. The father and mother are 
both living, and make their home with their children. There were 
two sons and a daughter in the family besides the subject of this 
sketch. The daughter is now the wife of Jasper Johnson, and resides 
in Illinois. James S. Robl) was reared in Kentucky, and at the age of 
18 began as a clerk and book-keeper in a wholesale store at Ma3'sville. 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 3(33 

After about two years he engaged in fanning and continued tiiat until 
1871, when he came to Pleasant Hill, Mo. He resided therefor about 
two years, liut was not in any active l)usiness on account of ili-liealth. 
In 1873 he removed to Greene county, 11!., and engaged in buying and 
shipping stock, which he followed for some tive years with excellent 
success. August 29, 1879, he was married to Miss Annie B. Hodge, 
a daughter of Dr. John Hodge, deceased, late a prominent physician 
of Greene county, 111. In 1879 Mr. Robb removed to Clay county. 
Mo., and three years ago bought the farm where he now resides. He 
has a good place of 280 acres, a mile south of Liberty, one of the 
choice farms of the county. He has a small herd, six head, of fine 
Jersey cattle, and a large flock of fine Cotswold sheep. Mr. and Mrs. 
R. have four (children : Mary, Ella, Margie and Mabel. The Robb 
family was originally from Scotland, and have been Presbyterians from 
time immemorial. 

WILLIAM R. ROTHWELL, D. D. 

(Professorof Theology and Moral Philosophy in William Jewell College, Liberty, Mo.) 

Rev. Dr. Rothwell is a prominent representative of the old and re- 
spected family of Rothwclls, of Callaway county, this State, but origi- 
nally ofVirginia. Asomewhat extended notice of the Rothwell family 
is given in the History of Callaway County, recently published. It is 
also referred to in the histories of Randolph county, wher» Hon. 
Gideon F. Rothwell resides, and of Audrain county, of which Dr. 
Thomas P. Rothwell is a resident. From the United States Biograph- 
ical Dictionary (Missouri volume), we reproduce the following sketch 
of Rev. Dr. Rothwell's life : — 

William R. Rothwell was born in Garrard county, Ky., September 
2, 1831. His parents, John Rothwell, M. D., and China Renfro, 
daughter of Dr. William Renfro, of Garrard county, Ky., were of 
Virginian birth and English descent. They had six children, three 
sons and three daughters. 

In 1831, soon after the birth of the sul)ject of this sketch, they 
emigrated to Callaway county, Missouri. William, from early child- 
hood, was studious and gave great promise of becoming an eminent 
scholar. He attended the common schools in the county in which 
his father resided, and with the help of two short terms at academies, 
was prepared in 1851 to enter the Missouri University, from which he 
graduated with the degree of A. M., July 4, 1854, taking the first 
honor in a class of ten. 

At the time of his graduation he had decided upon the medical pro- 
fession, but his plans were changed by his being, in the same year, 
elected principal of Elm Ridge Academy, Howard county, Mo., where 
he received a verv encouraging salarv, and, being stimulated by suc- 
cess, he remained for two and one-half years, when he was elected 
the first president of the Baptist Female College, at Columbia, Mo., 
(now known as Stephens College). After one year of service there 
he was elected to succeed Rev. William Thompson, LL. D., as presi- 



364 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

dent of Mt. Pleasant College, Hiintsvillc, Mo., which position he held 
with great success for twelve j^ears. 

In 18G0 he was ordained to the ministry, having been converted in 
1853 under the preaching of Eev. Tyre C. Harris, Columbia, Mo., 
and was successively pastor of the Baptist churches at Huntsville and 
Keytesville, Mo. 

During the 3'ears 1871-72 he was corresponding secretary of the 
Baptist General Association of Missouri, in which position he ac- 
quitted himself with marked ability. His letters and communications- 
while corresponding secretary are noted as being among the most 
graceful and forcible that have emanated in the interest of that body. 

In 1872 Mr. Rothwell was unanimousl}' elected professor of the- 
ology and moral philosophy in William Jewell College, which position 
he still holds (1885). He was also the acting president of the college 
from 1873 to 1883. 

In 1874 his Alma Mater, the University of Missouri, in honorable 
recognition of his distinction as a man of letters, conferred upon him 
the dignity of Divinitalis Doctor. Every moment of Dr. Rothwell's 
time since his graduation has been one of intellectual activity and 
usefulness. 

In 1855 he married Louisa Hughes, daughter of Allen Hughes, of 
Howard county. Mo. In 1860 Mrs. Rothwell died, leaving one son, 
John Hughes Rothwell, now 26 3'ears old, and a resident ph3'sician 
of Libert}', AIo., who gives rare promise of excellence in his profes- 
sion, i)eing a full graduate of William Jewell College and of Bellevue 
Hospital \Iedical College, New York. 

In 1863 Dr. Rothwell married Miss Fannie A. Pitts, daughter of 
Rev. Y. R. Pitts, near Glasgow, Mo., and to them has been born a 
son, Younger Pitts Rothwell, now a member of the senior class in 
the college with which his father is connected. 

Perhaps in few lionies in the State could be found a more complete 
library than in Dr. Rothwell's. He has spared neither time nor ex- 
pense in adding to it the standard works on theology and moral 
philosophy, besides valuable encyclopedias. His taste for literature 
and his desire for improvement has drawn about him friends of high 
social standing. He is in perfect sympathy with the Baptist workers 
throughout the State, and they enjoy the hospitalities of Dr. and Mrs. 
Rothwell's i)eautiful home. 

Politically he is a Democrat, always voting, but not otherwise 
taking an_y great interest in politics. 

Dr. Rothwell has a very commanding appearance, being six feet 
high and ver^' erect. He is in the prime of life and mental vigor, is 
mild mannered, possesses easy dignity, and is very modest and unas- 
suming. His sense of duty impels him to the front whenever prin- 
ciple or honor calls. He is a " ripe scholar," of elegant culture, and 
a man of liberal and e.vpansivc views. Perhaps no man in the State 
stands higher in the love and confidence of his denomination of 
Christians than he. 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 3(i5 



HORATIO F. SIMRALL 

(Liberty) . 

The subject of this sketch was born in Shelby county, Ky., May 3, 
1845. His parents were James Simrall and Cynthia Fritzlen Simrall, 
his father l)eing of Virginia parentage and Scotch ancestry. Senator 
Siiiirall's niotlier, of German and Scotch ancestry, is yet living, a resi- 
dent of Shelby county, Ky. ; his father died in May, 1863. Mr. 
Simrall was educated at Shelby College, Ky., from which he gradu- 
ated in the class of 18(56, having taken the classical course. He was 
one of the te.achers in that institution for the last ten months of his 
course. On leaving college he followed teaching and farming during 
the winter and summer respectively for about two j'ears, at the same 
time devoting his leisure hours to the study of law. Following this 
he entered the Law Department of the University of Louisville, from 
which he graduated in 1868. One year after leaving the University he 
moved to Liberty, Clay county, Mo., and engaged in the practice of 
his profession, in partnership with Col. Henry L. Routt, which con- 
tinued with mutual profit and satisfaction for about two years, when 
the firm dissolved. Mr. Simrall then entered into copartnership with 
James M. Sandusky, a young lawyer just admitted to the bar, which 
copartnershii) yet continues, and the firm enjoys a wide reputation 
and lucrative practice. Mr. Simrall brought to his profession a 
thoroughljr trained mind; the haliits of study, which characterized 
him at school and college, have never forsaken him. He is well 
versed in the legal profession and thoroughly' familiar with all the 
leading decisions. Senator Simrall is a man of good personnel, gen- 
erous in his impulses, liberal in his vie.ws, and courteous in manners. 
He is a fluent talker, and whether on the hustings or at the bar never 
speaks without striking at the heart of the subject. In politics he is 
a Democrat — thoroughly versed in the tenets of his party — and 
has several times held positions of public trust. He was prosecuting 
attorney of Clay county in the years 1875 and 1876 and 1883 and 
1884. At the fall election in 1884 he was elected State Senator for the 
third district, composed of the counties of Clay, Platte and Clinton, 
having received the unanimous nomination of his i)arty convention. 
In December, 1874, he was married to Miss Mattie J. Denny, a 
daughter of John A. Denny, Esq., one of the early settlers ol" Clay 
county. Mrs. Simrall is a gi'aduate of Lil)erty Female Seminary. 
They have three children : Denny, Horatio F., and an infant son not 
yet named. Mr. and Mrs. Simrall are of the Presbyterian faith, and 
are both members of the local congregation at Lil)erty. 

JOHN J. STOGDALE 

(Clothier, Grain and Produce Dealer, and Couuty Treasurer, Liberty). 

Born near Moberly December 12, 1844, the subject of this sketch 
came of one of the early and res[)ected families of Randolph county. 



36G HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

In the pioneer days of that couuty his father, William Stoordale, 
located there from Virginia, being then a young man only about 18 
years of age. He became an energetic farmer of that county, and 
was married to Miss Susan Gashwiler, a daughter of — Gashwiler, 
another early settler, and originally from Pennsylvania. She, how- 
ever, was born while her parents were residents of Kentucky. In 
1850 Mr. Stogdale, his brother-in-law, J. W. Gashwiler, afterwards 
Gen. Gashwiler, and a number of others, went to California. There 
Mr. Stogdale, Sr., died some eight months afterward, in the fall of - 
1850. Gen. Gashwiler remained permanently in California, and 
became one of the prominent and wealthy men of the State. He was 
very successful in mining, and became one of the millionaires of the 
Pacific coast. Indeed, it is a matter of record that a single check of 
his was honored for $1,000,000. John J. Stogdale, the subject of 
this sketch, was reared in Randolph county and given an advanced 
collegiate education. However, in 1862, at the age of 18, he went to 
St. Louis, where he was employed as salesman in the house of Collins 
& Son, in which position he continued for some two years. He then 
resigned his position and entered William Jewell College, following 
a course there of five years, at the end of which he graduated with 
marked distinction, being among the first in his class. At the annual 
meeting of the Alumni Association he delivered the address as one of 
the prominent post-graduates of the institution. After his graduation 
Mr. Stogdale engaged in the grocery business at Liberty, commencing 
in the first place on a small capital. This, however, was increased 
from time to time tmtil 1872, when he sold out, having one of the 
leading grocery stores of the county. It was then that Mr. Stogdale 
established his clothing house, which he has ever since carried on with 
such marked f^uccess. He has an annual trade in the cloth line alone 
of over $40,000. He has also l)een in the produce trade for some 
time, especially the lines of apples and potatoes. In 1883 he shipped 
over 10,000 barrels of apples, and his shipments this A'ear will exceed 
over 50 oar loads. He has a large fruit eva|)orator for drying apples, 
at which he has employed about 20 hands. His present works require 
120 bushels of apples to keep them running at full capacity. How- 
ever, he is increasing the capacity of his works, and will shortly 
require 240 bushels daily. This is one of the successful industries of 
the place, and has been made such by his enterprise and business 
al)ility. Mr. Stogdale has always taken a marked interest in the cause 
of education, and has served in the office of school director for some 
three years, in order to assist in maintaining good sciiools atLil)erty. 
In 1882 he was elected county treasurer, and such is his high standing 
and popularity that he received more votes in the county than were 
cast for both his competitors combined. In September, 1874, he was 
married to Miss Belle Miller, a daughter of R. H. Miller, editor of 
the Liberty Tribune. Mrs. S. was educated at the Liberty Female 
College. They have two children : Rol)ert W. and Emma S. Mr. 
S. is a business man of energy and enterprise, and one of the repre- 
sentative citizens of the county. He is a man of pleasant, agreeable 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 367 

presence, aiad more than ordinarily popular manners, both personally 
and as a county official. 

ROCKWELL J. STONE 

(Dealer in General Merchanrlise, Liberty). 

Mr. Stone began mercantile life as a clerk. He served two years 
in that capacity in the store of M. c§; D. D. Miller, at Liberty. Sub- 
sequently he went to Montana, but returned in the fall of 1866. The 
following spring Mr. Stone engaged in the dry goods business at this 
place, opening a stock in the building which he but recently moved 
out of, and where he sold goods for 14 years, continuously. Last fall 
he erected a business house on the south side of the square, which he 
moved into after its completion and now occupies. This is one of the 
neatest and best business rooms at Liberty, and is specially arranged 
for handling dry goods. Mr. Stone has built up a good business, and 
now has an annual trade of about $30,000. He also carries a line of 
boots and shoes and lines of other goods usually found in a dry goods 
store. February 3, 1874, Mr. Stone was married to Miss Julia L. 
AVithers, daughter of Abijah Withers, one of the pioneers of this county. 
Mrs. Stone is a graduate of Hughes' Female Seminary. They have five 
children : George, Edwin, Miller, Lee, and an infant son, Dudley Steele 
Stone. Mrs. S. is a member of the Christian Church. Mr. Stone is 
one of the well respected and influential citizens of Liberty, and has 
served two terms as mayor. 

CLINTON TILLERY 

(Collector of Clay County, Liliertyj. 

That success in life and advancement in public affairs are not lim- 
ited to those whose early advantages have been the best and whose 
opportunities would therefore seem to be the most favorable, is daily 
illustrated by the lives of the men who have come to the front as 
representative citizens of their respective communities. Beyond all 
(piestion personal worth is the controlling influence that shapes every 
man's future character, energy, ability and the qualities that win suc- 
cess in life. Unless one have these he may have had all the early 
advantages to be desired and in his career may be favored with abun- 
dant means and the help of infiuential friends, but still he can not com- 
pete with another who has the characteristics mentioned, however 
unfavorable the hitter's early advantages may have been. 

Li presenting a sketch of the subject whose names stands at the 
head of the preceding paragraph, we have the example of a man 
who has risen to enviable prominence in the community where he was 
reared, almost solely by his own exertions and personal worth. He 
was born in Clinton county, June 19, 1849, and was left an orphan 
by the death of his father when quite young. His father, Joel D. 
Tillery, who came to this State from Kentucky vvhen a young man, 
in 1842, was married to Miss Letitia Gilliam, formerly of Alexandria, 



368 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

Va. They made their home in Clinton county, this State, where they 
resided until early in 1851, when the father joined the general move- 
ment to California in quest of gold. He never lived to return, but 
died on the Pacific coast. 

The mother, after her husband started to California, came to Lib- 
erty. Clinton was two years old when his father left for California. 
Reared in Liberty, his youth was spent at school and at work in a 
woolen factory, principally. By attending the common and high 
schools he succeeded in getting a good common English education, . 
which was supplemented Viy instruction at William Jewell College 
for one term. 

Li 1867 he obtained a situation as clerk in a grocery store, and he 
continued clerking for al)out four years. During this time, by econ- 
omy he was enabled to accumulate a nucleus of means with which 
to begin in business for himself, which he accordingly did, opening a 
grocery store at this place. He conducted his grocer3njusiness with 
success for about five years, when he sold out to advantage and as- 
sumed the duties of county treasurer, to which he was elected. 
Meanwhile, however, in 1874, he was elected maj^or of Liberty, he 
being at the time only 25 years of age, and the youngest mayor who 
ever held the office. Elected treasurer in 1876, as stated above, he 
subsequently held the office for three terms, by consecutive re- 
elections, and was then elected county collector in 1882 and still holds 
that position. 

Mr. Tillery has l)ought a handsome farm adjoining Liberty and is 
engaging quite cvtensively in breeding, raising and dealing in fine 
thoroughbred short horn cattle. It is his purpose to retire from his 
office at the close of his present term and devote his entire time and 
attention to his farming and stock interests. He is a man of energy 
and progressive ideas, and will doubtless soon take a prominent posi- 
tion among the leading agriculturists of the county. 

October 9, 1874, Mr. Tillery was married to Miss Flora H., a daugh- 
ter of Judge William H. Lane of this county'. The}' have five chil- 
dren: Augustus, Trigg T., Jennie, Harry and Mary. He and wife 
are members of the Christian Church, and he is a prominent member 
of the L O. O. F. 

JAMES R. TIMBERLAKE, 

(Stock-dealer, Kx-Sheriff of Clay county and Piopi'ielor of Livery Stable, Hesidenoe, 

Liberty). 

Mr. Timberlake, one of the most efficient sheritl's this county ever 
had and a man who lias done much for the promotion of law and order 
in this community, and now serving as Deputy United States Mar- 
shall, is a native Missourian, born in Platte county, March 22, 
1846. His father, John Timberlake, a Kentuckian by birth, born in 
1809, was married in that State to Patsy Noland, some time after 
which, in 1830, he came to Missouri, locating in the Platte Purchase, 
in what is now Platte county, where he bought land and im[)roved a 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 360 

farm. He reniained here until 18(i4, when, owing to the unsettled 
condition of affairs here on account of war troui)les, he went to Illinois 
for a short time. Returning soon after to Platte county, he made it 
his home until purchasing a place in Clay county, upon which he re- 
sided from 1866 to 1880. At that date he took up his location in 
Jackson conutjs near Independence, where he at present is situated. 
His first wife died in Platte county. The life of James R. has been 
a very active one. He remained at the home farm until 1864, and 
when his fatlier went to Illinois the son entered the Confederate army 
iu 1864, in Col. Slayback's cavalry regiment. He became second 
lieutenant of Co. B, Shelby's brigade, and as such participated 
in a number of engagements. After the close of the war he accom- 
panied Shelby and Price to Mexico (leaving Texas in April, 1865), 
and continued in that country until December, 1865, traveling en- 
tirely through the heart of Old jMexico to California, which was 
reached the same month. He remained in that State until the fol- 
lowing summer and then returned to his home in Missouri, though 
choosing his I'esidence in Ciav countv. For two or three years after 
this he was peacefully occupied in the pursuits of farming and stock- 
raising. In the meantime, in 1872, he made a trip to Texas and 
brought back a herd of cattle wiiich he disposed of to good advantage in 
Kansas. In 1876 Mr. Timl^erlake was appointed constable of Lil)erty 
township and served for two 3'cars, and so well were the duties of that 
position discharged that, in 1878, when it became uecessar}' to select 
someone to fill the oflice of sherifi' of the county, no more suitable man 
could have been chosen for that position. He was elected and at the 
expiration of his term of service was honored with a re-election. His 
services while discharging his official duties were marked with a fear- 
lessness and conscientiousness which characterized him a typical sher- 
iff, and in profoi-ming his work he met with the hearty approbation 
of all officers of the court and the people generally. After his re- 
tirement from office, Mr. Timl)erlake went to New Mexico and in 
company with iiis brother bought two ranches, upon which they have 
since )>een actively and successfully engaged in the stock l)usiuess. In 
1883 he was appointed De^juty U. S. Marshal for the Western Dis- 
trict of Missouri, a position which he still holds. He is now inter- 
ested in a livery stable and has one of the largest establishments of 
this kind in Missouri — a stable which would be a credit to any city 
of larger size. November 25, 1874, Mr. T. was married at Liberty 
to Miss Katie, daughther of Grafton Thomason, deceased, one of the 
pioneers of Clay county. She was born at Liberty, l)ut received her 
education in Platte. Mr. Timberlake is a meml)er of Liberty Lodge 
No. 43, I. O. O. F. His wife is connected with the Christian Church. 

JACOB A. TRUMBO 

(Farmer, Post-office, Liberty). 

Mr. Trumbo, if called upon, could doubtless furnish valuable infor- 
mation in regard to the facts of the controversy recently going in 



370 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

the papers as to the disposition made of the treasure of the Confed- 
erate Government after the evacuation of Richmond. He was one of 
Mr. Davis' guard. He was also for a time on the bodj'-guard of Gen. 
Breckinridge. As a matter of fact he was one of the guard that 
secreted the gold of the treasury after the collapse of the Confederate 
Government, but never knew what became of this golden treasure. 
The notes from which this sketch is written barely refer to the facts 
here stated, so that no other particulars can be given. But he is most 
probably in possession of most valuable information in regard to this - 
jioint on which historians widely differ. Mr. Trumljo, in the early 
part of his services in the Confederate armjs was under Gen. John S. 
Williams, the veteran commander who fought with such distinction at 
Cerre Gordo, in the Mexican War, that he was ever afterwards called 
Cerre Gordo Williams, as Scipio was called Scipio Africanus, for his 
distinguished exploits in Africa during the Punic Wars. Mr. Trumbo 
came to Missouri in 1877, and has been a resident of this county ever 
since, engaged in farming. He has a good place of 250 acres in the 
vicinity of Liberty. His farm, unfortunately, was in the course taken 
by the memorable cyclone of the 13th of May, 1883. Although he 
and family escaped without the loss of life, or the killing of any stock, 
his buildings were literally scattered to the four winds of the earth. 
Fragments of his barns and other buildings were carried a mile or a 
mile and a half away. Since then he has rebuilt and repaired what 
could be repaired, and now has his farm in good condition again. He 
was born in Bath county, Ky., October 24, 1845, and was reared in 
that county. His parents were Adam A. and Hannah Trumbo, both 
of early and respected Kentucky families. Mr. Trumbo was married 
December 23d, 1869, in Bath county Ky., to Miss Mary E. Bradshaw. 
She survived until March 23, 1883, leaving him four children at her 
death: Adam A., Sallie A., James F. and Maggie L. To his 
present wife Mr. Trumbo was married August 11, 1884. She was a 
Miss Fannie Jacobs, a daughter of Henr}' Jacobs, of Franklin county, 
Ky. Mrs. Trumbo, his present wife, is a member of the Christian 
Church. His first wife was a member of the M. E. Church. 

WILLIAM W. WILLMOTT 

(Dealer in Lumber, Doors, Sash, Lime, Etc., Etc., Liberty). 

The Willmott famil}' is an old and prominent one, both in this coun- 
try and in England. Representatives of different branches of the 
family have risen to positions of distinction in both countries. X^'^^''^ 
are different orthographies of the name, according to whether the I and 
l or both are double or single in the spelling. John Eardley Wilmot 
was chief justice of the Court of Common Pleas of England during the 
first half of the present century; and his son of the same name at- 
tained to great eminence as a chancery lawyer. They were from 
Derby, England, where the original stock of the family was located. 
Judge David Wilmot, of Pennsylvania, a United States Senator from 
that State, was a distinguished representative of the family in this 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 371 

country. He was the author of tlie famous Wihiiot " Proviso," 
that was an exciting subject of discussion throughout the whole coun- 
try during the shivery agitation. Branches of the family in this 
country settled both in Pennsylvania and Virginia. Col. Robert Will- 
niott, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a gallant 
officer under Washington in the War for Independence. He subse- 
quently removed to Kentucky and became a prominent citizen of that 
State. He was a leading member of the tirst constitutional conven- 
tion of Kentucky, and served with marked ability for a number of years 
in the State Legislature. His son, John F. Willmott, the father of the 
sul)ject of this sketch, became a wealthy planter of Bourbon county, 
Ky. He married a Miss Harriet Skillman, formerly of Virginia, and 
reared a large famil}' of children. Amongthese William W., the sub- 
ject of this sketch, was the thii'd child, and was born October 14, 
1829. He was reared on his fatiier's farm in that county, and in 
young manhood, March 2, 1858, was married to Miss Mary J. Breck- 
inridge, a daughter of Perry Breckinridge, who was a cousin to one 
of the most brilliant men this country ever produced, Hon. John C. 
Breckinridge. Mr. Willmott, the subject of this sketch, removed to 
^Missouri in 1872 and engaged in the manufacturing business at St. 
Louis. Three years later he removed to Baton Rouge, La., where 
he engaged in cotton planting. After an experince there of four years 
he came to Plattsburg, Mo., in the winter of 1879, and the following 
spring located at Liberty, where he l)ought a lumber yard already 
estal)lished at this place, which, in partnership with his son, W. Canby 
Willmott, he has ever since conducted. They have a large stock of 
lumber and other building materials, and are doing an excellent busi- 
ness. Mr. Willmott and wife are members of the Christian Church, 
as is also their son, W. Canby, the only child they ever reared. 

GEORGE W. WYMORE 

(Farmer and Stock-dealer, Post-office, Liberty). 

Mr. Wymore's parents, Samuel and Eliza (Downing) Wymore, 
came to Liberty from Fayette county, Ky., in 1843. George W. was 
then a lad about 14 years of age, having been born January 14, 1829. 
His father was for many years in the meat market business at Liberty, 
and dealing in cattle, hogs, etc., to some extent. George W. was 
brought up to this business, and became a thorough judge of stock. 
When ho reached his majority he, too, engaged in the meat market 
business, which he followed for several years. He then established a 
livery stalile, afterwards known as the Thompson House stables, which 
he built and stocked. He was in the livery business for about 20 
years, and during all this time made a specialty in dealing in horses 
and mules, in which he had good success. Mr. Wymore is accounted 
one of the best judges of this class of stock in the county. He takes 
a special pride in handling horses and mules, and can get up a saddle 
or harness animal in better shape and in less time than perhaps any 
other man in the county. Mr. Wymore also has a neat farm two and 



372 HISTORY or clay county. 

a half miles south of Liberty, a place of over 200 acres. December 
(j, 1848, be was married to Miss Sarah Francis, a daughter of Walker 
J. Turner, formerly from Kentucky. They have 11 children: John 
H., Lila, wife of John Donaldson ; Cliarles W., Andrew P., Mamie, 
wife of Adrean Arnold : Walter, now in New Mexico; Oscar, Bettie, 
Thomas McC, " Colonel Doniphan," and Matlie P. Mrs. Wymore is 
a meml)er of the Christian Church. 

JOHN H. WYMORE 

(Es-To\vn Councilman, and Proprietor of Wymore's Meat Marliet, Libert}')- 

Mr. Wymore is a son of George W. Wymore, whose sketch pi'e- 
cedes this, and is engaged in the same business in which his father 
was engaged for a number of years, and that his grandfather began at 
Liberty over 40 years ago — the meat market business. Mr. Wy- 
more, Jr., the subject of this sketch, is a very energetic young man, 
and understands his business thoroughly. He commenced for himself 
several years ago, and has been quite successful. Probably no young 
man in the county is a better judge of beef cattle and other fatted 
stock than he. He makes his own purchases and does his own butch- 
ering, or has it done under his immediate direction, so that he is 
not only enai)led to carry on his business with a thorough understand- 
ing of its details, but to judge correctly of the character and quality 
ot his meat sold at his market. Knowing that a good name in busi- 
ness is of more value than even capital itself, he is very careful to pre- 
serve the reputation of his market and sufl'ers no meat to go out under 
a false recommendation. This is one of the main secrets of his suc- 
cess. November 13, 1851, he was born at Liberty. His education 
was received at the common schools, the Liberty High School and 
William Jewell College. October 10, 1876, he was married to Miss 
Ida M. Pratt, a daughter of M. E. Pratt, formerly of Kentucky. 
They have four children : George, Frank, Garthum and Mabel. 

MARTIN WYMORE 

(Dealer in Groceries, Queens ware, Glassware, Etc., Liberty). 

A historical outline has already been given elsewhere in this volume 
in a biographical sketch of one of the other I'eprcsentatives of this 
family. One of tiie pioneer families of Clay county, its meml)ers 
have alwtiys occupied an enviable position here among the respected 
and worthy citizens of tiie county. Nor is the subject of the present 
sketch an exception to this rule. A man of energy and unquestioned 
personal worth, he is esteemed by all as one of the I'epresentativc 
business men of Liljcrt}'. Mr. Wymore is a son of Samuel S. W3'- 
more already referred to. He was born at Lexington, in Fayette 
count}', Ky., December 22, 1838. His father being engaged in pork 
packing and i)iitchering, in connection with farming and stock raising, 
young Wymore was lirought up to these occupations. In 1858 he 
engaged in the butcher business, and kept a meat market at Liberty 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUMTY. 373 

Oil his own account, and afterwards continued the business for over 20 
3'ears. Mr. Wyniore was quite successful and accumulated a substan- 
tial nucleus of means. In 1879 he retired from the meat market busi- 
ness and butchering and established a grocery store at Liberty. His 
success in this has also been satisfactory. He has one of the leading 
houses in this lino in this county, and does an annual business of about 
$35,000. In the spring of 1860 he was married to Miss Isabella, 
daughter of James Bratton (deceased), late of this county. Mrs. 
Wymore was educated at the high school of Missouri City. They 
have 10 children, six of whom are living: Gertrude, Jennie, Maggie, 
Bennie, Ernest and Annie. Martin and James died in infancy ; Lela 
and Mary both died the present year (1884), Lela in August and 
Mary in September, the former at the age of 18, and the younger at 
the age of 15. Mr. and Mrs. Wymore are members of the Christian 
Church. 

PETER YOUNG 
(■Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-offlce, Liberty). 

Mr. Young is one of the substantial citizens in a property point of 
view as well as otherwise, of Clay county, and is unqualifiedly a self- 
made man. Every dollar he is worth he has made by his own hard 
work, frugality and good business sense. He was born in Belgium, 
though of French parentage, October 30, 1838. His father, John 
Young and mother, whose maiden name was Catharine Kolar, were 
i>oth natives of the Gaulic Land of Vines, but went to Belgium early 
in life, where they were married. From the latter country they emi- 
grated to the United States in 1849, and settled in Wisconsin, where 
they made their permanent home. The father died there (Ozouka 
county) in 1871. Peter grew up in that county and went thence 
to southwestern Illinois, opposite St. Louis, where he made his hoiue 
for some 25 years. There he was largely engaged in vegetable farm- 
ing and hauled thousands of loads of produce into the Mound City. 
Commencing for himself when a boy as a day laborer, he finally ac- 
cumulated a comfortable property. In Deceml)er, 1882, he removed 
to Claj' count}' and bought the farm where he now resides, an excel- 
lent place of 200 acres, a mile and a half from Liberty. He also had 
50 acres in another tract near by, and a farm in Jefferson county of 
160 acres. January 27, 1866, he was married in Madison county, 111., 
to Miss Annie, a daughter of Christian Smith, of Montgomery county, 
that State, but formerly of Darmstadt, Germany. They have eisrht 
children : Lizzie, John, Peter, Annie, Mar, Dora, William and Clara. 




CHAPTER Xiy. 

FISHING RIVER TOWNSHIP. 

Position and Description — Early History, First Settlers, etc. — Voters at First Elec 
tiou in Township — Country Churches — Missouri City — Its Origin, Founder and 
Subsequent Career — Known formerly as Richfield — Murder of Wiley Herndon — 
Killing of two men named Titus by G. S. Elgin — Churches and Lodges in Missouri 
City — History of Excelsior Springs— When Surveyed and Started — Buildings 
Erected — Its Prosperity during 18S1 — Incorporation — The Springs — The Medi- 
cinal and HealingProperties which They Possess — Churches at Excelsior Springs — 
G. A. R. Lodge — Prathersville — Location, etc. — Fishing River Baptist Church — 
Biographical. 

POSITION AND DESCRIPTION. 

Comprising the entire southeastern portion of Ch^y, Fishing River 
township is one of the most important municipal townships in the 
county. There are within its boundaries about 72 square miles, em- 
bracing one entire congressional township (52-30) and fractional parts 
of three others. Its legal boundary line begins on the county line ber 
tween Ray and Clay, at the northest corner of section 1-52-30, and 
runs thence south to the Missouri river ; thence up the river to the 
section line dividing sections 2 and 3, in township 50-31 ; thence due 
north to the northwest corner of section 14-52-31 ; thence east two 
miles, to the range line between ranges 30 and 31; thence north two 
miles to the township line between townships 52 and 53 ; thence ^-st 
along the township line to the beginning. 

The entire townsiiip, except the bottom lands, is rolling and bi'okeu. 
Along the Missouri river the alluvial lands comprise, in the extreme 
southeastern and southwestern parts of the township, a considerable 
extent of country. Near Missouri City the bluffs come up to the river 
and leave scant room between it and their base for the track of the 
Wabash Railroad. For miles up the river these blufl's, which are of 
the character known as mural, pi'esent their huge battlements against 
the encroachments of the river, protecting the country and presenting 
a picturesque and imposing appearance. 

The nothern portion of the township is rolling and generally ele- 
vated. Many sections are rocky and the soil sterile and unimproved. 
Some of the bottom lands along Fishing river below Prathersville are 
as vet unreclaimed, beiMi; verv low and even swampy. Doubtless the 
(374) 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 375 

cutting away of the heavy timbers with which they are covered would 
d> much towards their redemption. The western portion of the town- 
ship contains some splendid farms in a most advanced state of im- 
provement and cultivation. 

Fishing river, from which the township takes its name, and its 
l)ranehes drain the northern portion of the township ; Rush creek the 
southwestern, and Cooley's Lake, a nearly semi-circular body of 
water, nearly three miles in length, is in the southeastern. The latter 
is famous as a resort for hunters and fishers, and though abounding 
in fish at all seasons, and in all kinds of water-fowl in the spring and 
fall, there have l)een times within the memory of many when it went 
dry. 

EARLY HISTORY. 

Fishiiig River was one of the first permanently settled townships in 
Clay county. In the fall of 1820, David McElwee and his good wife, 
Maryl came with their family from Warren county, Tenn., to section 
34-52-30, about a mile north of the head of Cooley's Lake. Patrick 
Laney, an Irishman by birth, but a Tennesseeau by adoption, and his 
wife Jane, came with McElwee and settled half a mile northwest of the 
latter. Mrs. Margaret Howdeshell, a daughter of McElwee, who 
came with her father to Missouri, and yet lives, with a memory of 
early days unimpaired, states that when her father came to his settle- 
ment the ijearest settlers to him were the Gilmores, Smith and Hill, 
on Rush creek, mentioned in the sketch of Liberty township. 

In the winter of 1820-21, Thos. Officer settled one mile east of 
McElwee. Mr. Officer and James and Alexander Woolard located 
north of Fishing river, but in a year or two moved back to Kentucky. 
David and Wm. Lisles, brothers and unmarried, came with the Wool- 
iirds, lived with them, and left the country with them. In the spring 
of 1821, Elisha and John Camron came to section 31-52-30, three 
miles north or northeast of where Missouri City now stands. John 
Camron was a widower, and his death, which occurred in the summer 
of 1821, is believed to have been the first that ever occurred in the 
county, of which an American settler was the subject. The body was 
buried on Judge Elisha Camron's farm. 

Also, in the spring of 1821, two men named Spicer and Vickery 
settled on section 23-52-30', two miles or more southeast of Prathers- 
ville. Wm. and Thos. Slaughter settled in the forks of Fishing river 
nor tar from Mt. Pleasant Church, in the spring of 1822. Ebenezer 
Price and Napoleon Price settled in the vicinity of Prathersville about 

19 



376 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

the same time. Sum Oliver, wlio settled on section 26, was another 
early settler who came in 1821, but didn't like the country and re- 
turned to Kentucky in a year or two. 

In the tall of 1821, after the fight with the Indians at David Mc- 
Elwee's, narrated elsewhere (see chapter I), the settlers in the coun- 
try put up block houses into which they could I'etreat and " fort up," 
on the approach ofjdanger. One of these " forts " or block houses 
stood on Elisha Camron's land; another was at the Gilmores', on- 
Rush creek, near Liberty ; and another was at old Martin Palmer's, 
on section 1—51-30, half a mile from Cooley's Lake, and just under the 
bluff, on the Camden road. Happily there was never any occasion 
for the use or occupation of these places of refuge. 

The first wedding in Clay county occurred in the spring of 1821, 
under a sugar tree, a quarter of a mile east of Palmer's fort. The 
contracting parties were Cornelius Gilliam and Mary Crawford, and 
it is said that old Col. Martin Palmer, the " Ring-tailed Painter," 
performed the ceremony. Mary Crawford was an orphan, who was 
reared by Mrs. Mary Poteet, a sister of Elijah Smith, who lived on 
Rush creek. " Neil" Gilliam was afterwards sherift' of this county. 
State Senator, etc., and a gallant officer in the Florida War. 

Rev. Finis Clark, a Baptist, was the first pi'eacher in the country, 
and held the first services in the settlement along Rush creek, at 
private houses. Drs. Conley and May, of Liberty, were the first 
physicians who practiced in the township. There was considerable 
sickness in the county in 1820-21-22, and many of the pioneers be- 
came disgusted and disheartened, and soon returned to their former 
homes. 

There was an abundance of game in the country in early days. 
Many of the hunters along Fishing river frequently went on excur- 
sions to the pi'airies, up in what is now Clinton county, to kill elk, 
which were numerous and easily caught when chased into the timber. 
The formidable antlers of the bucks hindered their progress through 
the brush, and it was not difficult to come up with them. Deer were 
plenty, and at^first^the principal article of flesh food was venison. 

Bears were rather scarce. The hunters soon drove them out. 
One night " Neil" Gilliam, who then lived south of Liberty, heard a 
i)ear among his hogs. Running hastily out, barefoot and in his home- 
spun underwear, he caught up an ax and assaulted the beast, expecting 
to either kill it or drive it away. The bear ran and " Neil " ran after 
it. It was cold weather, but in his excitement Gilliam followed it, so 
the old settlers say, eigltt miles, or to Cooley's Lake, where he over- 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 



377 



took it and killed it. Mr. Thomas Pevely supplied Gilhim with 
clothing, a pair of shoes, trousers and a coat to return home. 

At the first election held in Clay county, in August, 1822, the follow- 
ing were the voters in Fishing River township, which at that time, 
however, comprised the entire eastern half of the county, although a 
majority of the voters lived iu what is now Fishing River : — 



Pleasant Adams, 
Joshua Adams, 
Howard Averett, 
William Averett, 
Zach Averett, 
Matthew Averett, 
James Allen, 
Shuhael Allen, 
John Bartleson, 
John Boyles, 
James Buckraye, 
James Collins, 
William Collins, 
Jiimes Carroll, 
John Carroll, 
John Collier, 
Jonathan Camron, 
Elisha Camron, 
Ahram Cotts, 
Absalom Cornelius, 
John Cornelius, 
Benjamin Cornelius, 
Joseph Crockett, 
David Crockett, 
John Chapman, 
Jonathan Denton, 
William Davis, Sr., 
William Davis, 
James Dagley, 
Jeffrey Fletcher, 
Berryman Gwinn, 
Isham Grooms, 
Robert Gillam, 
Henry Greene, 

The judges of this election were Elisha Camron, James Munkers 
and John Hutchins. The clerks were Geoi'ge Huffaker and James 
Officer. The votes of William Erastus and James Henry were re- 
jected. 

CHURCHES. 

Erin Church — In the southeast corner of the southwest quarter of 



Lewis Greene, 
Bailey O. George, 
John Hardwicke, 
Alex. Hardwicke, 
Lewis Hardwicke, 
James E. Hall, 
Edward V.Hall, 
Samuel Hyatt, 
Robert Hutchins, 
Smith Hutchins, 
William Hutchins, 
Moses Hutchins, 
Joseph Hutchins, 
Samuel Hensley, 
David Holmes, 
George Huffaker, 
James James, 
John Livingston, 
William Livingston, 
John Linville, 
Patrick Laney, 
John Lincoln, 
William Lenhart, 
John Ledgwood, 
William Martin, 
Andrew Means, 
Berryman Mnnkers, 
William Munkers, 
Richard Munkers, 
James Munkers, 
Isaac McCroskey, 
Robert McCoy, 
Jacob McCoy, 



Alex Newman, 
James Officer, 
Thomas Officer, 
Nehemiah Odle, 
James Page, 
Robert Page, 
Thomas Peebley, 
Nathaniel Powell, 
Martin Palmer, 
Humphrey Pritt, 
Edward Pyburne, 
Jonathan Roberts, 
Jonas Roberts, 
Nicholas Roberts, 
Edward Roberts, 
John Roberts, 
Jere Rose, 
Jonathan Reed, 
Page Stanley, 
Terah Smith, 
A. Smith, 
William Shelton, 
Wilson Spencer, 
John Thompson, 
John Toplenure, 
John Trotter, 
.John Vesser, 
Samuel Vesser, 
James Williams, 
William D. Williams, 
John Wilson, 
Peter Writesman, 
Benedict Welden. 



378 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

section 24, in Fishing River townslaip, was organized October 16, 
1877, with Joseph Turner, James M. Hill, Simon Hatchings, Marion 
Harris, Nancj Hutchings, Sarah Thurney, Susan M. Harris, Nancy 
Lewis, Mary E. Wyatt and Sarah E. Summers as its original mem- 
t)ers. The present membership is about 42. The names of the min- 
isters who have served this church as pastors are Revs. Joseph 
Prather and Lafayette Munkers. The present frame church was 
erected in 1878 at a cost of $1,000. A grave-yard is connected with' 
this property, in which 250 interments have been made. 

Pleasant Hill Baptist Church. — In 1857 T. N. O'Bryan with four 
members, Jefferson Turner and wife, Elizabeth Free and Jane Quick, 
organized the above named church. At first meetings were held in 
school-house No. 1, and, in fact, until 1883, when a church building 
was erected in section 23, four and a half miles southeast of Liberty, 
the cost of which was about $(500. Rev. "Watson is now pastor of the 
membership, which numbers about 25. ' 

German M. E. Church, — Located on section 14, four miles south- 
east of Liberty, was constituted an organization in 1847, by Rev. 
Henry Hogrefe, with the following original members: William linger 
and wife, George Elliott and wife, Peter Elliott, Jacob Weber and 
wife, Henry Free and wife, Rudolph Irminger and wife, Samuel 
Weber and wife. In 1870 a church house, 22x32, was erected at an 
expenditure of $900. After Mr. Hogrefe, who was the first pastor, 
came the Revs. Eldei-s Neidermeier, Rouse, William Shreck, Holz- 
beierlein, Muehlenbrock, William Maj-e, Prege, Brunly, Brinkmeier, 
Steinmeier, Bower, Menger, Eichenberger, Korphagc, Buchholz, 
Koenig, and Rev. Kaltenbach, the present incumbent. The present 
membership of the church is 32. Mr. John Weber is superintendent 
of the Sabbath school of 20 scholars. 

Mount Zion Baptist Church — Was organized in April, 1853, its 
constituent members being John G. Price, William B. Hoges, James 
T. Withers, William H. Price, James Munkers, Thomas Holdes, 
Daniel H. Sans, Thomas Y. Gill, George H. McNealy, Elizabeth L. 
McNealy, Louisana Hogen, Sarah E. Withers, Amanda Mosby, Agnes 
Munkers, Susan G. Withers, Margaret S. Gaur, America Price, Julia 
Gill and Martha Withers. Tiie present membership is 29. Those 
who have served as pastors are Elders William H. Price, Henry Hill, 
William T. Brown and James Duvall. The present brick church 
building was erected in 1853, at a cost of about $1,500. This was 
the first brick church l)uilt in the county outside of Liberty. It is 
located on the northeast corner of the southeast quarter of section 30, 



HISTORY or CLAY COUNTY. 379 

township 52, range 30. Jtunos P. Withers ami William Price are the 
only male members living that were members at the constitution, and 
Amanda Mosby and Mrs. T. P. Withers were the only female mem- 
bers . 

Mount Pleasant Church — Was organized September 18, 1830. 
The original members were Joseph P. Moore, William B. Slaughter, 
Andrew B. Baldwin, Abram (a servant of J. P. Moore), Jonah Moore, 
Elizabeth Slaughter, Jane Welton, Mary Storz, Jane Posey, Mary 
Baldwin, Lucy (a servant of James P. Moore), and Catherine 
(a servant of William B. Slaughter). Thg present membership is 
about 25. Elder Newton is the present pastor. The present frame 
church was built in 1879, its cost being about $1,500. It is located 
on the southeast corner of the northwest quarter of section 15. 

Woodland Christian Church — Was organized in about 1870 or 
1872. Some of the first members were James M. Bohart, Richard 
P. Funk, Solomon Welton, J. W. Bradley and A. J. Roberts. The 
present membership is about 100. The names of the ministers who 
have served this church are Eiders Josiah Waller, Baird Waller, Wni. 
Stephens, John Perkins, J. Trader, an<l Revs. Williamson and Akers. 
The church building is a frame, and was erected in 1872, its cost 
being about $2,000. It is located on the east half of the northwest 
quarter of section 29, in township 52, range 30. Near this church is 
a cemetery. 

Zoar German M. E. Church. — This church was organized in 1845 
by Rev. Heinrich Nuelsen. The original members were Rudolph Ir- 
minger, Susanna Irminger, John Irminger, Heinrich Irminger, Eliza- 
beth Irminger, Anna Irminger, Samuel Weber, Henry Weber, Jacob 
Weber, Maria Weber and Margaret Frey. The pastors that have 
served this church have been the same as those of Bethel German M. 
E. Church, both churches being under the same charge. The church 
building is a frame, and was erected in 1873 at a cost of $700. The 
present membership is 33. The Sabbath-school superintendent is John 
Weber. 

MISSOURI CITY. 

The origin of the town of Missouri City was the establishment, at 
the mouth of Rose's branch, about 1834, of what was called Will- 
iams' Landing. The founder, Shrewsbury Williams, built a large 
house in which he lived, kept tavern and sold a few goods for some 
years. He also owned and operated a ferry across the Missouri. 
When travelers got off the steamboats at his landing Mr. W^illiams en- 



380 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

tertaiiied them, and though his house was not regularly equipped as a 
hotel, it was considered and termed a " tavern." 

In the year 1840 Eli Casey brought a stock of goods to Williams' 
Landing and opened a small store, with Linueus B. Sublette, now of 
Missouri City, and Dr. Frank Cooley as his clerks. Old Wiley Hern- 
don came about the same time and kept a small store. In 1846 there 
■were about a dozen houses at the mouth of the branch, including 
James Riggs' hotel, and the place was called Richfield. Some time 
afterwards Bell, of Brunswick, put up a large tobacco factory aud 
warehouse at Richfield, placing them in charge of L. B. Sublette and 
Scales as his clerks. Hundreds of tons of tobacco were purchased and 
shipped from this point. 

In about 1844 the shipping current of the Missouri began the for- 
mation of a bar in front of old Richfield, interfering and preventing 
the landing of steamboats, and a joint stock company, compased of 
Graham L. Hughes, John Shouse, John Keller and others laid out a 
town just below, but mainly on the top of the high bluff overlooking 
the Missouri, which they called St. Bernard, probably after the famous 
Alpine mountain, which they fancied it I'csembled. The company 
erected a large two-story hotel on the top of the bluff, which may 
have been likened to St. Bernard's famous Hospice, only there were 
no dogs to hunt for travelers, and no hooded monks to care for them. 
Afterwards John S. Houston sold goods in this house, and was the 
first postmaster. The post-office was called St. Bernard. 

Just below and adjoining St. Bernard was a tract of land which had 
been entered in the name of Abram Fry, who sold it to Stothard, who 
sold it to Wm. L. Smith, who sold it to John G. Price and G. W. 
Withers, who laid out another town, which they called Richfield.* Then 
Thos. Williams, a son of Shrewsbury Williams, bought a tract of land 
of his father just east of Richfield, and laid out a village which he called 
Atchison, in honor of Hon. D. R. Atchison. Thos. Williams sold a 
portion of his land to R. G. Gilmer, who laid out Gilmer's addition. 

Mr. Gilmer established the first store east of the hill. Pres. N. 
Edwards, B. W. Nowlin and — Lomax were other early merchants 
in Richfield. Thos. Y. Gill built the first hotel, which was afterwards 
kept by Mrs. Eiizal)etli Hardwicke. March 14, 1859, the three towns 
of St. Bernard, Richfield and Atchison were incorporated by the Leg- 
islature as one and called Missouri City. 

Richfield had been incorporated by the county court November 5, 



1 This may be considered N'em Richfield, as the hamlet which stood at the mouth 
of Rose's branch is remembered as Old BichQeld. 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 381 

1855, the first hoard of trustees being composed of Wiu. Owens, L. 
W. Biirris, R. G. Gilmer, J. S. Story and Daniel Gano. 

From 1850 to 1861 Richfield was probably the largest hemp mar- 
ket aliove Lexington. Withal it was an important shipping point, 
and annually thousands of tons of freight, produce and merchandise 
were taken ou and discharged by the steamboats, one or more of 
which, during the boating season, daily landed at the wharf. Some- 
times produce came from as far north as the Iowa line, and goods 
were landed here for merchants doing business in Gentry, DeKalb 
and Andrew counties. Robert G. Gilmer and John D. Holt were 
in partnership in the business of general merchandising, and their 
transactions amounted to many tens of thousands of dollars an- 
nually. There were two mammoth warehouses for the reception of 
hemp, tobacco and other produce and the storage of freiglit, which 
were generally well filled. 

The Civil War prostrated Missouri City, closed many of its stores, 
shut up its warehouses, carried off many of its citizens, and at times 
it was at the mercy of predatory bushwhackers and jayhawkers, who 
did not hesitate to take advantage of its defenseless condition and 
" raid " it. 

When Fernando Scott's bushwhackers (among whoni was Frank 
James) killed Capt. Sessions and Lieut. Grafenstein, in May, 1863 
(See Chapter IX.), they charged into town. Coming upon the 
wounded Federal of the Twenty-fifth Missouri who had been taken 
into Mrs. Hardwick's hotel, they fired at him as he lay upon a 
lounge, and put several revolver balls into his body. Mrs. Hard- 
wick interposed her own person between the wounded soldier and 
his would-l)e murderers, and strove hard to save him, but the bush- 
whackers thrust her aside and kept up their brutal work until they 
believed they had "finished" their victim, who feigned death, and 
though riddled with bullets, eventually recovered. Some time after- 
ward this soldier accompanied his command on an expedition up the 
Missouri, the troops being conveyed on a steamboat. When the boat 
reached Missouri City it lauded, and numbers of the soldiers ran 
ashore to " clean out the town" as they declared. The soldier was 
one of the first to jump ashore, and running to Mrs. Hardwick's 
hotel he asserted that not a thing about the premises should be mo- 
lested. "These people were kind to me once," he said, "and I 
remember them." His efforts in behalf of the benefactress were of 
avail ; she was not disturbed, and the soldier was instrumental in 
repressing the general disorderly conduct of his comrades. 



382 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

In the fall of 1854, at the time of the Price raid, a Confederate 
soldier, named Stallings, who had come up from Arkansas with' the 
invading army, made his way to his home in this county in the bot- 
toms, below Missouri City, on a brief furlough. While at home he 
was made a prisoner by a scouting party of Clinton county militia, 
under Capt. McMichael. He was guarded in Missouri City that night, 
and the next morning the militia started with him for Liberty, but 
a little west of Missouri City he was taken off a shoi't distance from 
the road and shot. It is said that the shooting was done either by 
Capt. McMichael himself, or in his presence and I)y his express or- 
ders. Stallings was not a bushwhacker but a regular Confederate 
soldier, and his murder was certainly inexcusable. 

Since the war, and especially since the building of the Wabash 
Railroad, in 1868, Missouri City has improved in extent at least. Two 
or three additions have beeu laid out and partly occupied. Lying 
under a high steep bluff, on a narrow bottom, continually becoming 
narrower by the encroachments of the river, the situation of the 
town is not favorable. The one long street passing through on which 
nearly all the business houses are situated presents a busy aspect at 
times, however. 

Upon the the first establishment of Richfield a Union church was 
built, in which all denominations had the privilege of worshiping. 
This was torn down. The M. E. Church South and Christian Churches 
were built before the war. During the war the Federal troups sta- 
tioned here were quartei'ed in the Christian Church. 

Old Wiley Herndon, mentioned as one of the first storekeepers in 
Richfield, was murdered some time before the war, and it is believed 
that his body was robbed of a considerable sum of money. The body 
was found tied and gagged, and the fatal wound had been delivered in 
the temple with some sharp instrument. Herndon was an old bach- 
elor, and lived alone in his grocery. A young man named Book, an 
engineer in John G. Price's rope factory, who slept in his engine 
room, was arrested on a charge of the murder, but acquitted on pre- 
liminary examination. 

Another tragedy that occurred in Missouri City was the killing, in 
November, 1860, of two men named Titus, by one G. S. Elgin. 
After the killing Elgin fled to the residence of his father-in-law, near 
Weston. Here he was overtaken by John C. Titus, Noah Titus and 
John Bivens, relatives of the men he had killed at Missouri City, taken 
out and murdered. All the parties to the latter'killing were indicted 
in Platte county, and for safe-keeping were placed in the Liberty 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 383 

jail, from which they escaped in the spring of 1867, by blowing open 
the jail door. 

CHURCHES. 

Missouri Cily M. E. Church South — Was organized in 1854 with 
the following as original members: O. P. Gash and wife; Joseph 
A. Huflaker, wife and one sister ; Mr. and Mrs. Crasford, and Mr. 
Bratten and wife, and some five or six others whose names can not now 
be recalled. Rev. M. R. Jones, who organized this church, was the 
first preacher in charge. Next came Rev. Rich, followed success- 
ively by Revs. L. M. Lewis, Mayhew, McEwing, W. A. Tarwater, 
Samuel Hnffaker, Wilson, Wilburn Rush, Joseph Devlin, E. F. Bone, 
Babcock, W. C. Campbell, F. Shores, L. F. Linn, W. B. Johnson, 
W. E. Dockery and last J. F. Frazer. The number of the present 
membership is about 80. The frame church building in which ser- 
vices are held, was constructed at a cost of about $2,000, in the sum- 
mer of 1857. In 1882-83 it was remodeled at an additional expense of 
about $1,500. The Sabbath-school has been flourishing since 1867, at 
which time Joseph A. Huffaker was superintendent. E. P. Donovan 
now holds that position. The average attendance is about 60. 

Missouri City Christian Church. — This church, as its name indi- 
cates, is located at Missouri City, where on Main street there was 
built in about 1859, at an expense of some $2,500, a good brick edi- 
fice, in which the present membership of about 150 persons worship. - 
As organized in about the year 1856, the members were E. D. Bell and 
wife, T. C. Reed and wife, Nancy Reed and two daughters, Richard 
Funk and wife, B. F. Melon and wife, George W. Bell and wife, 
Merritt Fisher and wife and Milton Hull. Rev. Richard Morton, who 
was prominent in this formation, was the first pastor, and he was suc- 
ceeded by Revs. F. R. Palmer, J. W. Waller, Preston Akers, Bayard 
Waller, Henry Davis, Jacob Hugley, Revs. Perkins and Carter, the 
present pastor in charge. E. M. Grubbs is superintendent of the 
Sunday-school, which has an average attendance of about 70. 

ANGRONA LODGE NO. 193, A. F. & A. M. 

The dispensation of this lodge was issued in March, 1858, under 
which it worked until May 28, 1859, when a charter was issued. 
The first members and officers were A. L. Chapman, master ;Jno. W. 
Collins, senior warden ; Newton Fields, junior warden; T. Everett, 
secretary; S. Elgin, treasurer; R. H. Moore, senior deacon; Wm. 
Adams, junior deacon ; T. Y. Gill, stewart and tyler ; J. M. Allcorn, 
John A. Prather, Joshua Vaughn, S. Charlston, J. Johnson, John 
Linn, J. M. Donovan, Victor W. Tooley, D. E. Yarbrougb. 



384 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

EXCELSIOR SPRINGS. 

The site of Excelsior Springs was first improved aud redeemed from 
its primeval condition by an old Mormon immigrant some 40 years 
ago. In time the little narrow valley along the east fork of Fishing 
river, on which the town stands, became a wheat field. For many 
years the people of the vicinity had known that a mineral spring ran 
out from the north bank of the creek, but they had never believed 
that it possessed remarkable curative powers. They called the water 
"copperas water." This spring is the one now called Excelsior 
Spring. 

According to an historical and descriptive pamphlet issued by the 
town company in 1882, Excelsior Spring was discovered in June, 1880, 
and found by the merest accident to possess medicinal properties. 
Harvesters engaged in cutting wheat where the town now stands found 
a stream of clear cold water issuing from the bank of Fishing river, and 
remarked that there was a mineral taste to it. A negro standing b}^ 
who was badly afflicted with scrofula, heard the ensuing discussion on 
the healing qualities of mineral springs, and resolved to try the water 
of this one on himself. 

A few weeks' use of the water effected a complete cure, to the great 
astonishment of all who knew the circumstances of his case. 

Other persons in the neighborhood, afflicted with various ailments, 
were also induced by a vague hope to try the water, and it was found 
to be equally efficacious in rheumatism, liver complaints, diseases of 
the kidneys and bladder, dyspepsia and piles. 

The fame of the spring was noised abroad, until the attention of J. 
V. B. Flack, D. D., a prominent minister of Missouri City, was called 
to the matter. He listened to the various statements of cures effected, 
examined the spring, and became sufficiently interested to have an 
analysis of the water made by Wright & Merrill, of St. Louis. 

Chemistry showed that the mineral properties of the water were 
those to which science has always attributed the greatest curative 
power. The evidence was strong enough to convince the most skep- 
tical. In the meantime the tidings had spread from farm to village, 
and from village to city, until, before the close of the season, hundreds 
of invalids were encamped among the neighboring groves and quar- 
tered with the hospitable farmers 

Dr. Flack advised the owner of the land, Mr. A. W. Wyman, 
to lay out a town and sell such of his property as would be needed 
for the accommodation of health seekers ; and finally, becoming part 
proprietor, he undertook the management of the new enterprise. 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 385 

The town was surveyed about September 1, 1880, by County Surveyor 
Thomas B. Rogers. 

The iirst buildhig of any kiud in the place was a small confectionery, 
a " peanut staud," conducted by James Pierson. The second build- 
ing was Flynn's grocery store. The first general store building was 
put up by Dr. Flack in the winter of 1880 and 1881, and the store was 
opened in February of the latter year with a $2,000 stock. The build- 
ing is still standing, on the northwest corner of Broadway and Main 
street. The second store was M. G. Froman's, on the west side of 
Main street. The first hardware store was owned by Stapp &Snapp, 
and conducted by the junior partner, J. W. Snapp. 

The first hotel was the " Cottage Home," built by Mr. Riggs, on 
the west side of Broadway and Maiu, in the fiiU of 1880. The 
"Excelsior House" was completed in the spring of 1881 by Joe 
Wert and A. W. Wynian. Mr. Wert was the first landlord. 

The first school was taught in the spring of 1881 by Mrs. Robert 
Caldwell and Miss Susie Hyatt in a shed-room owned by Mr. Prather. 
Some time in the fall of 1880 Dr. Flack preached the first sermon and 
conducted the first religious services in a grove near town. Near the 
same time (fall of 1880) there was a large political meeting in the 
grove, in the creek bottom, which was conducted under the auspices 
of the Democrats. It was during the famous Allen-Crisp contest, 
and Col. Crisp, Judge Dunn and Dr. Flack were among the speakers. 
The post-ofiice was established in March, 1881, and was at first and 
for about two years thereafter called Viginti, instead of Excelsior 
Springs. The first postmaster was J. B. Holton ; the second, D. O. 
McCray. 

In the spring of 1881 a boom was begun in Excelsior Springs, and 
kept up during the summer. Indeed, the town was built nearly to its 
jjresent proportions within a year after it started. In the spring of 
1882 a Union Church was built, the first in the place. Here all de- 
nominations united in religious services under the Christian Union 
organization, with Rev. J. V. B. Flack, D. D., as pastor. The organ- 
ization now has a membership of 180. A Sabbath-school in connec- 
tion — Dr. G. W. Fraker superintendent — has about 100 scholars. 
The Baptist church was partially built in the fall of 1884. It is not 
yet entirely completed. The opera-house was built in the spring 
of 1882. 

The first child born in Excelsior Springs was RoUa Holt, a son of 
Mr. and Mrs. P. G. Holt. The first death was that of a traveling 
man in the spring of 1881. He was an invalid, and came to the 



386 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

springs for temporary relief, — and obtained relief from all earthly 
ills. The first physician was Dr. S. T. Bassett, of Richmond, for- 
merly of St. Louis, and who now resides in Richmond. 

In the spring of 1881 the hack running between Vibbard, on the 
Wabash Railroad, and Excelsior Springs was robbed three miles east of 
Excelsior by a band of brigands, suppose to be connected with the 
James boys' gang. Less than $50 in money and a few watches, etc., , 
were taken fi'om the few passengers. The incident was widely re- 
ported in the public press and served to advertise the springs, and so 
in the end was of more advantage to the town than detriment. 

February 7, 1881, Excelsior Springs was incorporated by the county 
court as a village, the site comprising all of the northeast quarter ot 
the southwest quarter of section 1, township 52, range 30 — 40 acres 
in all. The first trustees were William Riggs, J. D. Graham, W. C. 
Corum, L. P. Garrett and W. B. Smith. Kugler's addition com- 
prises the northwest quarter of the southeast quarter, and Farris, 
Dunn & Isley's part of the southeast quarter of the southwest quar- 
ter of the same section. 

July 12, 1881, the town was incorporated under the law as a city 
of the fourth class. The first officers were: Mayor, E. Smith; clerk, 
J. C. Dickey ; aldermen from the First ward, N. L. Rice and J. C. 
Dickey; aldermen from the Second ward, Phil. G. Holt and L. W. 
Gai'rett ; marshal, J. D. Halferty ; attorney, John H. Dunn. These 
officers, with the exception of the attorney, served through 1882. J. 
L. Sheets was attorney in 1882. 

In 1883 the officers were: Mayor, John H. Dunn; clerk, J. L. 
Sheets ; aldermen, first ward, J. W. Snapp and J. V. B. Flack ; alder- 
men, second ward, B. B. Clevenger and Thomas L. Hope; marshal, 
Aaron Roberts; attorney, E. Smith. 

In 1884 the officers chosen were : Mayor, C. L. Cravens ; clerk and 
attorney, E. A. Benson ; aldermen. First ward, P. G. Holt and J. W. 
Snapp; aldermen, Second ward, H. C. Fish and D. O. McCray ; 
marshal, J. M. Odell ; treasurer, J. S. Prather. 

The city has an indebtedness of $1,600 all funded. Its population 
in 1883 was given as 1,375, and is now estimated at 1,500. The 
school district contains 258 scholars. The school is at present taught 
in the Baptist Church ; two teachers are employed. The district 
expects to build a new school-house the present season, costing 
$5,000. The town expects confidently to, within a year or a little 
more, become a point on the St. Joseph and Southeastern Railroad 
(narrow gauge), and has hopes of becoming a station on some other 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 387 

railway coming from tiie East and connecting with the Hannibal and 
St. Joseph. 

The springs are four in number — the Excelsior, the Saratoga, the 
Eelief, and the Empire — and are situated in the three angles of the 
little valley forming the site of the town. The Excelsior is a clear, 
cold stream of water, strongly impregnated with gas, and issues with 
considerable power and volume from the rocks. The temperature of 
the water is about 52% at all seasons, and the flow is computed at the 
rate of 100 barrels a day. Relief spring is strongly magnetic, so that 
a blade of steel immersed in it for some minutes becomes sufficiently 
charged to attract a needle. The Empire and Saratoga are similar 
to the others. 

Chemical analysis has shown that these waters are strongly charged 
with iron, alumina, soluble silica, chlorides and carbonates of mao'- 
nesia, lime and sodium, altogether about 25 grains to the gallon; 
besides this there is a large volume of gas which has not yet been 
measured. The subtle laws of chemistry are, however, unable to 
explain the origin of the medical virtues, or unfold the secret of this 
wonder-working agent, which has restored to perfect health many 
sufferers who had been pronounced by the medical profession to be 
beyond all hope of recovery. 

Experience has proven by hundreds of actual tests that, while the 
water is not a panacea for all the ills that flesh is heir to, it will benefit 
and cure many diseases that are Ijoth obstinate and prevalent. 
Rheumatism, scrofula, ulcers, gout, neuralgia, d\'spepsia, liver com- 
plaints, kidney and bladder diseases, are acted upon by these waters 
as by magic, and often entirely cured in the short space of two or 
three weeks. Sore eyes, various diseases of the skin, piles, many 
forms of female diseases, chronic malaria, chronic diarrhoea, general 
debility and nervous prostration, have all been treated with marvelous 
results. The leading qualities of the water are alterative, tonic, 
highly soothing, and anti-irritant. In cases of deranged liver its 
alterative properties are very marked, and in that form of dyspepsia 
attended with restless, sleepless nights, its soothing effects are simply 
marvelous. In cases of irritated membranes, whether of bowels or 
lungs, its anti-irritant action is also eminently conspicuous. The 
large proportion of iron in the water rendei's it especially useful as a 
tonic, all cases of great debility and prostration of the system, from 
whatever cause, being speedily benefited by these waters, which are 
so refreshing and restorative that a good appetite is proverbially one 
of the first acquisitions of the many who visit the springs. 



388 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

CHURCHES. 

(Jltristian Union Church — Located at Excelsior Springs, was or- 
ganized February 8, 1881. The names of a few of its original mem- 
bers were as follows: J. V. B. Flack, D. D., M. S. Flack, Eev. L. 
H. Worthington, INIary Wortbington, Sampson Glasscock, L. Worth- 
ington, I. N. Williams, P. G. Holt, L. P. Garrett, Dr. S. T. Bassett, 
Laura Williams, Gideon Stein, O. Harris, P. Hedges, Lide Crowley, 
Bettie Shackelford and Annie Barger. One hundred and sixty com-' 
municants compose the present membership. Rev. J. V. B. Flack is 
its pastor. The present frame church was built in 1881 at a cost of 
about $2,000. There are 100 scholars in the Salibath-school, its sup- 
erintendent being Sampson Glasscock. 

This is an unsectarian church adhering to the fundamental and es- 
sential truths of the Bible as their basis of operation. Any and every 
Christian can harmoniously co-operate with this church. 

Excelsior Springs Baptist Church (Fishing River township) — 
Was organized in February, 1884, at the Opera House, its original 
members being Hiram Mathews and wife, Berryman Garrett, Mrs. 
Holt, William Dillon and wife, Robert Minter, Albert Campbell and 
wife, Austin Boone, L. Shipp and James Huey and wife. The pres- 
ent membership numbers about 60. This church was organized by 
Revs. W. A. Croach and S. J. Norton. Its present pastor is Rev. 
M. P. Hunt. This congregration is having a frame church building 
erected, which will soon be completed, its cost being about $11,000. 
There are 80 schohirs in the Sabbath-school, its superintendent be- 
ing E. Messick. 

Grand Army of the Republic — Post 211, Department of Missouri, 
G. A. R., was organized by C. N. Burnham, of Cameron, October 2, 
1884. W. E. Benson, post commander; C. N. Perkins, senior vice- 
commander ; Clevinger, junior vice-commander ; Killgi'ove, 

chaplain ; Austin Boone, quartermaster; C. Overman, officer of the 

guard; Odell, officer of the day; J. Combs, adjutant. The 

opera hall of Excelsior Springs is the place of meeting of this post. 

PRATHERSVILLE. 

The little hamlet of Pi-athersvillc was established about the year 
1870. Rev. J. A. Prather, a Presbyterian minister, built a steam 
mill on Williams' branch, near where it empties into Fishing river, 
and soon after some stores and shops were put up. A church was 
built by the Presbyterians and Baptists, and in time the village came 
to have twenty or more houses. Its nick-name, •' Shoo Fly," was 
given it in derision of its small size and general insignificance, but the 



/r\ 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 389 

locality is a pleasant one, the country siirrountling first-class, and it 
is not impossible tliat some day the village will be of considerable 
importance. 

Fishing River Baptist Churcli — Situated at Prathersville, was 
organized in about 1868. Its constituent members were L. T. 
Pettz, P. G. Smith, N. H. King, Richard King, Thomas W.Wilson, 
Nancy Wilson, John McCracken and Martin Price. The present 
membership is about 85. The ministers who have served as pastors 
to this church are Revs. John Harmon, William Ferguson, S. H. 
Carter, T. H. Graves, Dr. Rothwell, Asa N. Bird and S. J. Nor- 
ton. The present frame structure was ei'ected in 1874, at a cost of 
$700. The number of scholars in the Sabbath-school is GO, H. H. 
Ring being the superintendent. 



BIOGRAPHICAL 



ANDREW R. ALLCORN 

(Dealer in Drugs, Books, Stationery, Etc., Missouri City). 

Mr. Allcorn is a son of James M. Allcorn, well known to all, 
and was born in this county, August 1, 1850. He was principally 
reared at Missouri City, and received a good common school educa- 
tion. In youth lie learned the carpenter's trade under his father, and 
afterwards followed it for about eight years. While engaged in that 
he worked for a time in the southern part of this State. Returning 
to Missouri City in the summer of 1870, he remained during the fall 
and then went to Colorado, spending about two years and a half after 
that in that Territory and in Arizona and Wyoming. In 1873 he 
came back to Missouri City and has been a resident of this city ever 
since, except during two years spent in business at Lawson, in Ray 
county. In December, 1878, he engaged in the drug business at 
Missouri City on his own account, having previously had nearly five 
years' experience as clerk or proprietor iu this line of business. His 
experience as a druggist has been one of substantial success, and he 
has one of the prominent drug stores of the southern part of the 
county. During the last six or seven years, being a man of enter- 
prise and always disposed to turn an honest dollar by trade, he has 
made several changes in stores, stock, etc., but has continued in the 
business all the time. He has also handled some real estate and dealt 
in live stock, in both of which he has had good success. March 16, 
1880, Mr. Allcorn was married to Miss Fannie E. Mitchell, daughter 
of W. B. Mitchell, of this county. They have one child, Nellie. 



390 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

Mrs. A. is a member of the M. E. Church. He is a member of the 
Masonic Order. 

THOMAS R. BALLARD 

(Dealer in Groceries, Missouri City) . 

Dr. J. B. Ballard, the father of Thomas R., removed to Missouri 
with his family from Albemarle county, Va., and settled in Carroll 
county, where he followed the practice of his profession for a number 
of years. In 1869 he removed to Clay county, and was engaged in- 
the practice at Missouri City until 1878, when he located at Marshall, 
in Saline county. He died there in the fall of 1884. He was a very 
capable and skillful physician, and had a good practice at Missouri 
City, as he always had wherever he resided. During the war, on 
account of the war troubles, he went to Nebraska with his family, in 
1864, but returned to Carroll county five years afterwards and removed 
thence to Missouri City, as stated above. His wife's maiden name 
was Annie M. Johnson. She died in 1872. The subject of this 
sketch was the third child in the family. He was born in Carroll' 
county, December 17, 1847, and was principally reared there, being 
educated in the common schools. He accompanied his parents to 
Nebraska and afterwards to Missouri City. He Ijegan as a clerk in a 
store at the age of 20, under N. C. Manpiu. In 1871 he engaged in 
the dry goods business with Mr. Maupin, which they continued 
together at Missouri City for about three years. Mr. B. then sold 
out and weut West, to the mountains, returning, however, late in the 
fall of 1874. He then engaged in the grocery business at this place, 
and has continued in that line of business ever since. He commenced 
with a small capital, but now does a business of about $12,000 a year. 
He carries a full line of groceries, provisions, glassware, queensware, 
etc. April 29, 1875, he was married to Miss Alwilda George, 
daughter of the late William M. George, of this county. She was 
born in 1855. They have one child, Mattie Augusta Ballard, born in 
1879. 

WILLIAM BUXTON 

(Farmer, Post-office, Missouri City). 

Mr. Buxton was a young man in his twenty-seventh year when he 
came to Clay county with his parents in 1837. That was the time 
when the Mormon troubles were at their height, and he became a mem- 
ber of the militia for the expulsion of the polygamists from the State. 
He also engaged in farming about the same time, and in a short time 
in raising stock. Ho has ever since followed farming and stock-raising 
without material interruption. He has a good stock farm, and feeds 
annually about 50 head of cattle for the markets. Mr. Buxton was a 
son of William Buxton, Sr., and wife, JieeRachaol Trail, l)oth of Ken- 
tucky, and he was born there in Mason county, May 1, 1810. In 1836 
the family removed to Missouri, and stopped the succeedingyear at Lex- 
ington. The next spring they came up into Clay county. The father 
subsequentlj' died here, but the mother survived until 1881. She 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 391 

was a woman greatly beloved in her own family and by all who knew 
her. As a mother she was one of the most devoted of women. Such 
were her motherly affection and solicitude that her children thought 
and felt that there was no one else on earth so good and kind as she. 
Especially was this so with the subject of the present sketch. He 
thought and still thinks that there never was another woman equal in 
all the better qualities of the heart to her, and such was his affection 
for her that even when he was a youth he made a vow that he would 
never marry as long as she was spared to make home bright and hajjpy. 
He ke|)t his vow, and as his good mother survived until only a few 
years ago he has never married. Hence he has remained a bachelor 
until now, far unto the evening of life. On his farm Mr. Buxton has 
a quiet, tastily ke{)t family burying ground, where sleep under the 
shadows of the tomb the remains of his sainted mother and venerated 
father. Handsome marble slal)s mark the last resting place of each, 
and also of others of the family. Mr. Buxton has wisely anticipated 
his own final dissolution and has made pro[)er provision for his inter- 
ment in the family burying ground among those of his loved ones 
who have gone before. Where he is to be buried he has had a hand- 
some marble monument erected to mark the place where his remains 
shall slumber until the radiant dawn of the resurrection morn. 

Du. RICHARD CARTER 

(Physician, Missouri City). 

Dr. Carter, who is now in his seventy-sixth year, has been eno^an^ed 
in the active practice of medicine for more than half a centui'y. In 
the treatment of cases he has been remarkal)ly successful, and in the 
accumulation of a comf(jrtal)le property he has been fairly so, though 
he has never been considered, or desired to be, a money making man. 
His whole life rather has been centered in his profession — it lias been 
the object of all his thoughts and labors. Dr. Carter came to Clay 
county in 1832, and since that time has passed through three epidem- 
ics of cholera, in all three of which his success was little less than 
astonishing. In but one case of this kind among all that he was called 
on to attend did the patient die, and in that instance she was in a 
dying condition when he reach her bedside. His specialty from the 
first has been that of chronic diseases. These he treats largely with 
non-mineral remedies, though he does not hesitate to resort to min- 
erals when they will best answer tiie purpose. For a generation iiis 
reputation has been recognized far and wide in this part of the 
State as a specialist in chronic diseases. In the general practice 
also he has long held a place among the leading physicians of the 
county. Dr. Carter comes of a long line of physicians, both in this 
country and in England. His ancestors, as far back as he can trace 
them on his father's side, have i)een men of reputation in the medical 
profession. His grandfather. Dr. Richard Carter, was a graduate of 
the British Academy of Medicine and Surgery in England, and came 
to tliis country prior to the Revolutionary War, settling in Virginia. 

20 



392 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

He became a leading physician in Central Virginia and quite wealthy. 
His university knowledge of medicine he united with a vast fund of 
knowledge obtained by a special study of Indian medicines in Vir- 
ginia, and of the l)otany and geology of this country. Indeed, he 
became one of the most reputable physicians in the State. His son, 
Richard Carter, the father of the subject of this sketch, followed his 
father's example and studied medicine. He, too, made a specialty of 
Indian remedies, and visited among them for months at a time, |)rac- 
ticing with Indian doctors in order to ol)tain a thorough knowledge of 
their practice. The science of medicine and surgery he studied under 
his father. In an early day Dr. Richard Carter (the second) re- 
moved to Kentucky, in about 1810, and settled in what afterwards 
became Shelby county. He practiced medicine there for a number 
of years, and had an immense practice. For the treatment of chronic 
diseases he was often called a distance of 50 and 100 miles. 
Hundreds and hundreds of people lived to testify to his remarkable 
skill and ability as a physician. He died in Shelby county, Ky., in 
1825. His wife was a Miss Catherine Bell before her marriage, 
originally from Virginia. Dr. Richard Carter (the third), the subject 
of this sketch, was born ou the south branch of the Potomac river 
July 4, 180y, the day that James Madison was the first time inaugur- 
ated President of the United States. He was reared, however, in 
Kentucky, and educated at Georgetown College. Even when a youth 
he began the study of medicine under his father. He continued to 
study under iiis father for about five 3'ears, when he and a brother 
went to Southern Kentucky, and began to practice as partners. They 
practiced there together until 1829, when Dr. Richard Carter, the sub- 
ject of this sketch, came to Missouri. He settled in Clay county, near 
Missouri City, where he practiced medicine until 1832, when he located 
at Liberty. There he practiced for a number of years and then re- 
moved to the vicinity of Missouri City, where he has ever since con- 
tinued to practice. Dr. Carter is still quite active, considering his 
age, and his powers as a physician and man of thought are unimpaired. 
In a property point of view, iXs otherwise, he is comfortably situated. 
February 18, 1830, he was married to Miss Dorotha A. Norvell, a 
daughter of Robert Norvell, formerly of Sumner count}', Tenn. Mrs. 
Carter died in 1882. She had i)orne him three children, all of whom 
grew to mature years: George, now deceased; Christopher C, of 
Missouri City, and Sarah J., widow of James Henshaw. Dr. Carter's 
grandmother, in the agnate line, or the wife of the original Dr. Carter 
of Virginia, was partly of Indian descent, being in fact one-fourth 
Indian.- Tiiis fact entitles the doctor and his descendants to as much 
land in the Indian Territory as they choose to i'ence in, and then all 
the land around the fence for half a mile away. 

ELZA P. DONOVAN 

(Dealer in Lumber, and other Building Materials, Missouri City). 

Mr. Donovan i.s a native of Kentucky, born in Mason county, Jan- 
uary 30, 183fi. His father was James Donovan, and his mother's 



HISTOKY OF CLAY COUNTY. 393 

maiden name, Mary West. They were from Virginia. In 1855 they 
removed to Missouri and settled in Clay county. Elza P. was then in 
his tweny-first year and had been reared on a farm, although he had 
also learned the carpenter's trade. After coming to this county he fol- 
lowed his trade exclusively and became a prominent contractor and 
builder, his business extending across into Ray and Jackson counties. 
Mr. Donovan continued in that line of l)usiness for over 20 years, or 
until 1876, when he bought the lumber yard and stock of which he is 
now proprietor. He has ever since done a good business, though not 
a large one, but his customers are generally substantial, r&liable men 
and he lias few losses to bear for that reason. His business amounts 
to about $10,000 a year. Octol)er 15, 1857, ho was married to Miss 
Saran E. AUcorn, a daughter of James M. AUcorn, an early settler of 
this county, originally from North Carolina. Mr. and Mrs. Donovan 
have seven children : Minnie, now teaching in the public schools of 
Missouri City; Lena, a young lady just completing her education; 
James, Charles, Edwin, Fannie and Edna. Mr. and Mr>. D. and their 
two daughters are members of the M. E. Church South. Mr. D. is a 
member of the I. O. O. F. 

JOSEPH E. FIELD 

(Farmer, Post-office, Liberty). 
Joseph E. is a nephew to Thomas Field, whose sketch appears in this 
volume and a son of Joseph T. Field, who came to this county from 
Virginia in 1838. Joseph Field, Sr., became a prominent farmer of 
the county and served two terms as a judge of the county court. He 
was also quite successful in stock-raising. Judge Field's wife was a 
Miss Amanda Braslield liefore her marriage. Her parents were natives 
of Virginia. Judge Field died here in 1881. His wife, Joseph E.'s 
mother, is still living. Joseph E., the fourth of their family of five 
children, was born in this county May, 6, 1855. His education when 
he was a youtii was concluded at William Jewell College. Having 
been reared on a farm he very naturally chose an agricultural life as 
his favorite and permanent calling. Mr. Field has continued at the 
occupation of farming and also been engaged in raising and dealing in 
stock for some years. Although still quite a young man, he is rapidly 
coming to the front as one of the successful farmers of Fishing River 
township. He has a handsome farm, more than ordinarily well im- 
proved. His residence alone was erected at a cost of $6,000. His 
other improvements correspond with his dwelling. June 30, 1881, 
he was married to Miss Annie M. Griffith, a daughter of James A. 
and Mary Griffitli. Mrs. F. is a meml)er of the Presbyterian Church. 
Mr. and Mrs. F. have two children. May L. and Amanda J. 

H. C. FISH 

(General Manager of the Relief Springs and Land Company, and of tlie firm of Fish 
& Henry, Owners and Proprietors of the Excelsior House, Excelsior Springs). 

Mr. Fish, one of the prominent and leadina: citizens of Excelsior 
Springs, is a representative of the old and well known Fish family of 



394 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

New York, of which Hon. Hainiltou Fish is a distinguished member. 
The Fish family came originally from Kent, England, and one of its 
early and prominent representatives there was Simon Fish, Esq., a 
distinguished lawyer, who died in about 1531. He is remembered in 
history not only as a great lawyer, but for having written a satirical 
play on Cardinal Wolsey, on account of which he was banished from 
the country for a time. While absent he wrote another satirical 
work known as the Supplication of the Beggars on the Catholic 
clergy. Mr. Fish, the subject of this sketch, was a son of Capt. Sam- ' 
uel C. Fish, of New York, a somewhat noted sea captain in his day, 
and who died in 1840, then only at the middle age of life. Capt. 
Fish was married at Baltimore to Miss Mary A. Williams, who sur- 
vived him nearly 40 years. She died in Ohio at the age of 75, in 
1882. H. C. Fish, the subject of this sketch, was born in Beverly, 
Ohio, and was the youngest of eight children in the family, four of 
whom are living. He was reared at Beverly and educated at the col- 
lege in that place. At the age of 20 he began to learn the plasterer's 
trade which he acquired and followed for four years. The next four 
years he was in the milling business, in connection with steamboating, 
which latter he followed altogether for a period of about seven years. 
In 1868 Mr. Fish came to Kansas City and was appointed to the 
position of general western freight agent for the North Missouri Rail- 
road. In 1872 he engaged in the omnibus transfer business at 
Kansas City, carrying on that business in connection with the Coates' 
House, of which he was proprietor for some two years. At about 
the expiration of this time Mr. Fish was appointed general eastern 
traveling freight agent for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Rail- 
road, and went East in the discharge of the duties of that position. 
Finally, he became largely interested at Excelsior Springs, buying, 
in connection with others, the Springs and large amounts of contig- 
uous lands. Thereupon the Relief Springs and Land Company was 
organized, of which he became the general manager. He and Mr. 
John W. Henry, formerly of Cincinnati, Ohio, took charge of the 
Excelsior House, which the}' have ever since been conducting. Mr. 
Fish has very naturall}' taken an active and public-spirited interest 
in the growth and prosi)erity of the Springs, and has been a very 
useful and lil)eral-minded citizen in promoting all movements bene- 
ficial to the phuie. The Relief S|)rings and Laud Company own about 
(500 acres of fine land contiguous to the Springs and have made an 
addition to the place of 250 handsome lots, properly intersected with 
streets, alleys, etc. In 1856 Mr. Fish was married to Miss Annie E. 
Sales, a daughter of Joel Sales, formerly of Rhode Island. Mr. and 
Mrs. Fish have two children, Frank C. and Charles W. Frank is a 
cashier in the office of a large cattle commission house at Kansas City, 
and Charles W. is assistant ticket agent there at the Union depot. 
An only daughter, Cora Etta, is deceased. She died at the age of 
16. She was a gentle and queenly-hearted girl, a favorite among all 
her associates, and hardly less than idolized in her own family. Life 
to her seemed fraught with a future of much haj)piness, for her dis- 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 395 

position was one to make kind and true friends wherever she went, 
and her presence was always a pleasure to those around her. 
Though still quite young, she was possessed of rare graces of forna 
and features, and, above all, was favored with a bright and cheerful 
mind, one in which the light of cheerfulness seemed never to fade. 
A dutiful daughter, devotedly attached to her parents and brothers, 
she was at the same time a pleasant and true friend as a playmate, 
and as a student at school was ever faithful in her studies, bright and 
quick to learu and obedient to her teachers. Cora Fish is remembered 
by all who knew her as a rare good girl, one who seemed too dear to 
her acquaintances to lose. Her death has left a void in the hearts of 
her loved ones that can never be filled on this side the grave. 

EEV. J. V. B. FLACK, D. D. 

(Excelsior Springs). 

Rev. Dr. Flack- was born and reared in the State of Ohio. His 
father's name was John V. Flack, and lived to a ripe old age. His 
mother's maiden name was Mary Maddox, and died in early life, 
leaving the son to be cared for by an uncle and aunt. J. V. B. Flack 
was educated at Holmes University, and at the age of 21 began his 
life-work — that of preaching the Gospel. He was very successful 
and soon took front rank as a pulpit orator and a revivalist. He trav- 
eled and labored extensively, and over 8,000 persons were converted 
under his ministrations in 1884. He was made a Doctor of Divinity 
by Rutherford College, of North Carolina, one of the best colleges in 
the South. He has been the editor of a religious paper for many 
years, being elected by his church people at General Conference. 
He was for eight years the presiding ofBcer of the General Confei-ence. 
He also edits an independent paper called The /Sentinel of Truth, at 
Excelsior Springs, Mo. Dr. Flack married at 26 years of age, on 
the 28th of July, 1867, Miss Marrieta Smith, the daughter of Judge 
Samuel Smith, of Illinois, then becoming his wife. As the fruits of 
their marriage seven children, five boys and two girls, have been born 
to them, five of whom are living. Dr. F. is the original founder of 
Excelsior Springs, and brought that very popular watering place and 
health resort before the public until now it is a young and growing 
city of the fourth class. Through his efforts the Christian Union 
Chapel was built at Excelsior Springs, and a free pulpit provided for 
all Christians. He has been a very active and energetic business man 
for many years, and a pronounced advocate of the temperance work 
in the different States. He is in continual demand as a preacher and 
lecturer. He has dedicated 2.3 church houses and united some 200 in 
matrimony. Has preached 300 burials. He is the author of several 
works on the Unity of the Church, and a compiler of a Union Hymn 
Book. Politically, he has always been a Democrat. He is known 
largely throughout the States, and evangelizes throughout several 
States from year to year. In short. Dr. Flack has been one of the 
most active men of his times, and is now, at the age of forty-five, in 
the prime of his life and usefulness. 



39G HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

HENRY C. FOLEY 

(Farmer, Post-office, Liberty) . 

Elijah Foley, the graiidFather of Henry C, was an early settler of 
Kentucky from Virginia, and Richard Foley, Henry C.'s father, and 
the son of Elijah Foley, was born in the Blue Grass State, and reared 
there. When in young manhood he was married to Miss Mary Funk, , 
fornierl\' of Maryland, and afterwards continued to reside in Kentucky 
until 1852. While a resident of Fayette county, that State, Henry 
C. Foley, the subject of this sketch, was born October 25, 1833. 
When he was al)out 19 years of age the family removed to Missouri, 
and he accompanied them. They settled on a farm in Clay county, 
where the father died in 1856. The same year of his father's death, 
Henry C. returned to Kentucky, and in a few years was married there, 
in 1859, to Miss Rebecca Brock, a daughter of Winlieid Brock, de- 
ceased. After his marriage he resided in that county until 1865, and 
then returned to Missouri, and bought a farm three miles north of 
Liberty, where he has ever since made his home. February 22, 1878, 
he had the misfortune to lose his wife. She left him six children at 
her deatii : Foster R., Florence, Mary, Dandy J., Keller and Eliza. 
Mr. F. is a member of the Christian Ciiurch. His farm contains 286 
acres, and he has other valuable laud in the county. His place is well 
improved. 

WILLIAM E. FOWLER 

(Attorney at L iw, an I of Fowler & Tlioinson, Laud, Loan, Peusion, Patent, Fire and 
Life Insurance Agents, Excelsior Springs). 

Mr. Fowler, a young man now in his twenty-fourth year, located at 
Excelsior Springs, from Ohio, iu the spring of 1883. Like many of the 
better citizens of this place, he was drawn here by tiie reputation of 
the waters of the S[)riugs. For some years previous to coming to 
E.Kcelsior Springs he had been hard at work in the acquisition of his 
general and professional education. Amliitious to fit himself thor- 
oughly for an active and useful life and to begin his career at the 
earliest day possible, he had unquestionably overworked himself and 
drawn too heavily on his physical strength and energies. The result 
was that although he succeeded in pre|)aring himself for his profession 
at an earlier age than is common with young attorneys, at the very 
time he expected and wished to begin active work at the bar he found 
himself physically exhausted and his health shattered. This illustrates 
one of the most striking dift'erences between the systems and policies 
of Euro()eaii and American institutions of learning. In Europe phys.i- 
cal health and development are as studiously considered and provided 
for as the culture of the mind. But in this country, particularly iu 
the West, such is the hurry and push of life and the anxiety of 
students to get into atlairs, that little or no attention is paid to the 
physical man, and his general health is sacrificed to the exigencies of 
rai)id advancement through his college course. Mr. Fowler went to 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. o!)7 

school at Beverly, Ohio, the place of his nativity, and then from 
school he entered a law school at Baltimore, Md., one of the best in- 
stitutions of the kind in the country, reading law in the office of Hon. 
F. P. Stevens, a well known Baltimore attorney. He prraduated at 
Baltimore in the year 1882. From there he at once returned to Ohio 
and entered n[)on the practice of his profession at Beverly. But soon 
finding that his physical energies were exhausted, he was compelled 
to make a change of residence for his health. Excelsior Springs was 
highly recommended to him and he accordingly came to this {)lace. 
Here he received marked henetit from the use of the waters of the 
Springs and by auxiliary treatment, and soon decided to make this 
place his permanent home. He therefore entered upon the practice 
of his profession here, and thus far he has been greatly encouraged by 
the favor with which he has been received, both personally and as an 
attorney. In the agency business he and Mr. Thomson are doing 
well, and have reason to be greatly pleased with their success. Mr. 
Fowler was born at Beverly, Washington county, Ohio, May 19, 18<51, 
and was the fiith of seven children of Joseph and Mary Fowler, his 
father, !i grandson of Capt. John Fowler, of Revolntiontiry fame. 
Capt. Fowler participated in the liattle of Lexington, where he was 
severely wounded, and was with Washington on that eventful night 
when the American army crossed the Delaware. Mr. Fowler's 
father, Joseph Fowler, referred to above, is one of the old and highly 
respected citizens of Washington county, a merchant of long experi- 
ence, and he is one of the best insurance agents in the Eastern States. 

CHARLES FUNK 

(Farmer ami Stock-raiser, Post-offlce, Liberty). 

Mr. Funk was Iiorn in Clay county, July 14, 18.54. His father was 
Richard Funk, now deceased, formerly of Jessamine county, Kv., and 
his mother was a Miss Sarah J. Bell before her marriage, a daughter 
of Fielding Bell, from Mason county, Ky., who came to this county in 
1836. Charles Funk grew up on his father's farm in this county, and 
received a common school education. January 13, 187(5, he was 
married to Miss Mary Richardson, a daughter of Samuel H. Richard- 
son, deceased, formerly of Madison county, Ky. Mr. and Mrs. 
Funk have three children : Pattie, Richard H. and Charles Ralph. 
Mr. Funk has a good farm and is comfortably situated. Neither he 
nor his father ever held an official position, nor sought or desired one. 
Both are domestic home men, industrious, energetic farmers, and well 
respected citizens, or rather the father was in his lifetime, and Mr. 
Funk, Jr., still is. 

GEORGE WASHINGTON GEORGE 

(Farmer, Post-offlce, Missouri City). 

" Grandfather" Joseph Groom, of the vicinity of Liberty, is said 
to be the oldest living resident of the county, being now well advanced 



398 HISTORY or clay county. 

in his eighty-ninth year. But Mr. George, the subject of this sketch, 
though many years " Grandfather " Groom's junior, has been a resi- 
dent of the county longer than Mr. Groom. " Grandfather " Groom 
came here in 1824, then a young man 28 years of age. Mr. George 
was brought here by his parents when he was in childhood, in 1819. 
He has, therefore, been a resident of the county for 66 years. When 
Mr. G.'s parents settled in this county there were not half a dozen 
white families in the present limits of the county, and not as many in 
all the territory west of the Chariton, on this side of the Missouri, as- 
now reside in Liberty township. His parents, Baley O. and Jemima 
(Withers) George, came from Kentucliy, though his father was 
originally from Virginia. On settling in this county they located 
about six miles east of the present site of Liberty, where the father 
entered land and improved a farm. He became a prominent man of the 
county, and served in different positions of public trust. He was a 
judge of the first election ever held in the county. At the age of 70 
years he died here, in 18(55. His wife died in 1863. Eight sons and 
live daughtei's of their family were reared to years of maturity, and 
four of them, including two of the daughters, are still living. George 
W^. was the second of their children, and was born in Madison county, 
Ky., April 15, 1815. He was principally reared, however, in Clay 
county, this State, and his educational advantages were limited to 
those of the schools of that period. As is well known, there are 
different periods of advancement in the progress of civilization. In 
this Western country the first was the period of the hunters and fur 
traders ; then came the pioneer settlers with their families, known as 
the log-cabin, stock-chimney period; after that was the period of the 
hewed log-house and stone chimney, with now and then a plank floor, 
instead of broad-ax dressed puncheons ; later along sawmills and 
brickyards were established, and neat frame and comfortal)le brick 
residences were l)uilt ; and then came railroads, agricultural machin- 
ery, handsome architecture and all the comforts and graces of advanced 
social, business and industrial life. So, in the matter of education, 
different epochs are as distinctly marked : First, was the round log 
school-room without a floor, with a fireplace occupying one entire end 
of the building, and with no light exce|)t such as came through the 
unclosed entrance of a wooden-hinged, clapboard door. Those 
were the days of goose-quill pens, the "Testament" and the " Life 
of Marion" for readers, and teachers who invariably pronounced 
fatigue " fatigcw," and bigamy " bigmary ; " afterward came punch- 
eon floors, a log sawed out of one end of the l)uilding to admit light, 
a long sycamore plank to write on, teachers who taught tliattlie world 
was not flat, and other comforts and conveniences of a rather advanced 
civilization. But finally came frame and brick school-houses, and at 
last patent cast-mounted seats and desks, and the inevitable, ubiqui- 
tous and thoroughly intolerable, spectacled, gingery, effervescing 
"professor." Alas! the infliction he puts upon the public more than 
offsets all the benefits of modern educational facilities. Mr. George 
was reared and educated before the era of puncheon floor school- 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 



399 



houses ; but, nevertheless, by close appliciitiou ;uid a good deal of 
study at home he succeeded in obtaining a sufficient knowledge of 
books for all practical purposes in that early day. After he grew up 
he was married in this county to Miss Elizabeth F. Neeley, a sister to 
Eichard A. and William L. Neeley, whose sketches appear in this 
volume. Mr. George continued farming after his marriage, to which 
he had been brought up, and in 1847 settled on the place where he 
now resides. For three years before he resided in Buchanan county. 
Returning then to Clay, this has ever since been his permanent home. 
He has been fairly successful and is comfortably situated. He owns 
about 350 acres of land, and his farm is well improved. He and his 
good wife reared five children : William (now of Rich Hill), Fannie, 
Richard W., Thomas N. and Clement B. One, Susan, died in early 
maidenhood. 

JUDSON M. GRUBBS 

(Of J. M. Gfubbs & Co., Dealers in Groceries, Qaeeusware, Glassware, etc., Missouri 

City). 

Mr. Grubbs was about ten years of age when his parents, Hardin 
and Elizabeth (Lively) Grubbs, removed from Spottsylvania county, 
Va., to Clay county,' Mo., in 1856. The father was a mechanic by 
trade and worked at carpentering, cabinetmaking and wagonmaking 
as occasion rendered most available or profitable. He died here 
August 5, 18(55. He was twice married and it should have been re- 
marked that his second wife, the mother of (he subject of this sketch, 
died before the family left Virginia. The father was also a farmer by 
occupation and had a comfortable homestead in Virginia. Judson M., 
born in Spottsylvania county, Va., January 1, 1846, was principally 
reared, however, in Clay county. Mo. Brought up on the farm, he 
remained at home until he was 20 years of age and then engaged as 
clerk in a general store, which he followed for some eight years. 
After this he began the grocery business on his own account at Noi'- 
borne, in Carroll county. He sold goods there for about two years 
and then returned to Jdissouri City, whereupon he and his Ijrother, 
E. M. Grubbs, formed their present partnership, and engaged in the 
grocery business at this place. Their experience here has been satis- 
factory and they have built up a large trade and established one of the 
leading grocery houses of the southern part of the county. They 
have an annual business of about $20,000. November 9, 1876, Mr. 
Grubbs was married to Miss Bettie L. Aker, daughter of Preston 
Aker, of Ray county. They have three children: Roy E., Ralph H. 
and Ethel M. Mr. and Mrs. G. are members of the Christian Church, 
and Mr. G. holds the office of deacon. 

MOSES C. HUTCHINGS 

(Farmer, Post-office, Missouri City). 

Mr. Hutchings, although comparatively a young man, has neverthe- 
less, by his energy and industry, established for himself the name of 



400 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

being one of the thoroughgoing farmers of Fishing River township. 
He is a worthy son of the county by nativity, born on his father's 
homestead in Fishing River township December 17, 1841. His father 
being a farmer by occupation, Moses was brought up to that calling, 
and during the war he served faithfully in the Home Guards under 
Capt. D. P. Whitmer for a term of nine months. He then enlisted in 
the State militia and served under Capt. Colley six months. Through 
the remainder of the war he served under Capt. M. T. Real. On the 
22d of October, 1874, Mr. Hutchings was married to Miss Maggie A.- 
Koehler. Four children are the fruits of their happy married life : 
Mury J., Elijah, Benjamin and Ange E. Mr. Hutchings has a good 
farm of 78V2 acres. His parents were Moses and Matilda Hutchings, 
his father a native of Tennessee, but his mother originally of Indiana. 
They came to this county in an early daj'. 

CHARLES W. JACOBS. M. D. 

(Physician and Surgeon, Excelsior Springs). 

Dr. Jacobs, who is the city physican of Excelsior Springs and the 
regular attending physician to the Excelsior Bath House and at the 
two leading hotels at the place, is a physician of thorough training 
and superior attainments. After a thorough course of general read- 
ing he took a course of four terms at the Eclectic Medical College of 
Cincinnati and graduated with high honor in the class of 1880. He 
then located at Richmond, in Ra}' county, where he was born and 
reared, for the general practice of medicine in connection with his 
brother. Dr. Jacobs (Charles W.) was having a more than ordi- 
narily successful experience at Richmond when his health failed, the 
following year after he located there, caused primarily by hard study 
while prejjaring for his profession and directlv by severe cold con- 
tracted from the exposures of an active country practice. His lungs 
became critically affected, and in the hope of receiving benefit from 
travel and the purity of mountain air he went to Colorado. Dr. 
Jacobs received marked benefit by his visit to Colorado and returned 
much imjjroved. Resuming his practice at Richmond, the hard work 
and exposures incident to a large practice soon brouglit back his lung 
trouble, and he was compelled to quit the regular country practice 
again. He then came to Excelsior Springs, and has obtained much 
good from the use of the water and baths at this place in connection 
with his own treatment. He has become thoroughly convinced from 
his own experience that many who believe themselves to be seriously 
if not hopelessly afflicted with lung trouble could be materially bone- 
fitted, if not entirely cured, by the use of the waters of Excelsior 
Springs, under proper medical directions and treatment. Having 
made a special study of the medicinal properties of the water here and 
of the classes of affections it is best adapted to remedy, he is pecu- 
liarly well qualified for the responsible position he holds, that of con- 
sulting physician for the Springs. His success here in the treatment 
of lung diseases and other afflictions of a persistent, diflicult charac- 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 401 

ter has in many cases been remarkable. A ntimbei- of cures have 
been eflected which were hardly even hoped for by the patients 
themselves, so long had they hoped against hope without a ray of 
realization. Dr. Jacobs is a man of culture and a gentleman of 
dignified, refined manners. A man of fine feeling and of the warm- 
est sympathy for the suffering, he brings to bear in his practice 
not only professional skill and ability, but, what is often more 
valuable, that manifest solicitude or welfare of his patients, 
which is always a balm to the sick. He is justly very popular as 
a physician and citizen. Dr. Jacobs is a worthy representative of 
one of tiie old and highly respected fauiilies of Claj' county. His 
father, Maj. Cia^yton Jacolis, was for years one of the leading 
merchants of Richmond, and was abundantly successful. He is now 
retired on an ample competence. Maj. Jacobs held various official 
positions in Clay county, including those of collector of the revenue, 
sheriff, assessor, etc. He was from Liucoln county, Ky., and served 
in the M<nmon War in this State, assisting to drive the polygam- 
ists out of the country. For 20 years he has been an elder in the 
Christian Church, and is a cliurch meml)er of half a century's stand- 
ing. His good wife, a motlierly and noble-hearted old lady, is still 
spared to make the evening of his life as happy as their earlier 
years have been. Dr. Jacobs was born at Riulimond, and was given 
good advantages and received au excellent general education. Of 
his parents' family of children all have become useful and promi- 
nent members of society. 

JAMES L. JENNETT 

(With Dvkes, Chri^iniu & Co., Dealers ia Geueral Merchandise, Prathersville) . 

Capt. Jennett is a native of Virginia, born in Halifax county, on the 
5th day of September, 1838. He was a son of James H. and Susan 
T. Jennett, and was brought to Missouri at the age of seven years by 
his parents, who settled in Franklin county, this State, in 1845. Capt. 
Jennett was partly reared in Franklin county and received a common 
school education. During the war he served in the Southern army, 
Fifty-ninth Virginia Regiment, under Gen. Wise, of Virginia, and par- 
ticipated in the battles of Cheat Mountain, Seven Pines, Malvern Hill, 
in the sieges of Charleston, S. C, and Petersburg, Va., and numerous 
other engagements. He was publicly complimented by his general 
for gallantry and bravery while iu South Carolina. Early in 1865 he 
was captured at Burkville, Va., and was a prisoner at Washington 
when President Lincoln was assassinated. He was then transferred 
to Johnson's Island, where he was held a prisoner until after the close 
of the war. On being released at the close of the war he returned 
home to Franklin county. Capt. Jennett came to Clay county in 1869, 
where he has ever since resided. He has held several local offices in 
this county and served as special deputy sherifi* and city marshal 
of Kearney for several years. The Captain is a member of the 
mercantile firm of Dykes, Chrisman & Co. They are engaged in gen- 



402 HisTdwr of clay county. 

eral merchandising, both at Prathersville and Keai'ney, and are doing 
a good business at each phice. In 18fi6 Capt. Jennett was married to 
Miss Hattie Patton, of Franklin county, Mo. They have four chil- 
dren : Nellie, Edna, Harry and Lula. A son, James F., died in 
infancy. Mrs. Jennett is a member of the Baptist Church at Kear- 
ney. The Captain is a member of the A. F. and A. M. 

TILFORD JENKINS 

(Farmer, Post-office, Missouri City). 

Mr. Jenkins has a farm of 80 acres in Fishing River township, and 
was born in Fayette county, Ky., in 1827. He was a son of Willis 
Jenkins, and has his place tairly improved. His father was originally 
from Virginia, and Mr. Jenkins, himself, is an energetic farmer and 
also carried on a blacksmith shop on his farm. In 1858 Mr. Jenkins, 
the subject of this sketch, was married to Miss Elizabeth Weaver, 
which happy union has resulted in nine children, namely : Mary A., 
Willis, Catherine, Edward L., Laura, Leona , Louisa and William S. 
The other one died in infancy. Mrs. Jenkins is a member of the 
Christian Church. Mr. Jenkins was educated in the common schools. 
He went for some time to Capt. Lawrence Dailey, who was a gallant 
old soldier boy in the War of 1812. 

MELVIN McKEE 

(Farmer and Fine Stock Raiser, Post-office, Prathersville). 

David and Elizabeth McKee, the parents of the subject of the pre- 
sent sketch, came to Missouri in 1833 and settled in Platte county, 
where they made their permanent home, and reared a family of chil- 
dren. The father was a farmer by occupation and young Melvin was 
reared to that calling in this county. In 1857 he was married to 
Miss Pheol)a A. Gromes, a union that has proved one of singular con- 
tentment and happiness and has been blessed with eight children : 
Charles, William, Samuel, Julia, Bettie, Ella, Mattie, Curtis, the last, 
being deceased. Mrs. McKee is a worthy and exemplary member of 
the Christian Church. Mr. McKee has always made farming and, in 
late years, raising fine stock, his regular pursuit. He has a good farm 
of 200 acres, well improved. His residence building was erected at 
a cost of $2,500, and his barn was put up at a cost of $1,000. Mr. 
McKee is a director of the school district and has been for a number 
of years. He has a good herd of thoroughbred, short horn and 
high grade cattle, some of which are as handsome animals as are to be 
seen in the county. 

DAVID O. McCRAY 

(Postmaster, Excelsior Springs) . 

Mr. McCray is a native Missourian, born in Caldwell county, 
March 10, 1855. He was the eighth in a family of 11 children, seven 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 403 

of whom are now living, of William and Nancy (Carroll) McCray, 
who came to Missouri at an early day, and settled in Caldwell county. 
William McCray became a large farmer and stock-raiser of that county 
and still resides there, having an extensive stock farm of 1,100 acres. 
When he first removed to Caldwell county the nearest government 
land office was at Plattsburg and he went to that place on foot and 
entered 500 acres of land at the then price of 12 1-2 cents an acre. 
Daring the war he was a strong Union man and two of his sons were 
in the Union army, the eldest, Frank, losing a leg at Lone Jack. 
David O. was reared on the farm in Caldwell county, and received a 
high school education. He then liegau an apprenticeship at the 
printer's trade, which he acquired, and afterwards he became the 
editor of the Lucas county Republican, at Chariton, Iowa. Since 
then he has had editorial charge of eight papers at different points 
in Kansas, Iowa and Missouri, the last one being the Herald at this 
place. In January, 1883, he was appointed postmaster at Excelsior 
Springs and still holds the office. He also has a news stand in con- 
nection with the post-office and a circulating library. Mr. McCray 
was married to Miss Carrie Stevens, a daughter of Dr. E. W. Stevens, 
a prominent citizen of Cameron, Mo., May 1, 1878. Mr. and Mrs. 
McC. have one child, Lena M. 

FOSTER MEANS 

(Farmer aud Stock-raiser, Post-offlce, Missouri City). 

'Squire Means is now in his sixty-second year, and until two years 
ago was never sick an hour in his life ; even then he was only indis- 
posed for a few days. The fact that he has always lived an active, 
temperate life, directed from the beginning by good judgment, is 
mainly the reason that he has been so fortunate in the matter of good 
health. He has always avoided going to extremes in everything or 
unnecessarily exposing himself, although he never stood back when 
anything proper was to be done, whatever the risk or hardship might 
l)e. He has been, and is yet, an active, energetic workingman, and 
although now closely approaching old age he bears his years so well 
that one would be far from taking him to be as old a man as he really 
is. 'Squire Means was born in this county in 1823. From infancy 
he has lived on a farm, and, since he became old enough to do for 
himself, has been a farmer on his own account. He has been fairly 
successful, and has a good homestead. Like most of the farmers of 
this vicinity, he raises some stock, and is interested in short horn 
cattle. In 1844 he was married to Miss Jemima Munkers, of one of 
the early families of Clay county. The 'Squire and wife have reared 
but one son, All)ert E., who is still on the farm with his parents. In 
1858 'Squire M. was elected a justice of the peace of Fishing River 
township and continued to hold that office until toward the latter part 
of the war, when he was ousted by the superlatively loval faction of 
thrifty patriots of that day, because he was adjudged not to be as 
hn'al as he might bo. Since 18(52 he has taken a prominent part in 



404 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

politics, having been a memher of the Democratic Central Committee, 
etc. The 'Squire was a son of Andrew and Sarah W. Means, who 
came to Missouri in 1817, first locating in Howard county. Five 
years afterwards they settled in Clay, where they lived until their 
deaths. The father was from North Carolina, originally, but the 
mother was a native of Virginia. 

MABRY MITCHELL 

(Dealer in General Merchandise, Prathersville). 

Mr. Mitchell has been engaged in business at Prathersville for about 
four years. Previous to that he was engaged in the produce trade at 
Denver, Col., for some time, or rather in shipping produce from 
this part of the country to that market. He is a native of Clay county 
and has spent most of his life within its borders. He was born in 
Liberty, November 18, 1826, and was a son of Maliry and Martha A. 
Mitchell, pioneer settlers of the county. His father was a native of 
South Carolina, and came West in 1819. Reared in the county, for a 
number of years young Mitchell was engaged in farming and raising 
stock and to some extent in dealing in stock. In 1845, April 15, 
he was married to Miss Evaline Leakey. She died September 10, 
1875. Mr. Mitchell was married to his present wife November 15, 
1877. She was a Mrs. Martha E. Davidson, daughter of Jonathan 
Atkins, a pioneer. By his first wife he has three children : Mary E., 
now Hiatt ; Sarah F. (now Brown), and Samuel H. Mrs. Mitchell is a 
member of the Primitive Baptist Church, and Mr. Mitchell is a mem- 
ber of the Missionary Baptists. He is also a member of the A. F. 
and A. M., and forever a "supporter of the temperance cause. 

ROBERT H. MOORE (deceased) 

(Vicinity of Prathersville). 

Mr. Moore died at his homestead in this county in July, 1882. He 
had been a resident of this county for nearlj' 30 j'^ears and was one of 
its well respected citizens, and industrious, energetic farmers. He 
was a worthy member of the Masonic Order and his loss was greatly 
deplored by the fellow-members of his lodge and all who knew him. 
During the late war he was a gallant soldier in the Union army under 
Gen. Leslie Combs. He came of a family that had previously proved 
its devotion to the cause of liberty and free government, in the War 
for Independence. His father, Peter Moore, served in the army 
of the Revolution and i)articipatod in the battle of Brandy wine, 
where he was severely wounded. He subsequently died of his wound. 
Mr. Moore, deceased, the subject of this sketch, came to Clay county 
in 1853 and resided here until his death. His widow still resides on 
the homestead in this county. She was a Miss Amelia R. Nichols be- 
fore her marriage. They were married in 1853 in Kentucky. Three 
children are living of their family : Margaret, Flora and George T. 
George T. superintends affairs and carries on the farm. He is now 



HISTORY or CLAY COUNTY. 405 

abseut in Kentucky, looking after property in which he is inter- 
ested. 

JOHN H. iMOSBY 

(Farmer, Stock-raiser and Stock-dealer, Post-office, Liberty) . 

Mr. Moshy parents, Watle and Rebecca Mosby, came to Clay county 
from Kentucky in 1822. They made this their permanent home, the 
father being a farmer by occupation. John H. was i)orn after the 
family settled here, in 1824. Reared in this county, he was married 
in 1855 to Miss Sarah Hall. Meanwhile he had been to California and 
returned. He went overland to the Pacific coast in 1850, and was 
absent about two years. While there he was principally engaged in 
mining. Most of the time he was on the Yuba, in the vicinity of 
Nevada City, ijut for a time was on the Poor Man's creek, which was 
then thought to be of little or no value as a mining district, but which 
afterwards was found to have some of the richest deposits in the 
country, and became a wealthy mining region. Returning in 1852, 
Mr. Mosby engaged in farming and stock-raising in this county. His 
whole time, for the past 30 years, has been busily occupied with his 
farming and stock interests. He has a lai'ge farm of 600 acres, one 
of the best farms in Fishing River township, and he is extensively en- 
gaged in raising and dealing in stock. He has a handsome herd of 
short horn cattle, and feeds annually about 100 head of beef cattle, 
besides a large number of marketal^le hogs. Mr. Mosby is one of 
the leading farmers and stock-raisers of this part of the county, and 
is in comfortable circumstances. His place is well improved, in- 
cluding a handsome residence, erected in 1871, at a cost of $5,000. 
He also has large and comfortable barns and other outbuildings, and 
his lands are mainly devoted to blue grass for stock pasturage, but 
enough is reserved for grain for the ordinarj' [lurposes of stock raising. 
Mr. and Mrs. Mosi)y have a family of five children : Addie, the wife 
of Charles Dye; Ettie, Ida, Gertie and William. They have lost 
three : Edgar, Mamie and Ernest. Mr. and Mrs. M. are members of 
the Christian Church. 

DEWILTON MOSBY 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Liberty). 

Mr. Mosby's farm contains 560 acres, and, like his cousin John H., 
he makes a specialty of the stock itusiness. He fattens for the mar- 
kets annually from 50 to 75 head of cattle and a large number of hogs. 
August 2'd, 1873, he was married to Miss Martha M. Archer, of this 
county. They have five children: Jesse D., Rosa L., Emmet A., 
Nicholas and Bonnie M. Nicholas was named for his grandfather, 
Nicholas JNlosby, who came to this county from Kentucky in 1837. 
Nicholas Mosbj', the elder, was born in Woodford county, that State, 
and was reared in Kentucky, where he married Miss Mary Shouse. 
Some years afterwards he came to Missouri and settled in Clay county. 
He was an energetic farmer, and soon became comfortably situatc<l. 



408 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

men who sold the goods then generally owned them, but now the 
seller is usually traveling clerk, but gives himself the altitudinous 
title of "commercial traveler." Mr. Neeley's line of goods consisted 
of clocks, and he had a number of young men on the road under him. 
He also did an extensive collecting business for wholesale merchants 
as he passed through the country. Mr. and Mrs. Neeley have reared 
two children, Clement and Maggie E. Mrs. N. is a mcml)er of the 
Christian Church, and he is a prominent member of the Odd Fellows' 
Order. Before the war Mr. Neeley was elected sheriff of Clay county-, 
and was afterwards re-elected, serving until hostilities began. One 
other fact remains to be mentioned. In 1853 he engaged in the livery 
business at Liberty, and continued in the business about four years, 
in partnership with Judge A. Moore, whose sketch appears in this 
work. Mr. Neeley is now unfortunately afflicted with paralysis, but 
retains much of his mental vigor, and physically is still able to get 
about his own house. His life has been one of uprightness and integ- 
rity, and he has the good wishes of all who know him. 

CAPT. SAMUEL D. NOWLIN 

(Of Simmons & Nowlin, Dealers in Dry Goods, Clothing, Hats and Caps, Boots and 
Shoes, Etc., Missouri City). 

For many years Capt. Nowlin's father, Bryan W. Nowlin, was au 
enterprising merchant in this section of Missouri, in Clay and Ray 
counties. He was from Kentucky and came here when a young man. 
He first followed teaching school and taught in Cooper and Saline 
counties. Then turning his attention to merchandising, he followed 
that business for a time at Liberty and afterwards at Fredericksburg, 
in Ray county. Returning to Clay county in about 1852, he established 
a store at Missouri City, which he carried on until 1865, but was nearly 
l)roken up liy the war, having lost a great deal by depredators from 
both sides. Mr. Nowlin, Sr., now resides at Prathersville. He was 
twice married. His first wife, who became the mother of the subject 
of this sketch, was a Miss Lucy N. Davis, a sister of W. H. H. and 
Albert G. Davis of this county. She died August 9, 18(59. His 
second wife was a Mrs. Bowls, widow of the late S. D. Bowls. Capt. 
Nowlin was born in Ray county, August 18, 1838. He was princi- 
pally reared in that county. Under his father his opportunities for 
learning the mercantile business were good and he learned all the 
pi'actical details of running a country store. June 30, 18(51, he was 
married to Miss Sarah M. Peerv, daughter of Thomas Peery, of How- 
ard county. The following September, Capt. Nowlin enlisted in the 
State Guard, Southern service, under Col. Thompson, and served for 
about seven months. He was elected first lieutenant of Co. C, 
and took part in the battles of Lexington, Pea Ridge and Spring- 
field. At Springfield he was promoted to the position of adjutant of 
Thompson's regiment, with the rank of captain, and served in that 
position until the close of his term of service. At Van Buren, in 
Arkansas, March 1(5, 18()2, he was honorably discharged. After that 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 409 

he was at home during the remainder of the war. For two years 
after the war he was engaged in the grocery business at Missouri 
City, and then turned his attention to farming, which he followed 
with success in the county until February, 1883, when he became a 
member of the present firm. Capt. Nowlin's first wife died Decem- 
ber 27, 1864. She left two children, Thomas B., now a clerk in a 
dry goods house at Kansas City, and Sarah M., a young lady at home. 
April 28, 18(58, Capt. Nowiiu was married to Miss Martlia C. Skin- 
ner, a daughter of Robert J. Skinner, of Montgomery county. Her 
father was an attorney and died at St. Joe wiiile attending court there. 
By ids last marriage Capt. Nowlin has five children : Zadie W., Cleou 
L., Tracy C, William N. and Harrison D. Mrs. Nowlin is a mem- 
ber of the Christian Church. 

JOHN H. PIBURN 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Missouri City). 

Among the energetic agriculturists and thorongh-going men of 
Fishing River township, the subject of the present sketch is justly 
accorded an enviable position. By his own work, enterprise and bus- 
iness qualities he has accumulated a comfortal)le start in life and is 
already one of the substantial farmers of the township. He was born 
in Clay county, October 10, 1841, and was a son of David Piburn, 
a native of Tennessee. Edward Piburn, the grandfather of John H., 
was one of the pioneers of Missouri. He came here with his family 
in 1818 and settled in Howard county. From that county he removed 
to Chu' county in 1820 and here made his permanent home. David 
Piburn was in infancy when the tamily came to this county. He 
grew up on the farm and suljsequently married Miss Matilda Shouse, 
a daughter of John Shouse, who settled here from Kentucky in 1824. 
Mr. Piburn (David, the father of John) still resides in this county. 
He served in the Mormon War and helped to drive the followers of 
Joe Smith out of the State. John H. Piburn was brought up to the 
life of a farmer and was still at home when the war broke out in 1861. 
He then enlisted in Col. Thompson's cavalry regiment for the South- 
ern service and served out the full time of his enlistment. During 
that time he took part in the fights at Rock Creek, Pea Ridge and a 
number of skirmishes. In the spring of 1862 he went west to Denver 
to void the war troubles, and afterwards followed freighting across 
the plains for a time. Finally, however, he located at Nebraska City, 
where he remained until after the restoration of peace. In the spring 
of 1866 he returned home and resumed farming to which he had been 
brought up. He also engaged in trading in stock, which he contin- 
ued to 1873. Februai-y 18, of that year, he was married to Miss 
Cordies Rice, a daughter of William and Laura (Brasfield) Rice, early 
settlers in this county. After his marriage Mr. Piburn located the 
following year on the farm where he has ever since resided. He first 
bought a tract of 60 acres, but to that he has since added from time 
to time until he now has about 300 acres. For some years past he 



410 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

lias also been engaged in the threshing machine business, and for the last 
1 wo years has run a steam thresher. His cash receipts from threshing 
has been about $20,000. During the winter of 1884-85 he bought 
and established a new steam saw mill, which is located near Mis- 
souri City and is doing a good business. In 1880 and 1882, Mr. 
Piburn made two trips to Arkansas and the Indian Territory to buy 
stock, and was satisfactorily successful in the sale of the stock bought. 
Mr. and Mrs. Piburn have three children : Charles Ross, Gertie 
May and James Lester. 

JOHN A. POSEY, M. D. 

(Physician and Surgeon, Missouri City). 

Among the physicians and with the public generally. Dr. Posey is 
recognized as one of the leading members of his profession in Mid- 
dle-Western Missouri. He took a thorough course at the St. Louis 
Medical College, and afterwards had the benelit of a year's practice as 
assistant physician to the St. Louis City Hospital. Since then he has 
been in the active general practice for about 16 years, and has had a 
large and varied practice. He is a prominent member of the State 
and District Medical Societies, and has been president of the latter, 
which meets quarterly at Kansas City. He has also for many years 
been an active member of the Clay County Medical Society. Dr. Posey 
was born on his father's farm, in Fishing River township, this county, 
December 19, 1838. His father was James F. Posey and his mother's 
maiden name was Julia A. Singleton. Both were from Kentucky, 
and his grandfather Posey was one of the old pioneers of that State 
from Virginia. Dr. Posey was reared in this county and concluded 
his general educational course with two years at William Jewell Col- 
lege. In 18i)3 he began the study of medicine under Dr. B. M. Beck- 
ham of Ciayvillage, in Shelby county, a leading physician of that 
county, and the following fall entered the St. Louis Medical College. 
He continued through two terms at the latter institution and gradu- 
ated with honor in the classs of '67. In the meantime, however, be- 
tween his first and second terms, he was engaged in the practice of 
medicine at Barnsville, in Clinton count3\ After graduating he was 
elected assistant physician of the St. Louis City Hospital, and after 
serving in that position a year he located at Missouri City, where he 
has ever since been engaged in the general practice. Dr. Posey is a 
man who keeps fully abreast of the times in his profession, and is a 
liberal subscriber for different medical journals, periodicals, etc., and 
for the latest and best works on medical and surgical subjects with 
which he occupies his leisure time in order to give his i)ationts the 
benefit of the most thorough information attainable and all the new 
and improved remedies. November 16, 1870, he was married to Miss 
Amanda Wysong, daughter of L. B. Wysong, of Prathcrsville. Mrs. 
Posey's family was originally from Virginia, but she was born and 
<'ducated in Ohio. The Doctor and wife have three children : Mary 
E., Harvey B. and John Lester. Mrs. P. is a member of the M. E. 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 411 

Church, ;uk1 the doctor is a member of the Christian Church, and the 

A. F. and A. M. 

JOHN S. PRATHER, 

(Of PrathcT & Crockett, Dealers in Dry Goods, Notion, Hats and Caps, Boots and 
Shoes, Groceries and Provisions, Escejsior Springs). 

For some years prior to engaging in business, Mr. Prather was 
farming in this county. He came here from Kentucky, where he was 
born and reared. Tlie county of his nativity was Fayette, and the 
time of his birth in 1848. His father, John M. Prather, was siieriff 
of Estill county for some years and a prominent citizen of that 
county. He died there in 1862. He had also been a farmer for many 
years and was quite successful in his chosen occupation. Mr. Pra- 
ther, Jr., was reared in Estill county, and in 1872 was married to 
Miss Louella Roberts, a daughter of Dennis Roberts, a farmer of Clay 
county. Mo. In the meantime, however, Mr. Prather had come to 
this State and located in Clay county. He came here in about 1868, 
and followed school teaching for a number of years, and then turned 
his attention to forming. In 1879 he began merchandising at Moscow, 
and two years later came to Excelsior. Prather & Crockett carry a 
large stock of goods in their line and are doing an excellent business. 
Both are business men of good qualifications and thorough reliability, 
and are justly popular in the community not only as merchants, but 
as citizens in all the walks of private life. Mr. and Mrs. Prather 
are members of the Christian Church. They have six children : Clay, 
Reba, Benjamin, Thomas, John and Roy. 

WILLIAM R. PRICE 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Missouri City). 

Maj. W. E. Price, the father of the subject of this sketch, came to 
Missouri from Jessamine county, Ky., in 1824, and entered land in 
Fishing River township, in Clay county, where he improved a farm and 
resided until his death. He was a major of a regiment during the 
Mormon war, and afterwards served as sheriff of the county. He died 
here January 4, 1880, at the age of 84. His wife is still living, now 
in her eighty-seventh year. She is remarkably bright and active, 
considering her advanced years, and is seemingly in as good health 
and spirits as she was in the morning of life. William R. Price was 
born on his father's farm in this county October 4, 1829, and remained 
at home until he was 19 years of age. He then, in 1850, went over- 
land to California, and was absent in the West, barring several 
visits home, until 1865. He was principally in California, but 
parts of the time was also in Nevada and New Mexico. 
His regular occupation out there was handling stock and 
ranching, in which he had good success. Being at home about the 
time that the war broke out he enlisted in the Southern service under 
Col. Thompson, and was out about a year. During that time he took 
part in the fights at Lexington, Independence, Pea Ridge, and several 



412 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

others. Returning home in the spring of 1862, the next year he went 
back to California. In 1865 he made another visit home, and on his 
return trip to the West was robbed by a baud of predatory Indians, 
resulting in a loss to him of about $6,000. This almost completely 
broke Iiim up, and on that account he returned to Clay county and 
rented a farm, going to work again with resolution to get another start. 
He has been in this county ever since, and now owns the farm which 
he rented to begin with. He first bought a part of the place in 1867, 
and has subsequently made two other purchases, bj^ which he has be-, 
come owner of all of it, a fine farm of 300 acres, and one of the best 
places in the county. February 24, 1881, Mr. Price was married to 
Miss Katie W. Dudley, a daughter of Elder James W. Dudley, of Au- 
drain county. Mr. and Mrs. Price have two children : Virginia 
Kussell and James Dudley, Mr. and Mrs. Price are members of the 
Old School Baptist Church. 

WALTER C. PRICE 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Missouri City). 

During the war Mr. Price served about seven months in the South- 
ern army under Gen. Sterling Price. While in the army he took part 
in the battle of Pea Ridge, and one or two engagements of less import- 
ance. W. C. Price was reared in this county, and has long been 
accounted one of the sul)stantial farmers ami respected citizens of the 
county. His father was early chosen justice of the peace of Fishing 
River township, and afterwards he held that office for a number of 
years. Besides farming, being a man of energy and enterprise, he was 
from time to time identified with other interests, among others that of 
bridge building, and he built a number of bridges in the county. In 
agricultural affairs he always showed marked public spirit. He was 
largel_v instrumental in organizing the first agricultural society ever 
formed in this county, and in recognition of his prominence and 
services in the matter he was elected the first president of the society. 
Walter C. Price was born in this county in 1832, and was a son of 
Ebenezer and Sarah Price, who came here from Kentucky in 1826. 
His father, as has been said, was a farmer b^' occupation, and Walter 
was brought up to farming and handling stock. In 1860 he was mar- 
ried to Miss Mattie Young, of this county. They have five children: 
William Y., Winfrey E., Sallie E., Mary and Kittie. Mrs. Price is a 
member of the Baptist Church, and the 'Squire is a worthy member of 
the Masonic Order. 

ALBERT B. REED 
(Farmer, Post-offlce, Kearney, Clay county, Mo.). 

Mr. Reed is superintendent and has control of what is known as 
the H. D. Brown farm, owned I)y Samuel Archer, and which contains 
nearly 500 acres. There is a good orchard on the place, numl)ering 
about 600 trees. Mr. R. is an experienced and practical farmer and 
makes a jjood farm manager and during the war he was in the State 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 413 

militia for a time under Capt. John Younger. He was asonof Jame.s 
and Emerine Reed, of iSliell)y county, Ky., who settled in Indiana in 
1838, and after living witli his parents tliere, Albert accompanied 
them to Monroe county, Mo., in 1858, and remained with them for one 
year when, in 18(50, he commenced working for John Vaughn. In 
1861 he became overseer or took charge of the farm of Mrs. Jane 
Kipper, four miles north of Paris, Monroe county, where he remained 
and had full control until December, 1864, then coming to Clay 
county. His parents had removed here in 1862. Since 1878, Mr. 
Reed has been located on his present farm. He was born in Shelby 
county, Ky., on the 13th of January, 1834, and came to Clay county 
in 1864. He was married here in January, 1867, to Miss Ellen Dag- 
ley. The have three children : James W., Josepli A. and Marshall 
A. Mr. R. and wife are membei's of the Christian Church. 

HUGH J. ROBERTSON 

(Cashier of the Savings Bank, Missouri City). 

The above named banking institution was founded shortly after the 
war witii R. J. Golmer, president, and H. J. Rol)ertson, cashier Its 
capital was $50,000. Through all the years that have intervened since 
that time the bank has maintained a high reputation for solidity, busi- 
ness integrity and accommodating, obliging management. It is one 
of the most popular institutions of the kind, as it is one of the old- 
est, in the county. Much of the credit for its good management and 
popularity is due to the efficiency with which the subject of the pre- 
sent sketch has discharged his duties as cashier and to the high per- 
sonal esteem in which he is held. Mr. Robertson is a native of this 
county, a son of Hon. Andrew Robertson, deceased, and was born on 
bis father's homestead in the vicinity of Missouri City, November 16, 
1830. His father came here in a very early day, in 1820, and repre- 
sented the county in the Legislature during the years 1831 and 1832. 
He was from Tennessee to this State. His wife was a Miss Ruth 
Robertson, a cousin of his. He died on his homestead in this county, 
at a ripe old age, in 1870. In theii- family were three sons and four 
daughters, only three of whom are living. Hugh J. Robertson was 
reared on the farm and educated at Chapel Hill College. September 
3, 1850, he was married to Miss Elizabeth Chancellor, a daughter of 
James Chancellor, of this county After his marriage Mr. Robertson 
engaged in the mercantile business at Missouri City, which he followed 
until after the outbreak of the war. On account of the unsettled 
condition of affairs during the war he suspended business, and after 
the restoration of peace engaged in his present banking business. 
Mr. and Mrs. Robertson have eight children : Andrew, now of New 
Mexico ; Oscar, assistant cashier of the bank; Mary R., Elizabeth, 
Rebecca, Dixy, Caroline and Hugh J., Jr. Mr. Robertson is one of 
the highly respected and popular citizens of Missouri City. He 
served two terms as mayor of the place and in other local positions of 
public trust. Under President Johnson's administration he was post- 
master at this place. 



414 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

A. \V. ROBERTSON, M. D. 

(Physician and Surgeon, Prathersville). 

Dr. Robertson's family, or I'ather his father's family, came to this 
State from Kentucky, and located in Platte county in 1847, where 
they still reside. The Doctor was born there on the 9th of May, 
1847. Reared in that county, he had good school advantages in youth 
and acquired a good general English education. In 18(57 he begaiv 
the study of medicine under Drs. Wilson & Bonifant, at Weston, and 
in the fall of the next year matriculated at the St. Louis Medical Col- 
lege, where he took a full course of two terms, graduating with credit 
in 1871. Dr. Robertson located at Prathersville immediately after his 
graduation, in 1871. He has been actively engaged in the practice of 
his profession at this place ever since that time. He has had excellent 
success as a physician in the treatment of cases and has not failed to 
reap some of the substantial rewards of a large practice. However, 
he is by no means an avaricious man and studies far more the science 
of his profession than the means of accumulating property. He is a 
thoroughly capable and skillful [jhj'sician, and is so regarded bj' all 
that know him who are qualitied to judge of his professional attain- 
ments. February 3, 1873, he was married to Miss Lillian Pixley, of 
this county. They have three children : Fred, Edna and Curtis. The 
Doctor and wife are members of the Baptist Church. 

WILLIS M. SIMMONS 

(Of Simmons & Nowlin, Dealers in Dry Goods, Clothing, Hats, Caps, Boots and 
Shoes, Etc., Missouri City). 

Mr. Simmons has occupied his time since he began to do for himself 
with two occupations, principally, namely, milling and merchandising. 
He was l)orn in Madison county, Ky., Se})tember 18, 1835, and was 
reared in his native county. In 1857 he came to Clay county. Mo., 
and went to work in a mill. Three years later he bought an interest 
in the Claybrook flouring mills, and was engaged in running that for 
about live years. He then came to Missouri City and ran the mills at 
this place for the proprietors for some five years. In 1870 he quit 
the milling business and became a member of the firm of Long & Sim- 
mons, general merchants, at Missouri City. He has been engaged in 
merchandising ever since. During this time he has had several part- 
ners at different times, and the present partnership of Simmons & 
Nowlin was formed in 1882. They carry a large stock in the lines 
mentioned above and have an excellent trade. On the 22d of March, 
1860, Mr. Simmons was married to Miss Eliza Brasfield, a daughter 
of Leonard Brasfield, who came to this State from Virginia by way of 
Kentucky. Mr. and Mrs. Simmons have four children : George, 
express agent at Missouri City; William L.. clerk in the store of 
Simmons & Nowlin ; Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee. Mr. and 
Mrs. S. are members of the M. E. Church South. He is a member 
of the Masonic Order. For four years following 1870 he was justice of 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 415 

the peace for Missouri City township. Mr. Simmons' parents wero 
William H. and Mourning (Waklen) Simmons, the father of an old 
Maryland family, but the mother of a Virginia family. They came 
to Clay county and settled in Washington township in 1858. The 
father, a farmer by occupation, died here in 1867. The mother died 
here also. 

WILLIAM B. SMITH 

(Proprietor of tbe Missouri City Livery, Feed and Sales Stables, and Missouri City 
and Excelsior Springs Stage Line). 

Mr. Smith is now in the third year of his e.xperience here in his 
present line of business, and has thoroughly established his business 
on a firm footing. He has a good establishment in this line, an excel- 
lent building for the purpose, which is well stocked with riding and 
driving horses and with carriages, buggies, etc. By close attention to 
business and fair dealing he has won the good opinions of the com- 
munity and the traveling pulilic as a liveryman, and receives a liberal 
share of their patronage. Mr. Smith came to Missouri from Illinois 
in 1878. He at once located at Missouri City, and has been a resi- 
dent of this place ever since, except for one year, which he spent at 
Excelsior Springs. Prior to engaging in the livery business he clerked 
in a dry goods store for about three years, but at Excelsior Springs he 
was engaged in the drug and grocery business on his own account. 
He was born in Menard county. 111., November 4, 1844. His father, 
Judge Samuel Smith, was originally from Dutchess county, N. Y.,and 
in his younger daj's was a school teacher by profession. In 1836 he 
came West and located in Cass county. 111. Subsequently he lived in 
Menard county for a while, but returned to Cass and made that his 
permanent home. He was judge of the Cass county court for a num- 
ber of years. William B. was reared in Cass county and remained 
there until he came to Missouri in 1878. He has been married twice. 
His first wife was a Miss Mary A. Whitsell, daughter of Hiram Whit- 
sell, of Clinton county, Mo. She survived her marriage but five years, 
dying in 1879 and leaving one child, Artelia M. His second wife was 
a Miss Eoberta A. Winfrey, daughter of W. H. Winfrey, deceased, 
formerly of Carroll county, Mo. Mr. Smith and his present wife have 
no children. She is a member of the Christian Church. 

HON. CHARLES M. SWETNAM 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Liberty). 

In 1882 Mr. Swetnam was nominated by the Democrats of this 
county at a primary election to represent the county in the State 
Legislature, and was elected by a very large majority. At the primary 
election he received more votes than the total number cast for both 
of the other two candidates. He made a useful representative in the 
Legislature, and his record was warmly approved by the people of the 
county. Mr. Swetnam is a man of large popularity, and very justly 
so, for the reason that he possesses to a marked degree many of the 



416 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

qualities which command the respect and appreciation of the public. 
A man of thoroughly upright character, superior general intelligence 
and agreeable manners, he wins the good opinion of all with whom 
he comes in contact. Mr. Swetnam's father, Hon. Thomas T. Swet- 
uam, was also a representative from Clay county in the Legislature. 
He was elected for two terms, at the election of 1848 and the one of 
1850. Previously he had served eight years as assessor of the county. 
He was a substantial farmer and stock-raiser, and highly respected by 
the people of the county. He was from Kentucky to this county 
in 1835, and died in 1859. His wife, who was a Miss Caroline Young 
befoi-e her marriage, also of Kentucky, survived until 1878. Hon. 
Charles M. Swetuam was born on his father's homestead in this 
conuty«July 1, 1848. He was reared on the farm, and as he grew up 
acquired a good education in the pulilic and high schools of the county. 
After attaining his majority he and an older brother, Thomas B., en- 
gaged as farmers, partners, in farming on the old family homestead, 
which they have ever since continued. They have a good farm and 
are quite successful. They also raise considerable stock, which they 
find a profitable branch of industry. Mr. Swetnam is a member of the 
Masonic Order. 

JOHN H. TEIMBLE 

(Dealer in Dry Goods, Clothing, Notions, Hats, Caps, Boots, Shoes, Etc., Missouri 

City). 

Mr. Trimble, a prominent merchant of the southern part of the 
county, is a native of Kentucky, born in Clark county. May 1, 1829. 
He is one in a family of children of William and Margaret (Fry) 
Trimble," both of early Kentucky families. The parents removed to 
Missouri in 1865, and located at Plattsburg, where the father died in 
1872. John H. was reared in Clark county, Ky., and received a 
good common school education. Februar}' 4, 1850, he was married 
to Miss Margaret Rane}^ a daughter of William Raney, of Hai-risou 
county, Ky. Six yeai's later Mr. Trimble removed to Missouri, and 
settled on a farm six miles north of Missouri City. He farmed there, 
and he also engaged in stock raising, including fine short horn cattle, 
and dealing in stock, until the spring of 1883, when he bought and 
established a store at Missouri City, and moved to this place. He 
caui"ies a large stock of goods in his line, is a careful, judicious 
buyer, a good business man and accommodating to his customers, and 
has, therefore, had a successful career as a mercliant. He has an 
excellent trade and is doing a good business. Mr. Trimi)le is promi- 
nently identified with the Democratic party in this county and takes 
an active interest in political matters, though he has never been him- 
self an aspirant for office. Mr. ;ind Mrs. Triinl)le have eight children : 
John T., now in Colorado; James L. and Benjamin F., both also in 
Colorado ; Annie L., wife of Jasper Clevinger, of Ray county; Sarah 
C, Dora E., and Maggie. Mrs. T. is a member of the Baptist 
Church, as is also Mr. Trimble. He is furthermore a member of the 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 417 

A. F. !Uk1 a. M., including the Blue Lodge, Ciiapter and Command- 
ery in eacli of which he has held prominent positions. 

JOSIAH J. VAUGHN (deceased) 

(Vicinity of Blue Eagle). 

Mr. Vaughn lost his life in the Southern army in 1862. He was an 
orderly sergeant in Reeves' regiment, and was severely wounded at 
the battle of Pea Ridge, and died of his wound at a hospital in Ar- 
kansas. Mr. Vaughn had been a resident of Clay county for some 10 
year.s prior to the war. He came to this county from Kentucky with 
his family and engaged in farming. He was a man of marked intelli- 
gence, good general education, and a thoroughly energetic farmer. 
He made many friends here, and was highly esteemed by all who 
knew him. Mr. Vaughn was a prominent member of the Masonic 
Order, and took an active interest in the welfare of the Order. He 
assisted to organize several lodges in this vicinity of country. His 
widow is still living, and resides on the homestead with her two 
unmarried children. She was a Miss Mary T. Stewart, from Ken- 
tucky. They had tive children: Francis J., Peterson S., Nancy E., 
Justin E. and Mary E. Mr. Vaughn and his wife were both born in 
Kentucky. P^rancis J., their eldest son, at whose instance this sketch 
is inserted, was born in the native county of his parents in Kentucky, 
and accompanied them to this State, and in IStil joined the Southern 
army, but shortly afterward he was taken prisoner and confined at St. 
Louis for a time. He was then exchanged, and re-entered the 
Southern service. After the war he returned home and engaged in 
farming. He has a neat farm of 80 acres, and is comfortably sit- 
uated. 

GEORGE H. WALLIS 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Liberty). 

When the Mexican War broke out, Mr. Wailis was a young man 
about 19 years of age, and had been reared in Clay county. Animated 
by the ardor of youth and the patriotic impulses which are inherent 
in every true sou of Missouri, he promptly and gallantly offered him- 
self as a volunteer to assist at the risk of his life in carrying the flag 
of his country down in triumph to the capital of the Montezuuias. 
He became a member of Capt. Moss' company, under Col. Doniphan, 
and accompanied the old Missouri hero, Doniphan, throughout all his 
campaigns in New Mexico and beyond the Rio Grande in the land of 
the Cactus Republic. Mr. Wailis received an honorable discharge 
with the balance of his company after the war, at New Orleans, and 
came thence to his home in Henry county. From the hardships and 
dangers of military life he now took upou himself the labors and 
responsibilities of farm life. He at once went to work with energy 
and resolution, and soon had the satisfaction of seeing the substantial 
evidences of prosperous industry accumulate around him. In a word, 



418 HISTORT OF CLAY COUNTY. 

Mr. Wallis made gratifying progress iu the direction of becoming a 
well-to-do and prominent farmer and stock-raiser. In August, 1848, 
he was married to Miss Mary H. Mosby, a daughter of Wade aud 
Rebecca Mosby, referred to in the sketch of their son, John H. Mosby. 
Seven children have blessed the married life of Mr. and Mrs. Wallis, 
but two of these, alas, have been taken away by the merciless hand of 
death. The children living are Mary H., Sarah M., Margaret J., 
Artimesia, John H., William D. and Robert H. The two deceased 
are George N. and Katie. Mrs. W. is a member of the Christian • 
Church. Mr. W.'s farm contains 240 acres, which is well 
improved. His residence was erected at a cost of $5,000, and 
he also has comfortable and commodious outbuildings. Mr. Wallis 
makes a specialty of raising and feeding hogs for the market, and is 
quite successful. In 1854 he was elected justice of the peace of Fish- 
ing River township, and he served in that office for four years. 

JEREMIAH WHITE, 

(Farmer, Post-office, Missouri City) . 

The well known Baptist minister, Henry Hill, was the clergyman 
who officiated at the marriage of Mr. White, the subject of the pres- 
ent sketch, to Miss Elizabeth McQuiddy, in 1836. The ceremony 
took place in Clay county. Mo., in which Mr. White had located, direct 
from Kentucky, some two years before. He had been baptized by 
"Raccoon" John Smith. Since the time of first locating here he 
has been a continuous resident of the county (except while tempora- 
rily absent in California) for a period of half a century. In personal 
appearance Mr. White is a man of medium l)uild. Indeed he can not 
be said to be more than an ordinarily fleshy man, weighing in the vicin- 
ity (something past the mark) of 160 pounds : and although now well 
advanced in years, like most men in good health, he is quite good hu- 
mored, and jocularly remarks that he has managed to pick up only five, 
pounds in Clay county in 50 years. In 1850 he went to California 
seeking his fortune in thePactolian sands of the Pacific Coast. Locat- 
ing at Sonoma, he was there employed as chain carrier under the 
afterwards famous Mr. Peabody, then an humble surveyor in the land 
beyond the Cordilleras kissed by the last rays of the setting sun. He 
received $5 a day under Mr. Peabody and afterwards ran a livery 
stable for Spriggs & Cooper at Sonoma. Subsequently, he set sail 
on the billowy waters of the Pacific, bound for his home in the heart 
of the Continent, by way of the Palm-leaf Isthmus of Panama 
and the Crescent City of New Orleans. Finally reaching home, he 
resumed farming and stock-raising, which he has contiimed ever since. 
He and his good wife have been blessed with nine children, namely : 
Benjamin, Martha, Mary N., Harriet S., John, Daniel T., Franklin, 
Jeremiah and Emma. Sarah M. , the eldest, died at the age of nine years. 
Mr. White was born in Fayette county, Ky., September 15, 1812. 
He came to Clay county. Mo., in 1834. 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 419 

THOMAS M. WILSON 

(Farmer, Post-offlce, PrathersvlUe). 

Thirty years ago Mr. Wilson came to this county from Kentucky. 
He was a son of William Wilson, who settled in Kentucky from Vir- 
ginia in an early day. Thomas Wilson was reared in the Blue Grass 
State, and was there married to Miss Martha Faucett. On coming to 
Missouri they settled in Clay county, where they made their perma- 
nent home. Mrs. Wilson died here in February, 1882. Mr. Wilson 
has a good farm which is fairly improved and is a comfortable home- 
stead. His wife left him one child, Mary, who is now married. Dur- 
ing the late war Mr. Wilson served in the State militia for a short 
time under Capt. William Garth. 




CHAPTER XV. 

PLATTE TOWNSHIP. 

Position and Description — Early Settlements — Organization — First Justices — First 
Post-office — Tragedies of tlie Civil War — Cliurches in the County — Town ol 
Smithville — "Yanljee" Smith and his Eccentric Characteristics — His Death and 
the Epitaph on his Tombstone — Incorporation — Churches at Smithville — Odd 
Fellows' Lodge — Gosneyville — Churches — Biographical. 

POSITION AND DESCKIPTION. 

Platte township comprises the northwestern portion of Clay, its pre- 
sent boundaries being as follows : Beginning at the northwestern 
corner of the county ; thence south along the county line between 
Clay and Platte to the southwest corner of section 22, in township 52, 
range 33, thence due east to the southeast corner of section 21, town- 
ship 52, range 32 ; thence north to the southeast corner of section 33, 
township 53, range 32 ; thence east to the half section line north and 
south through section 35, township 53, range 32 ; thence due north 
to the county line between Clay and Clinton ; thence west along the 
county line to the initial point. 

The greater portion of the township is well timbered and watered, 
and the principal farms have been hewed and dug out of the timber. 
Generally the face of the country is broken, and the land rolling and 
elevated. The numerous branches of the Platte — Smith's fork, 
Camp branch, Owen's branch. Second creek, Wilkinson's creek — 
afford plenty of water and render the country hilly in their vicinity. 
The eastern part of the northern portion of the country was originally 
— at least many sections — prairie. 

Some of the best farms in the county are in Platte township. Con- 
siderable labor was expended in making them, and those who per- 
formed this labor in most instances did not live to enjoy the full fruits 
thereof. It has been left for their successors to realize the good for- 
tune. Many large farms and wealthy farmers — albeit the latter are 
plain and simple in their lives — are to be found in Platte township. 

EARLY SETTLEMENT. 

Among the first bona Jide settlers in Platte townshi[) was Humphrey 
Smith, the old "Yankee," mentioned elsewhere. His mill, at what 
(420) 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 421 

afterwards became Smithville, was the nucleus or head of subsequent 
settlements. Smith came in the summer of 1822. His son, Calvin, 
says his nearest neighbors were eight miles off, and were Ezekiel Huff- 
man, Turlton Whitlock, David Magill, Abraham Creek and James 
Wills. 

Prior to 1824 there were in what is now Platte township Rice B. 
Davenport, five miles east of Smithville ; Capt. James Duncan, at 
Elm Grove, one mile south of Davenport ; Capt. Wm. Duncan, three 
miles south of Smithville, and in the fall of 1824 came Eleven 
Thatcher, to his claim, two miles south, or about one mile north of 
Duncan. One account given fixes the date of the settlements of the 
Duncans as in the spring of 1824. In the eastern part of the town- 
ship (west half of section 14-53-32) a squatter named Castle 
White lived in 1826. The dates and locations of other settlers iu the 
township, prior to the creation of the township, in 1827, can not now 
be obtained, but it is known that there were at least thirty families in 
what is now the township before 1828. 

ORGANIZATION. 

Upon the organization of the county what is now Platte township 
was included in Gallatin. But in time it became necessary to have a 
third township, this portion being then thickly settled, and needing 
separate organization. Accordingly at the special term of the county 
court, in June, 1827, Platte township was created, with the following 
boundaries : — 

Beginning on the boundary line of the State where the sectional line 
dividing sections 22 and 27 strikes said boundary line, in range 33, 
from thence due east along said sectional line dividing 22 and 27, to 
the sectional line dividing sections 21 and 22, in range 32, and from 
thence due north along said sectional line between 21 and 22 in range 
32, to the township line dividing 52 and 53, and from thence due 
east to the western Ijoundary line of Fishing River township, in sect- 
ion 36, townshi)) 53, and from thence due north to the northern boun- 
dary line of the county. 

The first justices of the peace of the township were Wm. Duncan 
and James Duncan. The first constalile was Jesse Yocum. Elections 
were held at James Duncan's, and the judges were James Winn, Wm. 
Yocum and John Loyd. 

The first post-ofiice in the township was at Elm Grove, the resi- 
dence of Cai)t. James Duncan, six miles southeast of Smithville. It 
was established some time prior to 1835. This was the first post- 



422 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

office in this region of country, and was resorted to for years by the 
settlers in the Platte Purchase, and by many others. 

TRAGEDIES OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

During the Civil War a number of the citizens of Platte township 
were killed at or near their homes. The bushwhackers killed Bishop 
Bailey and Columbus Whitlock, and the Clay county militia killed 
Thos. D. Ashurst while on the way with him to Liberty, as narrated 
elsewhere. 

John Ecton, Jr., had been in the Southern army, but had returned 
and was living quietly at home. A Federal detachment took him 
from his work of breakiug hemp, carried him away aud killed 
him. 

In the first week of June, 1863, a squad of Federal State militia 
took prisoner Rev. A. H. F. Payne, a prominent member of the 
Christian Church, residing in the southern part of Clinton county, but 
well known and universally respected in Clay. They carried the 
prisoner with them on a raid through this township and halted one 
night at Smithville, where Mr. Payne passed his last night on earth at 
the residence of Col. Lewis Wood. The next day he was taken out, 
near his residence, and shot to death. 

Near the time when llev. Payne was killed Capt. John Reid was 
shot by a detachment of Federals at a point about three miles north- 
east of Smithville. Capt. Reid was a prisoner and was mounted on a 
fine swift horse. He sought to escape by the superior speed of his 
horse, and dashed away, but the Federal bullets were swifter than the 
horse, and he was shot out of his saddle. Many a prisoner was shot 
during the war in an alleged attempt to escape, but it is said by good 
Southern friends of the Captain, that he really was attempting to ob- 
tain his freedom when he was killed. 

COUNTRY CHURCHES. 

First Baptist Church of Platte. — This is prol)ably the oldest 
church located in the limits of Clay county, and certainly the first one 
of Platte township, having been organized at Duncan's school-house, 
on Saturday, June 23, 1827. It is located on the northeast quarter of 
section 36, in township 53 north, range 38 west. Here the church 
liuilding, originalh' constructed of logs, stood, but in 1876 a frame 
building was erected, costing $1,000. The first members were Will- 
iam Vance, Barliara Vance, Richard Jesse, Frances Jesse, Juliet C. 
Je«so, John Thatcher, Woodford F. Jesse, William Corum, Bersheba 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 423 

Corum, Abijah Brooks, John Lloyd, Nancy Lloyd, Eleanor Coruiu 
and Polly Nance. Abijah Brooks was the first church clerk, being 
succeeded by Woodford Jesse. The church now has 15 members, and 
its clerk is Edward P. Moore. Revs. D. W. Riley, William Thorp, 
Eppa Tillery, Thomas Turner, Darius Bainbridge, William Warren, 
T. \V. Todd and John E. Goodson have been the pastors in 
•charge. 

Mount Olive Christian Church. — This church is located on the 
northwest quarter and southwest quarter of section 8, township 52, 
range 32, where stands an e.Kcellent frame building, ereoted in 1875, 
and costing about $2,000. In connection with it is a handsomely laid 
out cemetery. Twenty-six persons comprised the original member- 
ship, as follows : Louis Grimes and Jacob R. Wilson, who were made 
elders ; Samuel Hunt, William Christa, B. T. Gordon, G. C. Clardy, 
cliosen as deacons; Bennett Smith, who was made clerk; Ellen 
Christa, Ruth Grimes, Mattie Wilson, Isaac P. Wilson, Isabella 
Wilson, Joel E. Grimes, Sallie Grimes, Sallie Hunt, Ellen Hunt, 
Nancy E. Smith, Sarah M. Crow, Mattie H. Crow, Lavena Blackstone, 
Elizabeth Dickerson, Giles C. Clark, Mattie Adams, Jeff T. Thomp- 
son, Lizzie Grimes, Ruth B. Grimes. The pastors who have filled the 
pulpit here are W. C. Rogers, Bayard Waller, A. B. Jones, H. B. 
Clay, S. R. Hand and Rev. Mr. Watson. The present membership 
is about 100. There are 25 scholars in the Sabbath-school, the super- 
intendent being Mr. Gusten. 

SMITHVILLE. 

The town of Smithville stands on section 23, township 53, range 33, 
or one mile from the Platte county line and about five miles from Clin- 
ton county. It is a small village, but a trading point of already 
great advantage to the people of the surrounding country, and it 
promises now, with a railroad in quite reasonable prospect, to become 
at no very distant date a town of no small importance and conse- 
(pience. 

The first settler on the present site of Smithville was Humphrey 
Smith, who came in the spring of 1822, and two years later, or in 
1824, built a mill on the fork of Platte river, which still bears his name. 
He was born in New Jersey in 1774, lived in Pennsylvania from 1784 
to 1800, in Erie county, N. Y., from 1800 to 181(i, and then removed 
to Howard county. Mo., where he resided three years and a half; 
then he removed to what is now Carroll county — then Chariton — 

22 



424 HISTOKT OF CLAY COUNTY. 

where he remained until 1822, when he came to Chiy. He was uni- 
versally known as " Yankee " Smith. 

With something of Yankee enterprise and shrewdness Smith located 
where he did and built his mill in order to catch the patronage of the 
government Indian agencies in the Platte country, and also the custom 
of the settlers who, he rightly conjectured, would push out in con- 
siderable numbers to the extreme frontier. The mill at first was but 
a " corn-cracker," but in a few years, when wheat was first raised in 
the country, Smith added a bolting ai)paratus, and it is said that this 
was the first flouring mill in Clay county. It stood near the site of 
the present mill, and Smith's dwelling-house, a log cabin, was built 
on the south side of Main street where the Libei-ty road turns south, 
and east of the road. The mill was operated by Smith and his sons 
for thirty consecutive years, and then purchased by Col. Lewis 
Wood. It was washed away by a flood in 1853.' 

" Yankee" Smith was all his life an avowed Abolitionist. He de- 
claimed against what he considered the sin of human slavery at all 
times and under all circumstances. For his principles he was mobbed 
in Howard county and driven away. His family fled to what is now 
Carroll, and he joined them as soon as it was safe to do so. But no 
sort of persecution, blows, mobbings, threats, denunciation, or rail- 
lery moved him or deterred him from speaking his mind. Frequently 
some bully would approach him and call out : " Smith, are you an 
Abolitionist?" "lam," was always the reply. The next instant 
he would be knocked down ; but he would rise and calmly say : " O, 
that's no argument. You are stronger than I, but that don't prove 
you are right." Finally his soft answers turned away the wrath of 
those opposed to him, and he was allowed to hold and express his 
opinions in peace. 

Smith always declared that slavery would be abolished in the United 
States, but he did not live until his eyes had seen " the glory." In 
June, 1857, he died of small-pox. It has always been supposed that 
he caught the disease from an infected Abolition paper, called the 
Herald of Freedom, published at Lawrence, Kas., and to which his 
son, Calvin, was a subscriber. The postmaster, James Brasfield, who 
handed Smith the paper, took varioloid, and Smith himself had small- 
pox in a violent and fatal form. At first his disease was not known. 



' The first mention of Smith's mill in the county records appears in the proceedings 
of the county court in the summer of 1826, in connection with the reviewing of a road 
from Liberty thereto. 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 425 

and persons who called to see him were infected, and spread the con- 
tagion through the neighborhood. Many died therefrom, and the 
incident was one long and sadly remembered.^ 

Humphrey Smith had a store at his mill before 1828, and soon after 
a little village sprang up. Calvin Smith, a son of Humphrey, man- 
aged the store at first. Next to him were Henry Owens and John 
Lerty, both of whom were small merchants here before 1840. James 
Walker was another early merchant. Dr. Alex. M. Robinson, afterward 
a prominent Democratic politician of Platte, Dr. J. B. Snaile and Dr. 
S. S. Ligon were the first physicians in the community. 

Old settlers assert that as early as 1845 Smithville was a place of 
as much importance as at present, with nearly the same number of 
houses, and a greal deal more whisky ! The failure of the Parkville 
Eailroad prevented the full development of the place, and entailed 
considerable loss on many of the citizens who were subscribers to the 
stock. Although always without railroad facilities the town has 
ever had a good trade. At present — April, 1885 — there is good 
prospect for securing to the town the St. Joseph and Southeastern 
Railroad within a year. 

Smithville has been several times incorporated. The first incor- 
poration was by the county court, August 7, 1867 ; this was amended 
April 8, 1868, but the trustees appointed never qualified, and July 6, 



1 As stated, Humphrey Smith died in June, 1857. He was buried in a small grave- 
yard in Platte county, four miles northwest of Smithville. The following inscription 
appears upon his tombstone : — 

"IN MEMORY OF HUMPHREY SMITH, BORN IN 1774, DIED JUNE, 1857. 

" Like leaves on trees the race of man is found, 
Now green in youth, now withering on the ground; 
So generations in their course decay. 
So perish these when those have passed away. 

"This patriot came to Missouri in 1816, from the State of New York; labored to 
make the territory into a Free State, for which he was mobbed by armed slaveholders, 
scourged, bruised and dragged at midnight from his house. His ever faithful wife, 
coming to his assistance, received injuries at the hands of the mob which caused her 
years of affliction. He was compelled to leave the State. His wife and family fled 
from Howard county to Carroll county; there joining his family, he moved to Clay 
county, where for many years he kept up the struggle against the ' negro thieves or 
man stealers.' They denounced him as an Abolitionist, because he was in favor of 
human liberty for all men. His request was, ' Never let the men stealers know where 
I am buried until my State is free, then write my epitaph.' 

" Here lies Humphrey Smith, who was in favor of human rights, universal liberty, 
equal and exact justice, no union with slaveholders, free States, free people, union of 
States and one and universal republic." 



426 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

followinjT, the count}^ court appointed Erastiis Smith, Jacob Kraus, 
Otis Guernsey, Theodoric Fitzgerald and Matthew McGregory iu their 
stead. February 4, 1878, there was another incorporation, the terri- 
tory incorporated being described as " all that portion of the south- 
west quarter of section 23, township 53, range 33, lying south of 
Smith's fork of Platte river." October 8, following, there was a 
reincorporation as "a town," with J. D. DeBerry, J. C. Brasfield, 
William Clardy, W. H. Rhoads and John Swartz as trustees. The 
town is now running under this incorporation. The population of 
Smitiiville is at present about 250. 

CHURCHES. 

Church of Christ at Smithville. — There are but few facts men- 
tioned in connection with the histroy of this church which have been 
preserved, and some of the most important items of interest can not 
now be given. The organization of the church was etfected October 
13, 1843, and though the present membership comprises 151 com- 
municants, the membership in that early day was composed only of 
Alexander B. Duncan, Preston Akers, Henry Owens, L. J. Wood, 
Christopher C. Bail}', James G. Williams, Sr., Jonathan Owens, 
James H. Thorp, John Grimes, James Krauss, Margaret Krauss, 
Helen M. Duncan, Rachel C. Buchanan, Lucinda G. Grimes, Eleanor 
Breckinridge, Elizabeth Ecton, Juda Strode, Missouri A. Owens and 
Joseph Shafer. Some of the pastors have been Moses E. Lard, 
Preston Aker, A. H. F. Payne, William H. Robison, G. B. Waller 
and John W. Tate, the present pastor. In 1848, at a cost of $1,000, 
a plain, unostentatious brick church edifice was built. In 1883 a new 
building was erected at an expenditure of $4,500. This is one of the 
handsomest brick churches in the county. G. W. Clardy superin- 
tends the Sabbath-school, which numbers 80 pupils. Mr. J. F. 
Justus is church clerk. 

Smithville Baptist Church. — J. D. DeBerry and wife. Mar}' A. 
DeBerry, J. B. Colley and wife, S. P. Herndon, Eliza and Emeline 
Herndon, Mary J. Parker and Clarissa H. Basley were the constitu- 
ent members of this church, which was organized in the spring of 
1873, and which now includes in its membership 108 persons. Rev. 
Mr. Livingston was instrumental in its formation. The first pastor 
was L. D. Lampkin, and he was succeeded by R. H. Jones, W. W. 
Wilkerson and A. Barton, after whom again came Mr. Jones. In 
1882 the frame church building in which they now worship was con- 
structed at a cost of about $1,700. 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 427 



ODD FELLOWS LODGE. 



Vigilimt Lodge No. 289, I. O. O. F., at Smithville, was organized 
November 28, 1872. The original members were John H. Marr, S. 
S. Johnson, F. O. Estes, G. H. Hays and John Swartz. A. B. Craw- 
ford, L. J. Wood, Erastus Smith and Samuel Venrick were initiated 
the first night. The present ofEcers of tlie lodge are R. P. Wood, 
noble grand ; L. P. Moore, vice grand ; J. R. Shafer, secretary ; John 
Swartz, treasurer; A. K. Elliott, chaplain; John R. Swartz, conduc- 
tor. The present membership is 27. John Swartz, who was the 
first treasurer, is the only one of the charter members now remaining. 

GOSNEYVILLE. 

Gosneyville, a small hamlet in the northern part of Platte town- 
ship (on the southeast quarter of section 5, townshij) 53, range 32), 
has half a dozen houses, two churches, stores, etc. It was never reg- 
ularly laid out, and has no official history. Many years ago John 
Gosney established a blacksmith shop here, and for him the village 
was named. The post-office is called Paradise. 

CHURCHES. 

Gosneyville M.E. Church Sonth. — This church was organized at 
the old Coram school-house, near Smithville, in 1843, by Rev. E. M. 
Marvin and Rev. Amos Tutt, and was the first M. E. Church organ- 
ized in Platte township. The original members were: Geo. W. 
Douglas, Jane Dfeuglas, Mahala McGee, James O. McGee, Julia Mc- 
Gec, Thomas McGee, Samuel J. McGee, Jane McGee, Polly Hulse, 
Mary Hulse, Moses McCall, Abner Loyd, William Slayton and John 
K. Rollins. The first pastor was Rev. Amos Tutt. The church is a 
frame building, and was built in 1808. The present membership is 
127. Rev. Winston is the present pastor of the church. Con- 
nected with the church is a Sunday-school, with B. F. Rollins as su- 
perintendent. 

Gosneyville Christian Church — This church was instituted July 
18, 1868, by Rev. Preston Akcr and Josiah Waller. The constituent 
members were John Gosney, Thomas D. Sparks, F. M. Graham, 
A. J. Lawrence, Samuel Moore, N. W. Litton, Bird Benton, Wm. H. 
Shannon, Rufus Patcher, Peter L. Holtzclaw, Henry Anderson, W. 
M. Endicott, Archibald Holtzclaw, Franklin Holtzclaw, Amos Ander- 
son, James L. Vaughn, John Anderson, Francis McCracken, John 
W. Youtsey, Peter Youtsey, James C. Youtsey, David Summers, A. 



428 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

E. Mackabell, Geo. E. T. Parker, Alex. C. Scott, Jasper Perrin, John 
Bernard, Robert A. Hamilton, Peter C. Callaway, Henry Snow, T. 
K. Ross, Sainl. Fleming and William Grooms. The church now has 
about 65 members. In 1870 a plain frame editice was built, costing 
$1,500. Revs. Thos. Williamson, Bayard Waller, A. J. Pickrell, 
Beiij. Hyder, — Blake and R. C. Watson have all ministered to this 
church as pastors. 



BIOGEAPHICAL. 



JAMES F. ADAMS 

(Manufacturer of and Dealer in Saddles, Harness, Etc., Etc., Smlthville). 

Near the historic hermitage of Gen. Jackson, in Wilson county, 
Tenn., Mr. Adams was born on the 19th of August, 1819. His pa- 
rents were James and Sarah ( Bernard) Adams, and were originally from 
Virginia. They had removed, however, from that State to Kentucky 
and thence to Tennessee. In 1842 they came to Missouri and settled 
near Ridgeley, in Platte county, where the father followed farming 
and stock-raising. He died in 1860 at St. Joe, while on a trip to that 
place. The mother had preceded him in 1852. They had a family 
of nine children, six of whom are living. James F. Adams, the sub- 
ject of this sketch, was reared in Tennessee and came out to Platte 
county the year previous to the removal of his father's family to the 
county. In Tennessee he had learned and worked at the saddle and 
harnessmaker's trade and this he resumed at Ridgeley, in Platte 
county. In 1857, however, having previously bought a farm, he en- 
gaged in farming and continued that for nearly 20 years, or until 
1876 when he came to Smithville and once more went to work at his 
trade. Mr. Adams was married in 1843 to Miss Mary Owen, a daugh- 
ter of Nicholas Owen, an early settler of Clay county from Kentucky. 
Mr. and Mrs. Adams have six children : Mary E., who has the mis- 
fortune to have been blind from infancy, resulting from a fever ; 
Sarah M., wife of Rol)ert Reed, of St. Joe ; Lou M., wife of W. L. 
DeBerry ; Maggie, wife of Dr. J. L. Mczner ; Julia M., wife of Ern- 
est Nelkerson, and James E. During President Polk's administration 
Mr. Adams was postmaster at Ridgeley. 

GIDEON C. BLACKWOOD 

(Owner and Proprietor of Oak Grove Stock Farm, Post-offlce, Liberty). 

Oak Grove stock farm is situated six miles northwest from Liberty 
on the road leading from that place to Smithville. It contains 400 
acres and is handsomely improved. The buildings, including the 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 429 

residence, hariis and outhouses, are of a superior class, and the place 
is not onh' well fenced, but divided up into convenient fields, pas- 
tures, meadows, etc., for farming and stock purposes. The land is 
principally run in blue grass, though enough is cultivated to produce 
a sufficiency of grain and other products for home use. It is also well 
watered, and in every sense is one of the choice stock farms of the 
county. The land is very fertile, and has never been impoverished 
by misuse either from over tillage or injudicious pasturing. Mr. 
Blackwood keeps his place in excellent condition and order, and takes 
hardly less pride in the appeai'ance of the farm than in its utility. He 
makes a specialty of breeding and ruising fine stock. It has been a 
rule of his for years always to breed the best stock to be had in the 
country, and never suffer a scrub of any sort to come on the place. 
He has a handsome herd of fine short horns, from which he annually 
sells a number of young bulls and heifers. His short horns are all of 
registered breeds, and are either registered themselves in the American 
Short Horn Herd Book, or are entitled to register upon proper appli- 
cation. He also has fine breeds of horses, hogs, sheep and other 
stock. Besides his tine stock interests, he makes a business of deal- 
ing in stock generally. Mr. Blackwood is a native Missourian, born 
in Clay county, April 7, 1858. His father was William Blackwood, 
originally from Gaston county, N. C, and late a substantial farmer 
of this county, but who died April 14, 1878. Mr. B.'s mother, who 
is still living, was a Miss Mary J. Stapp before her marriage, a 
daughter of Abijah Stapp, of Howard county. Gideon C. Blackwood 
is a young man unmaiTied. 

JAMES W. BOGGESS 

(Farmer, Post-office, Smithville). 

Among the prominent farmers of Platte township is the subject of 
the present sketch. Mr. Boggess' father, Dennis H. Boggess, was 
an early settler here from Kentucky. He was married in this county 
to Miss Nancy Corum, also originally from Kentucky. She died in 
1863, leaving four children, four of whom are living. The father was 
an enterprising farmer of the county and a man well thought of by 
all who knew him. James W., the subject of this sketch, was born 
in this county, July 3, 1844. He attended the common schools in his 
youth and learned the occupation of farming as he grew up, together 
with raising and handling stock. He thus acquired a decided taste 
for the calling of farmer and stock-raiser and adopted it as his per- 
manent pursuit. He has been quite successful and is one of the sub- 
stantial agriculturalists of the tov/nship. He was married in Platte 
county, Mo., February 18, 1869, to Miss Elizabeth Srite, a daughter 
of John and America Srite, formerly of Kentucky. Mr. and Mrs. B. 
have had seven children, four of whom are living : William A., Carrie, 
Emma and Owen. Mr. and Mrs. B. are members of the Christian 
Church. 



430 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

CAPT. ALPHEUS BOREGARD 

(Post-office, Paradise). 

From his father, John Boregard, the subject of this sketch inher- 
ited that patriotic love of country and desire for military activities 
which prompted him, when the call for troops was made to defend 
the Stars and Stripes, to enlist as a plighted soldier for the Union. 
At the breaking out of the war he entered the Third regiment. West 
Virginia calvary, U. S. A., and served until the close of the war. 
We can not take the space to follow him through his four years of 
campaigning in the various parts of the country or to give any idea of 
the dangers and hardships through which he passed. Suffice it to say, 
that as a soldier he was distinguished for bravery among as brave a 
body of men as ever kept step to martial music, or faced death without 
fear on the field of battle. He participated in all the campaigns and 
battles in which his command took part and was ever found in the 
front rank fearlessly and relentlessly fighting. For service in the 
battle of Five Forks he was made captain of a company, an honor 
conferred upon him for his courage and intrepidity. Capt. Boregard 
was born in Jackson county, Va., now West Virginia, September 10, 
1834, and was a son of John and Sarah J. ( Postlethwaite) Boregard, 
both Virginians by birth. The former was l)orn October 12, 1789, 
and the latter in February, 1787. After their marriage in Virginia, 
they went to Meigs county, O., in 1842, where they both died, the 
father, January L5, 1863, and the mother May 15, 1872. The 
father was a potter by trade, and also followed farming. Mrs. B. was 
a member of the Baptist Church. Alpheus was reared in Meigs 
county, and was educated in the district schools of the neighborhood. 
He first learned the trade of ship building and afterwards that of car- 
penter and joiner, at which he worked until the outbreak of the war. 
After his return from that conflict he returned to Ohio, where he was 
engaged in the grocery business at Pomero3\ In May, 1868, he re- 
moved to Kansas City, Mo., following carpentering and building that 
year and in the fall removed to Clay county, where he is now occupied 
in tilling the soil and working in the occupation of a farmer. His 
landed estate embraces 120 acres in cultivation, upon which is a neat 
residence. In February, 1865, Capt. Boregard was married in Ohio 
to Miss Eliza Hall, who died in 1860, leaving three children : Alice, 
John A. and Maxie Belle. His second wife was Mrs. Melissa Boone, to 
whom he was married in Spencer county, Va., Februar}' 12, 1863. 
She was the widow of Dr. D. G. Boone, who was killed at Spencer 
Court House, August 6, 1861, by Confederate troops. Nine children 
have been born to them : William H. C, Otto D., Ferdinand DeSoto, 
Ada G. and Maud are living, and four are deceased. Capt. B. is 
connected with the I. O. O. F. 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 431 



JOHN C. BRASFIELD 

(Of Brasfleld, Spratt & Thatcher, Dealers in General Merchandise, Post-ofHce, 
Smithville). 

Mf. Bnisfiekl began mercantile lite at the age of 18 as clerk, in 
1859, in a general store at Smithville. There he continued as such 
until the breaking out of the late Civil War. Going to Pike's Peak 
in the spring of 1861, he remained there a short time and then returned 
the same year and entered the Confederate army, under iNIaj. Savory, 
in Price's army, serving about one year. During that time he was 
corporal of a company. He returned home in the spring of '63, and 
in the fall of that year went to Leavenworth, Kas., where he resumed 
the occupation of clerking in a wholesale dr}' goods establishment. 
Upon coming back to Missouri, in 1864, he embarked in business for 
himself, buying a small general stock of goods at Smithville, where 
he continued up to the spring of '66. He now disposed of his store at 
this place and removed to Platte county, locating at Linkville, where, 
for about 18 months, he conducted a store, or until was he burned 
out. Retracing his steps then to Smithville, in partnership with his 
father and father-in-law, he bought and fed 110 head of cattle, but in 
1869 again went to. Platte county, where he was occupied in farming 
until the year 1871. He now established himself once more in the 
mercantile business at Smithville, and, with one exception, has re- 
mained here since in his present calling. The firm of Brasfield, Spratt 
& Thatcher is one of the oldest established business houses in the 
county, and one of the best known and most reliable. Mr. Brasfield 
is himself also interested in real estate and has laid off an addition to 
the town of Smithville, knowm as Brasfield's Addition, which con- 
tains about 15 good dwellings and in the neighborhood of 40 excellent 
lots. Mr. Bra'sfield was l)orn in Platte county, Mo., in 1841. His 
parents, Thomas W. R. and Elizabeth Brasfield, came to this State 
from Clay county, Ky., in 1832 or 1833. The parents of the former 
settled in Clinton county, while his mother's parents (Lynn and Eleanor 
Breckenridge) located in Clay county. After the marriage of Mr. B.'s 
parents they removed to what is known as the Platte Purchase, where 
they were among the earliest settlers. The father was a merchant by 
occupation, and was fairly successful in Inisiness. He died in Platte 
county in 1874, his widow departing this life at Smithville in 1882. Mr. 
Brasfield was married in December, 18('>4, to Miss Minerva, a daughter 
of Daniel and Sarah Thatcher, of Platte county. They have four 
children: James AV., Eleanor, John S. and Morton. Three are de- 
ceased, all dying in childhood. Mr. and Mrs. B. are members of 
the Christian Church. Mr. B. is connected with the A. F. and A. M., 
is a Chapter member, and also a Knight Templar. He also belongs to 
the L O. O. F. 



432 HISTOKY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

WILEY R. BRASFIELD 

(Dealer in Drugs, Medicines, Etc., Smithville). 

Mr. Brasfield is a younger brother to John C. Brasfield, whose 
sketch precedes this, and was born in Liberty township, this county, 
in 1848. As he grew up he had the advantage of a course in the Kan- 
sas City High School in addition to the usual course in the coraiuou, 
schools. After concluding his high school course, in 1869, he en- 
gaged in farming in Platte county, the occupation to which he had 
been brought up, and he continued fanning in that county with suc- 
cess for about ten years. In 1879, however, he came to Smithville 
and engaged in thejdrug business, which he has followed ever since. 
His store, now in the sixth year of its career, has long since passed 
the doubtful or experimental period of its career and has become es- 
tablished as one of the solid and fixed business houses of the place. 
He has a trade that he can always safely rely upon, it matters not 
what other houses come and go, a trade that is almost as secure for an 
income of a certain sum per annum as a Government pension. Be- 
sides this he has new customers coming to him all the time, so that 
his trade has a steady and sul)stantial growth and increase. He un- 
derstands his business thoroughly, treats everybody fairly and sells at 
reasonable prices. Hence it is nonsense to suspect that he is not 
bound to succeed. In 1872 he was married to Miss Alwilda, a 
daughter of John L. DeBei-ry, of Platte county. However, Mr. Bras- 
field's first wife died about four years ago, leaving him two children : 
James E. and Lula K., besides losing two in infancy. The mother 
was an earnest member of the Baptist Church. To his present wife 
Mr. Brasfield was married in 1882. She was a Miss Florence Hord, 
a daughter of Elias Hord, a farmer and stock-raiser of this county. 
She is a member of the Christian Church, as is also Mr. Brasfield. Ho 
is furthermore a member of the A. F. and A. M. 

M. BYRD 

(Of Byrd & Co., Dealers in General Merchandise, Smithville). 

Mr. Byrd was born in the valley of the Shenandoah, in Shenandoah 
county, Va., in 1828, and was the second child in a family of nine 
children of William and Mary S. (Shafer) Byrd, both of old Virginia 
families. The father was a millwright by trade, and removed to 
Missouri with his family in 1832. He first located in Clay county, but 
six years afterwards settled in Platte county, where he followed farm- 
ing in connection with his trade for many years. He finally gave his 
entire attention to farming. He was also justice of the peace for a 
number of years. Mr. Byrd, senior, survived to the advanced age of 
89, dying in 1882. His wife lived to be 7(j years of age, preceding 
him to the grave by one year. He left a good farm in Platte county, 
which has fallen to his children. Young Bird, the subject of this 
sketch, was reared in that county, and at the age of 17 went to work 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 433 

at the carpenter's trade, which he followed for over ten years, in con- 
nection, however, most of the time, with farming. In 1856 he engaged 
in the drug business at Smithville, and aljout three years later in the 
dry goods and grocery line. In 1862 he quit merchandising and 
bought a mill, which he ran for about three years, and then went to 
Idaho. Returning from the West in 1879, where he had been engaged 
in raising stock and carpentering to some extent, as well as in hotel 
keeping at Boyce City, he shortly afterwards resumed merchandising 
at Smithville in a general store line, which he has ever since followed. 
In 1852 he was married to Miss Phoebe Silvey, a daughter of James 
H. and Lucy Silvey, formerly of Kentucky. Mr. and Mrs B. have 
reared but one child, a son, Alfred O., who is his father's partner in 
business. He was married in 1882 to Miss Alma, a daughter of Dr. 
J. L. Hezner, of Smithville. They have a little daughter, Sallie G. 

GILES C. CLARDY 

(Of Clardy, Owen & Co., Dealers in Hardware, Agricultural Implements, Etc., Smith- 
ville). 

Mr. Clardy is an uncle to Hon. Martin Linn Clardy, member of 
Congress from the Farmingtou district, in this State, and was born at 
Bowling Green, in Warren county, Ky., June 10, 1813. The family 
was originally from Virginia, and his father, Norman S. Clardy, came 
from that State to Kentucky in about 1800. Mr. C.'s mother was 
also from Virginia, a Miss Rachel Johnson before her marriage. They 
came to Missouri in about 1836, and, after a short residence in Carroll 
county, settled in Platte county, where they made their permanent 
home. The father lived to reach the age of nearly 100 years, having 
been born in 1778 and dying in 1876. The mother lived to be 85 
years of age. Both died in Ste. Genevieve county, where the father's 
brother, J. B. Clardy, the father of Hon. M. L. Clardy, settled in a 
very early day. Giles C. Clardy, the subject of this sketch, was 
reared in Kentucky, and became a successful and popular school 
teacher. He came to Missouri in 1837, and afterwards taught some 
years in Clinton and Platte counties. In 1840, however, he engaged 
in farming in Platte county and followed it for nearly 30 years. But 
selling out in that county in 1868, he subsequently resided for awhile 
in Clay and then Bates counties, and in 1874 came back to Clay 
county and engaged in his present line of business at Smithville. 
His son, Giles W. Clardy, is one of his partners in business. Mr. 
Clardy, the subject of this sketch, was married in 1835 to Miss 
Araminta Adams, a daughter of James and Sarah A. (Bernard) 
Adams, formerly of Tennessee. Mr. and Mrs. Clardy have three 
living children: Garland C, Martha A., wife of E. B. Thatcher, 
and Giles W. Four others are deceased, two in infancy and two in 
later years. Mr. C. is a member of the Primitive Baptist Church, 
and also of the A. F. and A. M. His father, referred to above, 
Norman S. Clardy, was, in his day, one of the leading farmers and 
slaveholders of Platte county. In his lifetime he amassed a com- 
fortable fortune. 



434 HISTORY or clay county. 

ALEXANDER B. CRAWFORD 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Smitlwille). 

Mr. Crawford, like many of the staunch citizens of Clay county is a 
native of Kentucky, having been born in March, 1824, in Nicholas 
county. He was reared on a farm there, receiving instruction in the 
common schools, being trained also in that school of hardships au(J 
adventures which gave its pupils great strength of character and 
greater fortitude, and made them more courageous and better fitted 
for the hard struggles of life than does tiie atmosphere in our college 
walls. His parents, Alexander B. and Charlotte (Riggs) Crawford, 
were originally from ^laryland, but were reared and married in Ken- 
tucky, which continued to be their home until their death. The ^ 
father, a brave and patriotic citizen of that State (then territory), 
upon the call for volunteers to defend the young colonies in their 
efforts for independence, bravely enlisted as a soldier and served during 
the War of 1812. The sterling characteristics which prompted him 
to enlist in that struggle remained with him during life, and ever 
afterwards characterized his years of lal)or. He died in April, 1876, 
his wife having preceded him in September, 1866. They had both 
been members of the M. E. Church. Alexander B. Crawford, the 
subject of this sketch, adhered to the calling which he had followed in 
early life, and for a time was also occupied in driving stock, continuing 
it until he came to Clay county, Mo., in 1859. Having a desire to enter 
into mercantile life, he embarked in the drug business in Smithville in 
1861, following it for three years. In 1864 he took up his location at 
Bainbridge, Clinton county, and for two years operated quite success- 
fulh' a saw and grist mill at that place. On April 1, 1867, returning 
to Smithville, he opened a store of genei'al merchandise. This he 
carried on until 1870. At that time his desire to re-engage in farm- 
ing caused him to dispose of his mercantile interests, and he has since 
been occupied with agricultural pursuits. He has a large farm, 
embracing nearly 400 acres of improved and cultivated land, admi- 
rably adapted for farming purposes. Mr. Crawford was married on 
April 4, 1871, to Miss Mary E. Barnard, in Clay county. She was a 
daughter of Landa Barnard, of this county, but died in 1872. She 
was a member of the M. E. Church South. Mr. Crawford is a mem- 
ber of the I. O. O. F. Ho takes a deep interest in all questions 
of public welfare and advancement, whether local. State or National. 

STEPHEN C. DUNCAN 

(Farmer and Breeder and Shipper of Tliorouirlibred Short Horn Cattle, Post-offlce, 
Smithville). 

Mr. Duncan has a large stock farm of 1,263 acres, nearl3'all in blue 
grass, and one of the finest stock farms in Platte township. He makes 
a specialty of raising and handling thoroughbred short horn cattle, 
producing no grain whatever except for feeding purposes on the farm. 



HISTORY OF CLAY CODNTY. 435 

A clear-headed, practical business man, he docs everything of a pecu- 
niary nature from a common sense, business point, believing that it 
pays best to feed what grain and grass he may raise to stock, putting 
them on the market in the shape of cattle, hogs, sheep and other farm 
animals. Mr. Duncan has led a very active life, and one not devoid 
of substantial results. He was seven years of age when his parents 
came to this county in 1840, having been born in Henry county, Ky., 
December 15, 1833. He was the son of Stephen and Lucy (Brown- 
ing) Duncan, both natives of Bourbon county, Ky., the former of 
whom was born October 17, 1797. After their marriage, in the 
county of their birth, they removed to Saline county. Mo., in 1838, 
and to Clay county in 1840, thence settling in Clinton county. Mo. 
There the father died April 6, 1877, but his wife had departed this life 
in Saline county in 1838. He was a farmer by occupation, and he be- 
longed to the A. F. and A. M. Both were members of the Christian 
Church. Stephen C. Duncan, the sixth of seven children, was reared 
in this county, and here received an ordinary common-school educa- 
tion. He accompanied his father on his various moves above men- 
tioned, and in April, 1855, in partnership with him, engaged in the 
purchase of short horn cattle in Clinton count}', being one of the 
pioneers in that branch of industry. He continued to be thus occu- 
])icd with his father until 18(i3, and has followed it alone since that 
time, buying, feeding and shipping cattle during that period. After 
leaving Clinton county he returned to this county, locating on the farm 
which he now occupies, mentioned above. His herd of short horns 
number 170 head — as fine animals as are to be found within the limits 
of this or any other county. These facts show that Mv. Duncan has 
been quite successful as a farmer and stock-raiser. He has been twice 
married. March 5, 18(53, Miss Mary E. Davenport became his wife. 
She died September 10. 1869, having been a member of the Christian 
Church. He was married a second time November 10, 1870, in Clin- 
ton county, Mo., to Miss Maria Winn, a daughter of James and Ma- 
linda Winn, nee Hntsell, originally of Bourbon county, Ky., who came 
to Clay county in 1825. Mrs. Duncan was born and reared in Clinton 
county, and was educated at Camden Point High School in Platte 
county. They have three children : Lucy, the eldest, a most attractive 
young lady just blooming into young womanhood ; Mattie and Mabel. 
Mr. Duncan has Ijeen a member of the Christian Church since 1854, 
and is one of its present elders. His wife is connected with the same 
church, and he is a member in high standing of the A. F. and A. M. 
Politicall}' he is a Democrat. He is popularly known, but none the 
less respected, as " Dull'" Duncan. 

JONATHAN A. FUNK 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-offlce, Barry;. 

Mr. Funk is well known as one of the prominent farmers of Platte 
township. His farm contains 690 acres and it is largely devoted to 
stock-raising, being well improved for that purpose. Much of it is 



436 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

devoted to pasturage, though enough is reserved for grain for all 
necessary purposes. Mr. Funk came to Clay county in 1857 from 
Cass county, this State, but was originally from Kentucky. He was 
horn in Jessamine county, Ky., February 12, 1830, and was a son of 
John and Nancy (Rice) Funk, his father originally from Mai-yland, 
but his mother born and reai-ed in Jessamine county, Ky. The father 
died in that county March 3, 1861, at the age of 65. She died in 
1866 at tlie age of 66. They had a family of nine children, six of 
whom are living. Jonathan A. Funk was reared in Jessamine county< 
Ky., and early learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed there 
for about six years. He then turned his attention to farming and 
stock-raising, and in 1852 came to Missouri, locating in Howard 
county. Three years later he removed to Cass county, and finally to 
this county in 1858. August 31, 1858, he was married to Miss Sallie 
Jartin, a daughter of Andrew and Jane Jai-tin, formerly of Kentucky. 
Mr. and Mrs. Funk have had seven children, five of them now living: 
Mattie M., Harry C, Pinkie R., Lutie M. and John A. Two are 
deceased, Arthur and an infant. Mr. and Mrs. Funk are members 
of the Presbyterian Church. 

SAMUEL G. T. GREENFIELD 

(Farmer, Post-office, Smithville) . 

Mr. Greenfield has a comfortable homestead near Smithville, and 
is one of the energetic farmers of Platte township. He was iiorn 
in Todd county, Ky., October 4, 1822, and came to Clay county. Mo., 
at the age of 20, in 1842. He was married the first time to Miss 
Mary Brooks, daughter of Abijah and Harriet Brooks, of Clay counts. 
Mo., on the 5th day of April, 1845. Subsequently he married here 
February 15, 1851, Miss Nancy Motherhead, a daughter of Nathaniel 
and Lucinda Motherhead, formerly of Kentucky. Mr. Greenfield has 
followed farming as his permanent calling, and is a thorough, practical 
farmer. He was a son of Samuel and Mary (Thompson) Greenfield, 
his father a native of Kentucky, but his mother originally from North 
Carolina. His father, a blacksmith by trade, died in Kentucky, Octo- 
ber 4, 1823. He had served in the War of 1812. The mother sur- 
vived until 1867, and was a life long member of the Methodist Church. 
Thei'e were five children in the family, three of whom are living. 

MOSES KING 

(Farmer aud Stock-raiser, Post-office, Liberty). 

When the war broke out in 1861 Mr. King was a youth in his eigh- 
teenth year. He was reared in this State and came of Southern pa- 
rentage. Very naturally, therefore, in the enthusiasm of youth, he 
entered the Southern army. For three years he served in the ranks 
with unfaltering courage and fidelity. A part of the time he was un- 
der Gen. Marmaduke, and was under the command of the present 
Governor of the State at the battle of Helena, Ark., in 1863. The 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 437 

rest of the time he was under Gen. Joe Shelby, the irrepressible 
cavalry leader of Missouri, the gallant cavalier of the war, who made 
it a rule to ride rough shod over everything in his front with his com- 
mand, infantry, artillery, or what not. After the war Mr. King came 
home and engaged in farming. He has a good place of about 140 
(rented) acres, eight miles northwest of Liberty, and is also engaged 
in raising and trading in stock. In 1873 he was married to Miss E. 
A. Divine, a daughter of Matthew Divine, originally of Ireland. She, 
however, was born in New York, where her parents resided a number 
of years. Mr. and Mrs. King have two children : Edna M. and Ed- 
ward L. Mrs. King is a member of the Catholic Church. He was 
born in Chariton county, Mo., October 20, 1843, and was a son of 
Morgan King, of Missouri. 

AL WORTHY F. LEACH 

(Farmer, Stock-raiser and Breeder of Clydesdale Horses, Post-office, Kearney). 

Among the most prominent men in Platte township, one of its 
worthy, well informed and highly respected citizens and a man well 
and favorably known, is Mr. A. F. Leach, the subject of this sketch. 
On his parental side he is of Irish descent, his father. Cotton M. Leach, 
having been born in New Hampshire September 14, 1780, of Irish 
parentage. He married Miss Fannie Hayes, a native of Concord, 
Mass., who was born October 27, 1785. She was related to Cotton 
Mather, the renowned American metaphysician, and was a niece of 
Judge Joseph Story, ajusth^ celebrated writer on the United States 
Constitution ; her ancestors came over in the Maj'flower and she was 
related distantly to Hon. Wilbur F. Story, late edit.<n- of the Chicago 
Times. Cotton M. Leach having grown up in New Hampshire, re- 
ceived an academic education there ; his wife was reared in New 
York where she had the benefit of a college course. After their 
marriage in New York they removed to Ohio and settled in Twins- 
burg, in Portage county, in 1817, from which place they removed to 
Ft. Madison, la., where the mother died October 9, 1846. The 
father, who was a trader and speculator in lands, stock, etc., then 
went to Illinois to live with his son, the subject of this sketch. He 
died there (in Adams county) January 15, 1852. Until his removal 
to Iowa he had been a meml>er of the M. E. Church, but there l)eing 
no organization of that denonination there he became aCongregation- 
aUst, as his wife had also been. He was also a member of the A. F. 
and A. M. Alworthy F. Leach, the sixth in the family of nine chil- 
di-en, six sons and three daughters, was born in Twinsburg, Portage 
county, O., June 23, 1818. He was reared there, the limited 
education which he received at the common schools being supplemented 
l)y instruction from his mother. At the age of 15 years he commenced 
to learn the carpentci-'s and joiner's trade, which he followed until 
liis marriage. After that event he took up the study of medicine in 
Adams county. 111., but never engaged in the practice. He also 
studied law, and in 1850 was admitted to the Quincy bar, several years 



438 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

thereafter being passed in the practice of his profession. On the 13th 
of July, 1840, Mr. Leach was married in Adams county. 111., whither 
he had removed in 1838, to Miss Rebecca Enlow, a daughter of 
Thomas and Sarah (McCrorey) Enlow, originally from Penns>dvania, 
but of Irish ancestry. Mrs. Leach was t)orn, brought up and received 
her education in Washington county, Pa. They have five children: 
Frances has been twice married, first to Joel James, who died, and 
then to James Brooks, a farmer in Pike county ; Albert married Miss , 
Belle McAtee, and is a prominent agriculturist in Adams county. 111. ; 
Walter married Miss Alice Hamlin; Byron married Miss Lina Fields, 
and both he and his brother Walter are occupied in farming in this 
county ; Almira is the wife of Dr. William H. Leach of Knappy City, 
Cal. He is a prominent ph3'sician there and is a graduate of both the 
Cincinnati and Philadelphia Medical Schools. In 1874, Mr. Leach 
became a citizen of Clay county. Mo. He and sons now have a farm 
here of 450 acres, all under fence and in a high state of cultivation, 
upon which he is engaged in the stock business quite extensively, 
principally in the raising and breeding of Clydesdale horses. His 
farm is one of the finest for stock purposes in this township and he is 
one of the most progressive farmers in the vicinity. 

J. A. MITCHELL 

(Dealer ia Furniture, Undertaker's Goods, Hardware, Etc., Smithville). 

Mr. Mitchell was a youth of about 16 years of age when his parents 
came to this county and settled on a farm, which his father bought 
near Smithville. He remained on the farm with them until he was 
about 24 years old, when, in 1879, he came to town and opened a 
restuarant and also ran a butcher shop. In addition to these he, in 
a short time, carried on teaming between Smithville and Kansas City. 
Disposing of his other interests, in 1881 he bought a furniture and 
undertaker's establishment at Smithville, and has been conducting 
these lines of business ever since. In the spring of 1884 he added a 
stock of shelf and heavy hardware, and altogether is doing a good 
business. In 1878 he was married to Miss Annie, a daughter of 
Stephen and Amelia Duncan, of Clay county. They have one child, 
Edmond, and have lost one, who died in infancy. Mr. Mitchell's 
parents are Merrimon B. and Annie M. Mitchell, from Woodford 
county, Ky. His father has a good farm of 250 acres near Smith- 
ville. 

WM. H. PATTERSON 

(Proprietor of the Eagle Flouring, Grist and Saw Mills, Smithville, Mo.). 

Mr. Patterson is not only a thorough miller, but one of the best 
millwrights in the western [lart of the State, if experience and employ- 
ment in construction of first-class mills counts for anything. The 
ground and mill site upon which the Eagle mills now stand, he 
bought from Capt. Kemp M. Woods, in 18(57, going in debt for the 
same. Building the mills soon afterwards, he took special pains to use 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 439 

iiothitii; i)ut the very best of material and leaving no part ot'hi.-i work 
half finished. Mr. Patterson has recently added to his mills all the 
latest and most improved machinery, includinir every modern improve- 
ment — recommended by the millinp: fraternity. The I'esult is that 
his mills are unsurpassed either in Clay or Platte county. They have 
a capacity of 60 bids, of flour and 10,000 feet lumber per diem. 
His flour Royal Eagle and Silver Drop has an enviable reputa- 
tion, and is generall}^ preferred to all other brands wherever intro- 
duced. It may not be generally known, but it is a fact neverthe- 
less, that there is a vast difference in the quality of sawing done by 
different mills, even among those where the saw runs true, making 
lumi)er of accurate angles, dimensions and surfaces. Lumber from 
the same class of timber, or from same stock for that matter, sawed at 
different mills differs widely in market value. From (me the surface 
may be rough, so that it costs twice as much to have it planned as it 
would the same class of lumber with a smoother surface from another 
saw. All good saw-mill men uiulerstand this, and those who take a 
pride in their business or care for their reputation see to it that this 
saw is kept perfectly sharp and in good order, and that it runs at the 
proper speed — and is regularly fed by the stock carriage so that a 
smooth surface is left on the board. Mr. Patterson takes a special 
pride in this feature of the lumber produced at his mills, and hence 
among lumbermen and carpenters it has obtained a wide and enviable 
reputation. Mr. Patterson was born on Barnhart's Island, St. Law- 
rence count}'. New York, in 1838, and was the second of six children of 
W. H. and Minerva Patterson {nee Barnhart) who were both born 
and reared in the State of New York. W. H. Patterson, Sr., who 
was of French descent, moved to Canada, and was an extensive 
grain and lumber dealer there at the time of his death. At the age of 
18 years the subject of the present sketch came West to grow up with 
the country, first stopping at Chicago and working there for a little 
over one year, and then coming on to AYestern Missouri to the home 
of his uncle, Robert Barnhart, then a merchant ot Weston, Platte 
county. Mo. Afterwards he procured employment with Wilson & 
Estes, engine builders, at Leavenworth City, now known as the Great 
Western Manufacturing Company, and remained in their employ 
some three or four years, learning the millwright trade. In 181)2 he 
went to St. Louis, Mo., and worked at his trade building mills and 
putting up machinery in the employ of A. K. Halteman & Co. About 
two years after he returned to his former home in Platte county. 
Mo., and in 1864 at Weston, Mo., he enlisted in Capt. Wash Wood's 
Company, Eighty-seventh regiment M. S. M., and served until ai)out 
the close of the war, receiving an honorable discharge. He then took 
up his occupation of millwrighting, following thesame until 1867, 
when he came to Smithville, Mo., and has ever since, for the last 
eighteen years, been engaged in the milling business. Mr. Patterson 
was married in 1872 to Johana Martin, a daughter of Wesley Martin, 
an ex-soldier of the Mexican War and a resident of this county, now 
deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Patterson have two children, Robert Lee and 

23 



440 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

Minerva. Two are deceased, Charlie and Mattie. He and wife are 
l)oth memVjers of the Christian Church. Mr. Patterson is indeed one of 
the relial)le and substantial men of the county. He is highly respected 
among his numerous friends, and we may safely say hasn't a 
known enemy. 

S. A. RILEY, M. D. 

(Physician aud Surgeon, and of Gentry & Riley, Druggists, Smithville). 

Dr. Riley has been a resident of Smitiiville less than a 3'ear, but' 
being a young physician of thoi-ough education and a gentleman of 
good address and irreproachable character, he has made a very favor- 
able impression on tiie community, and has every prospect of a suc- 
cessful and highly creditable career here Ijoth in his profession and as 
a citizen in business aud private life. He is a native Missourian, born 
in DeKalb county, May 2, 18(50. When he was a lad, about four 
years of age, his parents removed to Jackson county, where 3'oung 
Riley was reared on his father's farm near Independence. After 
taking a course in the primary and preparatory schools he entered 
Woodland College at Independence, and from there, in due 
time, matriculated at the State University. After concluding 
his university course he began the study of medicine under 
Dr. J. C. Rodgers, of Kansas City, and in the fall of 1880 entered 
the St. Louis Medical College. Di-. Riley took a regular course of two 
terms at St. Louis, and graduated in medicine with marked credit in 
the class of '83. He then at once located in Cass count}^ and engaged 
in the practice of his profession, but not liking the location and having 
friends at Smithville, he was induced to remove to this place. Already 
he is receiving much encouragement in his practice, not only by the 
number, but particularly by the class of patrons who call upon him 
for medical attention. It is believed that he will shortly be in posses- 
sion of a very satisfactory and increasing practice. He is also a part- 
ner with Mr. Gentry in the drug business. Mr. Gentry is a young man 
of good business qualifications, full of energy and thoroughly reliable, 
and has every requisite for a popular and successful druggist. These 
young gentlemen are both full of life aud vim, and have started out in 
the world to accomplish something worthy of themselves as citizens of 
intelligence and character. Their drug house commands a good cus- 
tom, and has already been placed upon aprofital)le footing. They keep 
good and pure drugs which they dispense at roasonal)le and fair prices, 
so that they could hardly fail of being a popular house in the drug 
line. Dr. Riley's father, J. G. Riley, is one of the substantial citi- 
zens of Jackson county. He also has a stock ranch in Colorado, and 
is a man of high standing and much business enterprise. The Doc- 
tor's mother, who was a Miss Elizal)eth Buckingham, died September 
14, 1884. 

JOHN J. RICE, M. D. 

(Physician and Surgeon, Gosneyville, Mo.). 

In the medical profession in this county are to be found a number 
of i)hysicians — men who have risen to success and local prominence 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 441 

in their profession, and solely by their own indiistrj' and perseverance 
as students and practitioners ; and taking the secret of their success 
as a criterion by wiiich to judge the future of tiie younger members 
of the profession, it is not difficult to i)oint out those who are to 
occupy the places of these old and prominent physicians when they 
have passed off the stage of action. Prominent among this class of 
young men in Clay county is, without question, the sulyect of the 
l)resent sketch. Dr. John J. Rice is a son of Richard C. Rice, a na- 
tiv.e of Woodford county, Ky., and now a leading agriculturist and 
stock man, residing in Lil)erty. His mother was formerl}' Lucinda 
Ferguson, of Marion county, Ky., where the}' were married. John 
J. Rice was the second of eight children, and passed his early life in 
attending to farm duties. His educational opportunities wore above 
the average, he having received a classical course at Harmonia Col- 
lege, Perryville, Ky. After leaving this institution he engaged in the 
occupation of school teaching, which he continued for two years at 
Sorghotown, Daviess county, Ky. Having decided to make the 
practice of medicine his calling for life, he pursued a regular prepara- 
tory course of study for that purpose, under Dr. T. E. Lamping, of 
Owcnboro, Ky. He took several courses of lectures in the Cincin- 
nati College of Medicine and Surgery, and graduated from that 
institution on the 4th of March, 1881. The same 3'ear he came to 
Gosncyville, Clay county. Mo., and began the ()ractice of hjs chosen 
calling at this place, where he has nuide gratifying progress in his 
profession as a practitioner. Studious and progressive in his ideas, 
and faithful and attentive to his practice, he is rapidly winning the 
confidence of the community in his skill and ability as a physician. 
He is a memiier of the Clay County Medical Society, also of the 
County Board of Health. On the 24th of May, 1882, Dr. Rice was 
married to Miss Emma Rollins, a daughter of John K. and Ella Rol- 
lins, of this county. She was born and reared here, her education 
being received at the Stewartsville Female Seminary, Stewartsville, 
Mo. They have one child, DeWitt T., born Fei>ruary 4, 1884. Dr. 
Rice's church [)reference is the Missionary Baptist. He is a member 
of the A. F. and A. M. His wife belongs to the M. E. Church 
South. His father, as should have been mentioned before, was a 
soldier in the Mexican War. He came to Clay county in 1872. He 
and his wife are now members of the Missionary Baptist Church, and 
Mr. Rice is also connected with the A. F. and A. M. 

ANDREW B. ROSS 

(Fanner and Proprietor of Ross' Mill, Post-otBce, Paradise) . 

Every old citizen in this section of the county very well remembers 
Mr. Ross' father, William Ross, for he lived in the county for nearly 
35 years, and was one of its worthy, good citizens. His wife, Nancy 
Ross, was a Miss Hawkins before her marriage, and a native of Ten- 
nessee. They came to Clay county. Mo., in 1841. William Ross for 
a time was a substantial farmer, but in al)out two years after his 



442 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

settlement here built a water-mill on the site of the present structure 
which was subsequently burned. In 1856 he built a saw and grist 
mill, which he continued to operate until his death, October 22, 1875. 
This mill is the one now conducted hy his son, the subject of this 
sketch. It is a two-story building, fitted with two runs of buhrs, and 
has a capacity of 15 barrels of flour per day, sawing also 3,000 feet 
of lumber. Andrew B. Ross, like many of the better citizens of this 
county, is aKentuckian by birth, having l)ecn liorn in Madison county, 
April 28, 1839, being the fourth in a family of nine children. He 
accompanied his parents to Clay county. Mo., while in infancy, and 
has here continued to make his home. While growing up he very 
naturally followed his father's example and early became interested in 
the milling business, devoting much time to that occupation. He has 
always followed it, and having had such excellent opportunities to 
learn the trade in Missouri, in subsequent years he has risen to consid- 
erable prominence in the milling circles, where he is esteemed not less 
as a business man than as a private citizen. During the war Mr. Ross 
served in the army of the Potomac for four years, enlisting first under 
Gen. Bee, who was killed at the battle of Bull Run, and afterward 
under Gens. Whiting and Archer, respectively. About two years 
after the close of the war, on August 11, 1867, he was united in 
marriage with Miss Martha A. Gentry, a daughter of David and 
Louisa Gentry. She was born, reared and educated in this county, 
but died March 24, 1883, leaving five children : Nannie L., Mary E., 
John W., Andrew B., and Laura B., the second daughter, who died 
November 14, 1873. ]\Irs. Ross was a member of the M. E. Church 
South, as her husband now is. He is also connected with the I. O. O. 
F. Mr. Ross, in connection with his milling interest, carries on farm- 
ing to some extent, having 40 acres of land under fence and in culti- 
vation. His mother died here November 29, 1871. 

WILLIAM H. SHANNON 

(Fanner and Stock-raiser, Post-offlce, Smithville). 

The father of Lewis S. Shannon, who was also the grandfather of 
the subject of the present sketch, was one of the pioneer settlers in 
the State of Kentucky, having lived there in a period when settlers 
were very few, the country being populated nuiinly by the original and 
perhaps rightful owners of the then wilderness — the aborigines. 
Game was [)lenty, and, in fact, the early days in that country were 
only examples of the pioneer days in this vicinity in sul)sequent years. 
Lewis S. Shannon was a native of Woodford county, Ky., and 
married Elizabeth Ellison, of Henderson county, this State. To them 
were born ten children, the eldest of whom was William H. Shannon, 
who was. born in Frankfort, Ky., July 28, 1821. After the marriage 
of his parents, they came to Missouri in 1857, locating in Clinton 
county, where they lived until their death, the father having been 
occupied with agricultural pursuits. He died in 1859 and his wife in 
1866. Both were consistent and prominent members of the Mission- 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 443 

:iry Baptist Church. William H. was reared in the State of his birth, 
but his educational opportunities were necessarily limited, the primi- 
tive schools being much inferior to those of the present day. How- 
ever, by self-application, he secured a sufficient knowledge of business 
for the ordinary affairs of life, and also learned the carpenter's trade. 
In 1840 he took up his residence at Richmond, in Ray county. Two 
years afterwards, Octol)er 11, 1842, he was married, Miss Amanda 
White becoming his wife. One child was born to them, which died 
in infancy. Mrs. Shannon also died in Se[)tember, 1847. She had 
been a member of the Christian Church. After this Mr. S. returned 
to Kentucky, where he remained 10 years, and while there he was 
justice of the peace in his township. He was also married, January 
22, 1852, in Anderson county, to Miss Mary C. Thompson, a daughter 
of Antiiony Tiiompson, of Woodford count}', Ky. Her birthplace 
was in Ohio county, Ky., but she was reared and educated in Franklin 
<;ounty, Ky. They have had five cjiildren : Thompson J. married 
Miss Bettie Willis, and is a carpenter in Smithville, Mo. ; William E. 
married Miss Mary J. Youtsey, and is engaged in farming in this 
county ; Laura May and Oliver E. are still at home. James H. died 
at the age of eight years. In 1857 Mr. Shannon returned to Missouri 
and settled in Clay county on the farm where he is now living. This 
embraces 110 acres either in cultivation or blue grass pasture. He 
and his wife are members of the Christian Church, in which he has 
been an elder for 20 years. He is also connected with the A. F. and 
A. M. They are among the most highly esteemed residents of the 
township. 

JOHN SWARTZ 

(Dealer in and Manufacturer of Boots, Shoes, Etc., and Lehrer iter Veutschcn Sclmle, 
Smithville). 

Mr. Swartz is a Teuto-Frenchman by descent and nativity and was 
born in Abberbach, France, January 9, 1838. His father was Casper 
Swartz, also a native of France and mayor of Aliberbach, in the parish 
of Seltz. The mother was a Miss Mary Mustar of Alsace. In their 
family were ten children, seven of whom are living. John Swartz, 
the sul>ject of this sketch, was the second in their family and was 
reared at Al)berbach up to the age of 18 years, when became to Amer- 
ica, landing at New Orleans. He had previously served two years of 
an apprenticeship at the blacksmith's trade. In the summer of 1855 he 
went to Keokuk, Iowa, and began at the shoe maker's trade. Thence 
he went to Hannibal, and later along to Palmyra, where he worked a 
time, then at Macon City, then Glasgow, then Kansas City and finally to 
Clay county, stoj^ping a while at Barry, and locating permanently at 
Smithville in 1859. Early in the war he enlisted in the State Guard 
under Gov. Jackson's first call and was .out about si.K months. At 
the fight of Lexington the captain of his company was killed and 
after that the men were scattered, some entering other com])anies and 
others returning home. After Mr. Swartz's return he remained at 
Smithville for a short time and then went to Leavenworth where he 



444 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

resumed his occupiition. In ;iljout three weeks, however, he returned 
home again and was shortly taken prisoner. After this he enlisted in 
the regular United States service, becoming a member of the Oiiio 
infantry, in which he served until the close of the war. After the 
war he came back to Smithville and resumed his trade, that of making 
boots and shoes, and also soon brought on a stock of goods in that 
line. He has been in the business at this place ever since. He has 
an excellent reputation as a workman and commands a liberal patron-; 
age. He also has a good trade for his business as a boot and shoe 
dealer. In 1861 Mr. Swartz was married to Miss Susan Reeves, for- 
merly of Kentucky. They have one child, John R. During the war, 
on account of some differences which it is not necessary to discuss 
here, a separation took place between Mr. Swartz and his first wife and 
a divorce was the result. Each have remarried, ]\Ir. Swartz' s present 
wife having been a Miss Mary Johnson, with whom his married life 
has been one of great satisfaction and [ileasnre. She was a daughter 
of William Johnson, from Tennessee to this county, in about 1857. 
There are three children by this union : Lewis, Pauline and French. 
John R., his eldest son by his first wife, is now engaged in the grocery 
and confectionery business at Smithville. He is also an Odd Fellow 
and conductor of his lodge. His mother is now the wife of A. D. 
Simpson, of Buchanan county. Mr. Swartz and his present wife are 
members of the Christian Church. Mr. Swartz is also treasurer of 
the Odd Fellows Order at this place. Mr. Swartz has a good Ger- 
man education, and in 1884 established a German school at this place 
which he still carries on. His school has proved a success and is 
liberally patronized by the people of the community, particularlj'^ by 
those of German nativity or descent. 

ELEVEN L. THATCHER 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Smithville). 

Eleven Thatcher, Sr., was one of the early settlers of Clay county. 
He came here from Kentucky and became a well-to-do farmer and 
highly resi)ected citizen. His death occurred some 10 or 12 years 
ago. By all old residents of the count}' he is well rememliercd as a 
man of large heart, strong intelligence, courage anchindustry, and as 
one of the best of neighbors and friends. His good wife preceded 
him to the grave some five or six years. She was a Miss Sabina 
Hornback, of Kentucky, before her marriage. They reared a family 
of five children, most of whom are living, and are among tiie better 
class of citizens of their respective communities. Eleven L. Thatcher, 
their fifth son, was born on the family homestead in this county, 
Noveml)er 24, 1840. He was reared to the occupation of farming 
and stock-raising, and acquired a good common school education as 
he grew up. At the age of 27, on the Kith of December, 18(57, he 
was married to Miss Rosa D. Wood, a daughter of Col. Lewis J. 
Wood, formerly of Kentucky. Already Mr. Thatcher, Jr., had en- 
gaged in farming on his own account, and in this he afterwards con- 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 445 

tinned. He is now eomfortahly situated. His fai'm contains 480 
acres, and lie is quite extensively engaged in dealing in stock. He is 
also largely interested in breeding and raising fine stock. His thor- 
oughbred short horns are all of registered stock, and he also has a 
herd of high grade cattle. His hogs are of fine breeds, and the 
Clydesdale horses are his favorite stock in the equine line. He has 
several representatives of the pure Clydesdale breed. Mr. Thatcher 
is one of the most enterprising and progressive fanners and stock- 
raisers of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Thatcher have two children : 
Lewis J. and James W. He and wife are members of the Christian 
Church, and he is a member of the A. F. and A. M. 

WILLIAM P. THATCHER 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-offlce, Sniithville). 

Mr. Thatcher is a worthy representative of that old and highly 
respected family of Clay county whose name he bears. Reference to 
his father has already been made in the sketch of E. L. Thatcher. 
William P. was born in this county in 1834. On reaching young man- 
hood he started out for himself with little or nothing to begin on. But 
he had been reared to hard work and to regular, economical habits, 
and being a young man of good intelligence, fair common-school edu- 
cation, and with an honest purpose to rise in the world only by in- 
dustry, he went to work without hesitation or discouragement, and in 
a short time had the satisfaction of seeing the legitimate fruits of 
honest toil accumulating around him. But in a few years the war 
came on. That was a great backset to him, as it was to most honest 
men in this ])art of the country. He went into the Southern army and 
took part in numerous engagements, including those at Lexington, 
Pea Ridge and Blue Ridge. At the latter fight he was fired on by a 
whole platoon of Federal soldiers, Init either he was protected by the 
shield of the Lord, or the soldiers did bad shooting ; anyhow, he came 
out unharmed. Resuming farming, he did the best he could under 
the circumstances, and after affairs became settled went at it again in 
dead earnest. Since then he has had a very successful e.xperience. 
He now owns a fine farm of 440 acres, well improved, including an 
excellent class of buildings, and he is quite largely engaged in breed- 
ing and raising fine stock, and in fattening and <lealing in marketable 
stock. His short horns are thoroughbreds and of registered stock, 
and he is breeding and raising fine calves for sale. In 1857 he was 
married to Miss Louisa Lampton. They have two children: William 
B. and Addie L. Mrs. Thatcher is a member of the Christian Church, 
and he is a member of the A. F. and A. M. and the Sniithville Tem- 
perance Lodge No. 423,964. 

EDWARD C. TILLMAN 

(Farmer, Post-office, Smithville). 

Mr. Tillman is a native of North Carolina, born in Chatham county, 
July 18, 1807. His father was John Tillman, also of that State, and 



446 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

his mother's maiden name, Susan Fields. The Tillman family has 
been quite prominent in politics in North Carolina and Tennessee for 
generations. Mr. Tillman was reared in Chatham county, and was 
one of a family of 12 children, eleven of whom lived to reach mature 
years. They and their descendants are now distributed in several 
States. After growing up Mr. T. traveled quite extensively for about 
ten years and then located in 1833 in Todd county, Ky., He came to 
Clay county in 1842, and entered the land on which he now resides. , 
He has ever since l)een engaged in farming. He was married in Todd 
county, Ky., December 6, 1838, to Miss Keziah Thompson. They 
have three children living: Susan, the wife of M. H. Masterson, of 
this county ; Mary A., the wife of Henry Humes, a stock trader of 
the count}', and John W., who mai-ried Margaret Wilkerson and is 
farming on the home place. His wife died August 9, 1874. 

JAMES WILLIAMS 

(Farmer and Stock-dealer, Post-office, Smithville) . 

Bourbon count_v, Ky., and the 3d of March, 1826, were the place 
and date of Mr. Williams' birth, and his parents were James and 
Elizabeth (Wright) Williams, both of old and respected Kentucky 
families. Mr. W.'s father, a house carpenter by trade and who had 
served with credit in the War of 1812, died in i8()3. The mother is 
still living, at the age of 86, having been born in 1798. There were 
eight children in tlie family, all yet living. James, the subject of this 
sketch, was leared to the occupation of farming and house carpenter- 
ing and came to Missouri in 1851, settling in Clay county after a 
residence of two years in Platte county. He has resided in this 
county ever since, and for many years followed his trade, during the 
latter part of his life in connection with farming. In 1851 he was 
married in Montgomery county, Ky., to Miss Docia C. Judson, who 
survived her marriage 12 vears, leaving five children living of the six 
born to them, namely: John T., of Oregon ; Daniel, of this county; 
Susan E., wife of Perr\' Bazoo, of this county ; Mary, wife of Samuel 
J. Bradley, of Clay county; James N. and Julia, deceased. Mrs. W. 
was a meml)erof the church. Mr. Williams has a comfortable home- 
stead near Smithville. 

KEMP M. WOODS, Jr. 

(Real Estate Agent, Notary Public, Railway Director, President of the Town Board, 
and also Member of the School Board, Smithville) . 

Mr. Woods, though still this side of the fourth decade of life, has 
already had an active business career, and one that has placed him in 
a position of some prominence in affairs. He was born and reared in 
Clay county, and received an advanced general and classical education 
as he grew uj), (!ompleting a regular collegiate course. From his 
grandfather, Phineas Skinner, he inherited a Iar<re landed estate, 
some 900 acres, located in different counties, but principally in Jack- 
son, Mercer and Grundy counties. Since then he has dealt to a con- 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 



447 



siderable extent in real estate, buying, selling, exchanging, etc., and 
has also had much to do with lands as agent for other parties. He 
now owns in his own right about 1,000 acres, which, however, includes 
little or none of the original tracts received by inheritance. His in- 
terests, besides real estate, have been identified with farming mainly, 
and railway contracting. He has also been somewhat interested in 
the State business, and still is to some extent. Like most young 
men of life and energy, he lias not neglected to avail himself of the 
information which only traveling affords, but has taken the time and 
means to see something of the world, particularly the Western part 
of the country. Mr. Woods was one of the organizers of the St. 
Joseph and Southeastern Railway Company and one of its charter 
members, being now also a member of the board of directors of the 
company. This company contemplate building a line of railway from 
St. Joseph in a southeastern direction through Buclianan, Platte, 
and into Chiy county to Smithville. The road, as has been intimated, 
is already chartered, and work has been commenced. In 1876 Mr. 
Woods was married to Miss LillieM. Wiglesworth, a daughter of "Wm. 
T. and Mary F. Wiglesworth, of Woodford county, Ky. Mr. Woods 
has l)een located at Smithville since the fall of 1881, and is now presi- 
dent of the town board at Smithville, and also a member of the school 
board. He is doing an excellent real estate business, and is one of 
the leading, progressive citizens of the place. He was born in this 
county in 1847, and is the youngest of the family of Kemp M., Sr., 
and Sarah (Skinner) Woods, early settlers here from Kentucky. His 
father, Kemp M. Woods, Sr., has given to his four sons, including 
Kemp M., Jr., 400 acres of land each, located in Platte and Clay 
counties. 



CHAPTEK XVI. 

KEARNEY TOWNSHIP. 

Boundaries, General Surface, etc. — Early Settlemeuts — Tragedies of ttie Civil 
War — County Churches — Town of Kearney — Centreville — Location of Kearney 
and for Whom Named — Incorporation — Kearney's Churches — Holt — Location of 
this Village — Church and Lodge Records — Biographical. 

BOUNDARIES, GENERAL SURFACE, ETC. 

Kearney township was organized June 4, 1872, with the following 
boundaries : Beginning on the line between Clinton and Clay counties, 
at the northeast corner of section 36, township 54, range 31, thence 
along the county line to the half section line running north and south 
through section 35, township 54, range 32 ; thence due south to the 
township line dividing townships 52 and 53 ; theuce east one mile and 
a half to the southeast corner of section 36, township 53, range 32 ; 
thence south one mile, thence east one mile, thence south one mile, 
thence east to the range line between ranges 30 and 31 ; thence north 
along the range line to the beginning. 

Anthony Harsell was appointed by the county court the first justice 
of the peace fro tern. The township was named for the town of 
Kearney. 

The general surface of the township partakes of the character of 
that of the county, and is rolling and broken, but some of the most 
valual)le farms of the county are situated herein. The northern poi'- 
tion of the township — at least the nortiieastern — is heavily tim- 
bered, and much of it is unimproved. This is true of much of the 
eastern portion, along Clear creek, and new farms are being opened, 
clearings made, and laud reclaimed from the wilderness in pretty 
much the same fashion as 50 years ago. 

Settlements were made in this township at a verj' early day. In the 
northwestern part of the township, two miles south of Camp branch 
(east half section 23, township 53, range 32), Anthony Harsell settled 
in the fall of 1827, and here he is yet living. A mile and a half north- 
east of Harsell, William Livingston had come in 1825 ; James McCown 
settled one mile north of Harsell in 1826 ; Hczekiali Riley and James 
Marsh settled east of Harsell in 1827, the latter in the spring and the 
(448) 



HISTOUY OF CLAY COUNTY. 449 

former in the fall. In the spring of the same year Edward Chirk 
located one mile south. 

For some years after the township was first settled bears and 
panthers were unpleasantly numerous. As late as the winter of 1836 
a large bear was killed on Camp branch, two miles north of Harsell's 
spring. 

Over on Camp creek, on one occasion, John MoCowu, Jr., killed a 
large panther which his dog had attacked and was being worsted in 
the encounter. 

Among the tragedies of the Civil War, not especially mentioned 
elsewhere, may be mentioned the murder of two citizens of this town- 
ship, Esq. David L. Ferrill and Dr. John Norris. They were Con- 
federate sympathizers, and their murder was accomplished by some of 
Col. Catherwood's regiment, the Sixth Missouri State militia. Esq. 
Ferrill was an old and well respected citizen of the township. His 
sons were in the Confederate army, and his grandson. Rod. Munkers, 
was a bushwhacker, but Esq. Ferrill himself was an old man about 70 
years of age, and had never been guilty of overt acts against the 
Federal authority. One day in September, 1864, a squad of militia, 
led by Lieut. James N. Stoffel, of Co. A, Catherwood's regiment, 
took out the old man and hung him to a tree near his residence. 

John Norris had served six months under Price, but for some time 
he had been living peaceably at home. One night, a short time after 
Esq. Ferrill was hung, a squad of Catherwood's men took him from 
his home and shot him. 

Richard Sloan was a member of the party that hung Ferrill. He 
was a citizen of this township, and in September, 1866, he was way- 
laid and shot and his body left lying in the road. 

CHURCHES. 

Moicnt Gileacl (Jhristian Church. — This church is an outgrowth 
of what was originally a Calvinistic Baptist Church, as it was first 
organized. In March, 1844, there was a division in the congrega- 
tion, some of the members still adhering to the Baptist denomination, 
while others, among whom were some of the old and most prominent 
Baptists, constituted themselves into a body of Christians. The 
church building first put up was erected in 1844, but becoming defect- 
ive and unsafe from the ravages of time, it was torn down and in its 
place a handsome brick edifice was built in 1873, costing $2,569.95. 
It stands on section 29, northwest quarter, township 53, range 31. 
The first members were Elders Mason Summers, Timothy R. Dale and 
wife, Alfred M. Riley and wife, Hezekiah Riley, Robert Officer and 
wife. Weekly Dale and wife, James Riley and wife, George Dallis, 



450 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

Alexander Moonej' and wife, A. H. F. Pa3'ne and wife, and John 
Dykes and wife. Tlie deacons were Hezekiah Riley, Robert Officer 
and Weekly Dale. Following Angnstus H. F. Payne, who was the 
organizer, the pastors have been Revs. Williamson, A. B. Jones, J. 
T. Tate, J. W. Perkins, and the present pastor, J. W. Trader, who 
has in his membership 130 persons. As now constituted, the elders 
of the church are A. J. Porter, P. T. Soper and George Smith; the 
deacons, T. M. Gosney, Albert Lincoln, Benjamin Soper, A. J. 
Phelps and Samuel Smith ; clerk, Locke Riley. The first Sunday- 
school connected with this church was organized on the last Lord's 
day of May, 1868. The superintendent was O. G. Harris, assisted 
by E. G. Gill ; the secretary was P. T. Soper. The school now has 
an attendance of 70 scholars. The superintendent is Abner Porter. 

Clear (Jreek Old School Baptist Church — Located in section 14, 
Kearney township, was organized August 6, 1840. Its original mem- 
bers were Benjamin and Nancy Soper, Joel and Rachel Estes, Annie 
Palmer, Charles Waller, Margaret Waller, Henry and Lucinda Estes, 
Robert and Sarah Thompson, Alvira Arnold, Araliella Arnold, Harriet 
Arnold, William and Nancy Yates, and Elizabeth Groomer. The 
present membership is about 31. The names of the pastors who have 
served this church are Revs. John Edwards and Wolverton Warren, 
who has been the pastor for about 20 years. The present frame 
church building was built in 1853 at a cost of about $1,000. The 
constitution was formed by the following body, of whom John 
Edwards was moderator: William Clark, Henry Hill, John Atkins 
and E. Fillery, none of wliom survive. 

Bethel German M. E. Chtirch — In this township, now includes 
in its meml)ership 47 persons. As originally constituted, in 1845, by 
the efforts of Heinrich Nuelson, the constituent members were Fred 
Hartel, Peter Hartel, John Suter, Conrad Hessel, Jacob Hessel, Louis 
Feigat, Charles Fowler, Nicholas Frick, and perhaps others. After 
Heinrich Nculson, the first pastor, the pulpit was filled by Heinricli 
Hogrefe, Rev. Neidermeier, John Raus, Joseph Zimmerman, William 
Shreck, Andreas Holz Bcierlein, Henry Muehlenbrock, H. Dryer, 
Peter Hehner, Carl Steinmeier, P. Mayer, Rev. Priegal, Henry 
Bruene, H. Brinkmeier, J. J. Jung, H. Deincr, C. Bauer, H. M. 
Menger, H. Eorphage, J. J. Eichenberger, J. W. Biichholtz, George 
Koenig, F. Kaltenbach. Until the building of the present frame 
church in 1875 (costing $1,000), services were held at private houses. 
It is now in good condition both spirituall}' and financially, and is 
having steady growth. An important adjunct to the church is the 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 451 

Suntlay-school of 40 pupils, the superintendent of which is Conrad 
Hesse! . 

THE TOWN OF KEARNEY. 

What is now the southeastern portion of the town of Kearney was 
originally called Centerville, and was laid out by David T. Duncan 
and W. R. Cave in the spring of 185(3. Duncan lived on and owned 
the north half of the site of Centerville. Cave purchased the south 
half from his father, Uriel Cave, the original owner. The first 
houses were built by Adam Pence and W. R. Cave, and theirs were 
the first families in the village. 

Barney Spencer, a Kentuckian, owned the tirst store in Centerville, 
which was conducted for some time in the beginning l>y his brother- 
in-law, Sam Trabue. The second store was owned and run by John 
AVade, of Ohio. These stores were established in the spring of 1857. 
John Gilboe had the third store. A school-house was built in about 
1858 by W. R. Cave. 

Upon the outbreak of the Civil War Centerville contained about 20 
families, but when it closed there were only two or three. During 
the war onh' two houses were destroyed, however, and these were 
l)urned by the Federals — Ford's and Jennison's men. They were 
owned by John Corum and John Gilboe, but at the time they were 
burned Dr. Cravens lived in Corum's house, and W. R. Cave had a 
small grocery in Gilboe's building. The Federals claim that they did 
the burning in retalliation for the killing of Mr. Bond by the bush- 
whackers. 

The murder of John Julius, an old man and a reputable citizen, by 
Lysander Talbott, shortly after the war, was the only tragedy of note 
that ever occurred in Centerville. The killing was wholly unprovoked. 
Talbott was on the *' war path " and "wanted to kill somebody." 
He was arrested, indicted, took a change of veime to Clinton county, 
escaped from jail, went to Texas, and was himself killed in a row. 

April 12, 1869, Alfred Pyle shot and killed Charles Smith, in a 
difficulty in Kearney, but Esquire Corbin acquitted Pyle on the 
ground that he had acted in self-defense, and he was never after- 
wards indicted. 

The town of Kearney was laid out upon the building of the Han- 
nibal and St. Joe Railroad in the spring of 1867, by John Lawrence. 
The first house was built by George H. Plitt, and is still standing 
on the southwest corner of Washington Avenue and Railroad street, 
fronting the depot on the east. It is now used as a hotel — the 
Oklahoma House. Plitt occupied it as a store room, but afterwards 



452 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

conducted a hotel. The building was erected before the railroad depot. 
Piitt was proprietor of a lumber yard, and the leading spirit of the 
place for some time. Perhaps James Hightower had the second store. 

The town was named by John Lawrence for Fort Kearney, Neb., 
and not for a certain worthy citizen of the community. It is under- 
stood that Lawrence was at one time a resident of Fort Kearney be- 
fore he came to Clay county. Soon after its establishment the village 
began to be peopled very rapidly. Stores and shops of all kinds 
were built, and in a little time Kearney and Centerville were practi- 
cali}' united. 

Kearney was incorporated "as a town or village " by the county 
court, April 5, 1869. The first board of trustees was composed of 
George H. Plitt, Peter Rhinehart, R. B. Elliott, D. T. Dunkiu and 
George Harris. As the location of the town is very attractive, and 
as the buildings are all comparatively new, the town itself presents 
a handsome appearance. Washington avenue, the principal street, 
is well lined with stores and shops, and the business done is consider- 
able. 

The present school-house was built a dozen years ago, and the 
Clipper newspaper, a five-column sheet, was established by Thos. H. 
Frame, in July, 1883. The first church was the Missionary Baptist, 
which was at first called Mount Olive. It is worthy of note that 
John S. Majors, Esq., took an active and prominent part in tiie build- 
ing of this church, contributing to it from first to last $1,000. It is 
a fine brick structure and still standing. 

CHURCHES AT KEARNEY. 

Kearney Christian Church. — On the 25th of August, 1868, Lucy 
E. Coryell, Elizabeth Petterfield, Eliza Netherton, Hannah Pollock, 
Al)raham Netherton, Shelton Brown and wife, William H. Hawkins, 
D. T. Duncan, John S. Groom, James Reed and wife, Alfred Arnold 
and wife, George S. Harris, William Hall, G. D. Hall, Mrs. A. Rod- 
gers, R. H. Burden and wife, Emily Ci'aven, Nancy E. Pile, J. S. 
Sirpan, Elizabeth Rodgers, Aiida Harris and Robert Morris formed 
tliemselves into an organization now known as the above church. This 
original membership has been added to from time to time until it now 
numbers 100. Among those who have filled the pulpit here are Pres- 
ton Akers, J. D. Wilmot, Joseph Davis, T. J. Williamson, Rev. 
Martz, Preston Akers a second time, James W. Waller, J. W. Per- 
kins, B. C. Stephens and William S. Trader. The church building, 
which they occupy is a frame structure, built for about $2,000, in 1869. 
M. W. Sullivan is superintendent of the Sabbatli-school of 40 jjupils. 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 453 

BajUisl Church. — No report bus been received, tbougb promised, 
from this or<(aiiiz!ition, originally called Mt. Olive, and briefly men- 
tioned elsewhere. 

THE TOWN OF HOLT. 

The village of Holt, situated on the Clinton county line, on the 
northeastern half of section 35, townsiiip 54, range 31, has been in 
existence only since the completion of the Cameron branch of the H. 
and St. Joe Railroad. It was formerly the site of a heavy body of 
timber in a little bottom on a branch of Clear creek. The land was 
owned by Jerry A. Holt, an old North Carolinian, whose residence is 
just across in Clinton county, and who came to Missouri in about 
1835. There are many other families of North Carolinians in this re- 
gion. 

Holt was laid out in the fall of 1867, and named for Uncle Jerry 
Holt, the owner of the land. Timothy R. Dale was the surveyor. 
The first house was built on lot 5, in East Holt, by J. C. Dever, and 
the building was occupied by Mr. Dever first as a store. It was 
burned down in 1873. Soon after Mr. Dever built a hotel called the 
Dever House which still stands on lot 10 in West Holt. The second 
store was built by Samuel Garrison on lot 11 in East Holt. In the 
spring of 1869 Capt. Joab Laml) built the third store on lot 8 in Holt 
East. The second house in Holt West was built by Richard Fitzger- 
ald, in the spring of 1869. 

The railroad depot was built in the spring of 1868; but previous to 
its construction the section house was used as a freight depot. The 
first station agent was Hiram Towne, and his brother, D. W. C. 
Towne, succeeded him. The public school building was erected in 
the summer of 1873. The mill was completed in the spring of 1883, 
by A. P. Cutler, S. L. Cutler, J. K. Morgan and J. F. Lampson, 
who composed the firm of Cutler, Morgan & Co. The first church, 
the M. E. South, was completed in the spring of 1883. 

In 1868 the post-office was established. Capt. Joab Lamb secured 
the office, and was the first postmaster, but in a short time he was 
superseded by D. W. C. Towne. Prior to its establishment Haynes- 
ville, Clinton county, was the nearest post-oflice. The first practic- 
ing physician in the place was Dr. J. M. Brown, of whose abilities 
many of the old citizens speak disparagingly, but yet it is admitted 
that he had fair success. 

Holt was incorporated February 4, 1878. Tiie first board of trustees 
was composed of Boston L. McGee, A. P. Cutler, Adam Eby, J. C. 
Dever, Wm. H. Mclntyre. Upon the organization of the board A. 



454 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

P. Cutler was made chairman; Boston L. McGee, clerk; D. W. C. 
Towne, ti'easurer, and Wm. M. Troxler, collector and marshal. 

The Baptist Church was completed in Fel)ruary, 1885, and is an 
imposing, capacious structure, neatly furnished and equipped. The 
present population of the village is about 250. In 1880 it was 162. 
The average attendance at the public school is 54. 

CHURCHES AT HOLT. 

M. E. Church South — Located at Holt, in Kearney township, was' 
organized in 1837 at Pleasant Grove, but was afterwards moved to 
Haynesville, and from there to the present place. The membership 
now is about 91. The pastors who have served this church are Revs. 
B. C. Owens, T. H. Swearingen and J. T. Winstead. This is a 
fx'ame church and was built in 1883 at a cost of about $1,650. There 
are 50 scholars in the Sabbath-school and its superintendent is Wm. 
Laken. 

Christian Union Church — Located at Holt, in Kearney township, 
was organized in November, 1879. Its constituent members were B. 
L. McGee, Adam Ebly and wife, W. O. Greason, Jerry Holt and 
wife, G. M. Isley and wife, William Holt and wife, William Albright 
and wife, M. M. Albright and wife, and many others. The present 
membership numbers about 85. G. W. Mitchell is the present pas- 
tor and he was the organizer of the church. There are 50 scholars in 
the Sunday-school, which is superintended by B. L. McGee. 

Holt Baptist Church. — Among the more recent acquisitions to the 
ecclesiastical element of Clay county is the Baptist Church at Holt, 
which was organized in 1884. The same year a frame house of wor- 
ship was erected which cost $1,700. Among the first members were 
W. P. Garrett and daughter Bettie, John L. Clark and wife, B3'ron 
Allnut, L. P. Garrett, Joseph Downing, Mrs. Emsley Whitsell, A. 
S. Garrett and wife. The membership now numbers 60 persons. 
Prof. A. J. Emerson organized the churcii and Rev. M. P. Hunt is 
the present pastor. 

HOLT LODGE NO. 49, A. F. & A. M. 

Was first organized at Haynesville, May 19, 1854, but was removed 
to Holt in 1877, where it still is. Some of the first officers were 
Henry B. Hamilton, worshipful master; John R. Ling, senior war- 
den, David W. Reynolds, junior warden. David L. Willhoit is the 
present worshipful master. The hall was erected the same year of 
the removal of the lodge to Holt, and cost about $600. The number 
of membership is 52. The lodge is without incumbrance, has money 
at interest and is in a flourishing condition generally. 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 455 



BIOGRAPHICAL. 



PKESLEY D. ANDERSON 

(Of Anderson & Bros., Dealers in Groceries, Etc., Kearney). 

Ml'. Anderson is a nutive of Kentuckv, horn in Woodford county, 
April 14, 1835. His fiitiier w:is Spencer Anderson, and liis mother's 
umiden name, Catherine Hicks. Both were of early Kentucky fam- 
ilies. Mrs. Anderson inhei'ited her father's homestead in Kentucky, 
where she made her home after marriage, and where all her children 
were l)orn. But in 1852 they came to Missouri and located in Clay 
county, purchasing a farm near Kearney the following year. They 
resided there until the breaking out of the war, and the fother became 
a prosperous farmer. He was also a contractor and builder, and a very 
capable carpenter by trade. He completed William Jewell College, 
which had previousl}' been put under contract, but had not been com- 
pleted. Before coming to this State he had erected a large number 
of important buildings, public and otherwise. He died in this county 
January 8, 1881. His wife preceded him to the grave in 1872. Of 
their family of children only tive are now living, namely : Mary E., 
wife of Thonuis M. Gasney, president of the Kearney bank ; Dr. 
Joseph Anderson, of Colorado; Rachel A., wife of William D. 
Wright, of Denver, Colorado ; R. S. Anderson and the subject of 
this sketch, partners in business. Presley D. Anderson was reared 
on the farm near Kearney and educated priuci|)ally at select schools 
in Kentucky and Missouri. He also attended William Jewell College, 
at Liberty. In 18fil Mr. Anderson was married to Miss Helen M. 
Almy, a daughter of Hiram and Rebecca Alniy, formerly of New 
York, but who came to St. Louis in an early day and to Lil)erty in 1852. 
In 1860 Mr. Almy removed to Saline county and engaged in farming 
and in trading in stock. He died at Palmyra in 18(35. His wife is 
still living and making her home with the sulyect of this sketch. In 
the first of the war Mr. Anderson served a short time in the Southern 
army, but was compelled to retire from the army on account of ill 
health. In 18()2 he went to Kentucky, but returned to Clay county 
in 18(;4. He was in the battle at Lexington. After the war he en- 
gaged in farming and stock raising, but in 1872 came to Kearney and 
for two years kej)t a hotel. He then followed bridge building, and 
in 1883 engaged in his present business at Kearney. Mr. and Mrs. 
A. have had seven children : Fannie, wife of Samuel A. Pence ; Katie, 
Allie, David, Ella Eva, Willie and Ida. The last two died in child- 
hood. Mr. Anderson is a pi-ominent member of the Masonic Order, 
and he and wife are members of the Baptist Church. 

24 



456 HISTORY OF "CLAT COUNTT. 

ROBERT S. ANDERSON 

(Of Aadersou Bros., Dealers in Groceries, Etc., Kearney). 

Mr Aiuler.soii is a brother to Presley D. Anderson, whose sketch 
precedes this, in which somethinjy of a historj' of the family has been 
given. Robert S. was born in Woodford county, Ky., April 25, 1842, 
and was the second in the family of children. He was reared on the 
farm and educated principally at private schools and at William Jewell 
College. In 1868, iiaving come to Missouri with the family when a 
mere boy, as stated in his brother's sketch, he engaged in the saw 
mill business, which he followed for eight years. He then became 
clerk in a general store and continued clerking until 1882, when he 
purchased a stock of goods at Holt, in Clay countjs and began mer- 
chandising on his own account. Mr. Anderson continued at Holt 
until the spring of 1883, when he sold out on account of the ill health 
of his family at that place. He then went to Colorado for their health 
and remained until the winter of 1883-84, when he became a partner 
with his l)rother in his present liusiness. In 1880 he was married to 
Miss Emma J. Clause, daughter of George and Elizabeth Clause, of 
this county ; but formerly of Mason county, K}'. They came to Mis- 
souri in about 1864 and settled in Platte county, but afterwards came 
to Clay county in about 1858. Mr. Clause di'ed here in 1868. He 
left his widow with seven children, two of whom have since died. 
Mrs. Anderson died October 1, 1883. She was an earnest and con- 
sistent member of the Baptist Church. Mr. A. also lost a child, 
who died in infanc}'. iNIr. Anderson is a member of the Baptist 
Church. He has a good fai-m of about 100 acres near Kearnev. He 
is a member of Kearney Lodge No. 311, A. F. and A. M., at Kearney. 

HENRY D. ANDERSON 

(Fanner and Fine Stock Raiser, Post-offlce, Kearney). 

Mr. Anderson was born in Clay county in 1847, and was the second 
of six children, five of whom are now living, of Joseph D. and Mary 
(Young) Andcirson, both parents natives of Kentucky. The Ander- 
sons, however, were originally from New Jersey and the. Youngs from 
Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson's parents on either side have long 
been deceased. Mrs. Anderson's parents died over 30 years ago, but 
since their decease there has not been a death in the famih', and there 
!ire now living nine children and 42 grandchildren. On the 10th of 
June, 1884, a family reunion was held, at which all the children were 
present, together with sons-in-law and daughters-in-law, and it was a 
most enjoyal)le affair. To the outsiders present it was quite an in- 
teresting sight, somewhat different from the illustration of the Logan 
family presented in PikIc a few months ago, but even more pleas- 
ant to 1o6k upon. Henry D. Anderson was reared on his father's 
firm in this county, the family having settled here in 1834. Mr. 
Anderson, Sr., died in 1858, and the mother now makes her home .with 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 457 

her children :uid rents the okl fiimily liotnestcad. Henry D. in young 
manhood attended the conmiercial school of Buffalo, N. Y., and also 
the Toronto (Canada) Business College. In 1874, having returned 
to Clav county, he was married to Miss Bettie Gosney, a daughter to 
Thomas M. and Susan Gosney, of this county, from Kentucky. In 
tile meantime Mr. Anderson had engaged in farming and stock rais- 
ing, which he has ever since followed. He makes a specialty of stock, 
and has on hand a handsome herd of fine, thoroughbred short horn 
cattle; his farm is set in blue grass, and is one of the choice stock 
farms of the vicinity and contains 212 acres, and is well improved. 
Mr. and Mrs. Anderson are members of the Christian Church. They 
have one child, Thomas J., but three others have died in infancy. 

W. H. ARNOLD 

(Owner and Propi'ietor of the Kearney Elevator). 

Mr. Arnold's father, Fauntleroy Arnold, was one of the first settlers 
of what is now Kearney township, in Clay county. He was from Ken- 
tucky, born in Woodford county, in 1807, and came here when he was 
in his twenty-first year, in 1828. His father, Lewis Arnold, was a 
native of Virginia, but early settled in Kentucky, and served from that 
State in the Northwestern campaign under Gen. Harrison. Fauntleroy 
Arnold served in the Mormon War under Cai)t. Shackleford. Sliortly 
after coming out to Clay county he entered and pre-empted 280 acres 
of land, all of which but forty acres arc still in possession of the 
family. He died here in 1857, after being an invalid for some 
years, resulting from exposures undergone while in, and going to and 
coming from, California during the gold excitement. He was a mem- 
l)er of the Primitive Baptist Church. His widow is still living. She 
was a daughter of Mr. Carter, of Lexington, Ky., and was liorn in 
1812. She resides on the family homestead near Kearney with two 
of her children. She is also a member of the Primitive Baptist 
Church, and has been for many years. W. H. Arnold was born near 
Kearney on the 25th of July, 1832, and was reared on a farm. At 
the age of 22, in 1854, he went to Leavenworth, Kan., and thence to 
Harrison county. Mo., two years later. In 1871 he returned to Clay 
county and followed farming here, where he has a good farm of 160 
acres, for eight years. In 1879 he removed from his farm to Liberty, 
for the purpose of educating his children. After sending them to 
school there for two years he returned to the farm and in 1883 
came to Kearney and built the elevator, which he now owns and con- 
ducts. His elevator has a capacity of 10,000 bushels and the past 
year he handled 35,000 bushels of grain. It is the only elevator at 
Kearney and has proved an entirely successful enterprise. Mr. Arnold 
has served as deputy assessor of the county and in other positions of 
put)lic trust. In 1856 he was marrieil to Miss Mary Jane Brawner, 
daughter of David O. and Sarah (Uttinger) Brawner, who came from 
Jc^ssainine county, Ky., in 1835. Mr. and Mrs. Arnold have live 
children ; Charles F. D., a graduate of William Jewell College, now 



458 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

a Baptist minister; F. G., a hardware merchant at Holt; John T., a 
fanner hv occupation; Willie J., wife of S. B. Wilhoit, and James M., 
a oraduate of the St. Joe Comniercial College, and now clerk and 
book-keeper for the elevator. 

WILLIAM B. ARNOLD 

^Farmer, Post-oflBce, Kearney). 

In about 1825 Mr. Arnold's parents, Lewis and Arabella Arnold, 
came to Missouri from Garrard county, Kv., and made their home in 
the then wilderness of Clay county. Here the father improved a 
farm. At an early date he went to the Rocky mountains for his 
health and died while absent. He left five children, four of whom are 
now living : John, William, Henry, and Lucy, the wife of William 
Grooms. Mary F., the wife of Henry Shaver, died some 3'ears ago. 
The mother subsequently married Rev. William AVarren, formerly of 
Kentucky, and of the Primitive Baptist Church. Five children are 
the fruits of her last union, all living except the youngest. William 
B. Arnold, the subject of this sketch, was born in this county in April, 
1833, and was reared with farming experience. In 1856 he was 
married to Elizabeth Collins, and then located on a farm as a house- 
holder in the township of Kearnej'. He has ever since been engaged 
in farminii: and also handles some stock. His farm is mainly a grass 
aiul stock farm. Mrs. Arnold was a daughter of S. N. and Jane 
(Tilford) Collins, originally of Virginia, but came to this county by 
way of Kentucky. Her (Mrs. Collins') father was a pioneer of this 
county, and made the first clearing on the site of the present town of 
Liberty, away back when the Indians circulated the superstitious and 
ridiculous story that the Missouri river rose out of the earth in the 
distant West, where the sun sinks to rest behind the shadows of the 
mountains. Mr. and Mrs. Arnold had five children, two of whom are 
living : Alice, wife of Herman Davis, and Claude. Three are deceased, 
having closed their infant eyes in the sleep of death before looking on 
to understand the wrong and sin of the world. In 1872 Mr. Arnold 
was married to Miss Cleopatra Ann Hurt, daughter of Joel and Sallie 
Hurt, formerl}' of Virginia. Her father is now deceased. By the 
last union there have been two children, both of whom arc deceased. 
Mr. and Mrs. Arnold are members of the Missionary Baptist Church. 

FRANKLIN G. ARNOLD 

(Post-office, Holt) . 

Franklin Grimes Arnold was born in Harrison county, Mo., on the 
24th of February, 1859. His father, W. H. Arnold, was the son of 
Fauntlcroy Arnold, origina'lly from Kentucky, but who came to this 
State ami here made his [)ermanent home. W. H. Arnold, who 
was a native of Missouri, was married in Clay county to Mary Jane 
Browner, a Kentuckian by birth, though she had been reared in this 
State. Her parents were Mr. and Mrs. David O. Biowner. The 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 459 

parents of the subject of this sketch were denied the benefits of even 
a coaunon scliool education such as could now be obtained. The 
father, a i'armer by occupation, was very successful as such, industri- 
ous, energetic and possessed of good characteristics. He is still living 
(as is also his worthy wife) and takes a deej) interest in the current 
atl'airs of the day. Politically he is a Democrat, and has a high regard 
for religion. He has been active in the Grange movement, and has 
also served as justice of the peace. After having lived in Clay county 
for 13 years he made his home in Harrison county some ten years, 
then returning to Clay county in March, 1872. To them were boru 
Hve children : C. L. F. Arnold, Franklin J., J. T., W. J. and J. M., 
all of whoui have reached mature years and three of whom are mar- 
ried. Two are in the mercantile business, one is a farmer, one a min- 
ister and one daughter is the wife of S. B. Wilhoit, a farmer. Frauklia 
J. was brought up in the county of his l)irth to the life of a farmer, 
not being very well favored with educational advantages. For three 
years he has been occupied in the hardware business, but has recently 
disposed of his interests in this branch of business, desiring to resume 
agricultural pursuits in the coming spring. The present position in 
pecuniary affairs to which he has achieved, has been acquired only 
through his own efforts, as no assistance was given him with which to 
start in life. Like his pai'ents, he has divided his life I)etweeu Harrison 
and Clay counties — 13 years in the former and 15 in the latter. He 
is now connected with the Masonic fraternity. November 14, 1883, 
Mr. Arnold was married at Holt to Miss M;iry Jane Holt, a most 
estimable lady. She was born in Clinton county, Mo. Mr. A. is one 
of the highly esteemed residents of this community. 

BENJAMIN A. ATCHISON 

(Farmer and Fine Stock Raiser, Post-office, Kearuey). 

Mr. Atchison is engaged in the same pursuit which his father, 
William Atchison, made a life occupation. His father was a very 
successful farmer, and was one of the first men of Clay county who 
introduced the breeding and raising of tine stock. He became a large 
landholder, and at one time owned over 1,500 acres of choice lands 
in the county. Mr. Atchison, Sr., was twice married. His first wife 
was a Miss Catherine Baker. She left him six children at her death : 
David R., James B., William, Lewis C, Catherine and Mary. His 
second wife, who is still living, and the mother of the sui)ject of this 
sketch, with whom she makes her home, was a Miss Sarah Robertson. 
There were two children by this marriage: James F., the other one 
besides Benjamin A., died in March, 1.S82. The father died in 1871. 
He was a brother of Hon. David R. Atchison, ex-United States Sena- 
tor from this State, and for whom Atchison county. Mo., was name<l. 
In July, 1881, Benjamin A. Atchison was married to Miss Ella Lee 
Trumbo, a daughter of John A. and Ora Trumbo, formerly of Wootl- 
ford county, Ky. Mr. and Mrs. A. have two children : James F. and 
Ora Lee. Mr. Atchison's farm contains 260 acres. 



460 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 



DAVID M. BEVINS 

(Retired Farmer, Stock-raiser and Mechanic, Post-office, Kearney). 

Mr. Bevins, now (February, 1885,) just past the age of 80 years, 
has been a resident of Clay county for nearly 60 years, and has l>een 
closely and usefully identified with the history otthe county throughout 
all this time. He was born in Madison county, Ky., January 17, 1805, 
and was the eldest in his parents' family of 12 children. They were 
pioneer settlers of that county. When in his seventeenth year his 
father sent him to Missouri to enter land for the family, and begin 
the improvements of a farm. He came here horseback in 1821, and 
after leaving the settlements in the eastern part -of this State he found 
the country so sparsely populated that several days he rode from dawn 
until nightfall on the main route of travel without passing even a soli- 
tary house. Mr. Bevins came to what is now Gallatin township, in 
Clay county, and entered a tract of 160 acres in the timlier. That 
winter he cleared eight acres, and the following spring put in a small 
crop, building, in tlie meantime, a comfortable log cabin. He also 
entered an additional 160 acres, and in the summer of 1822 his pa- 
rents, Truman and Annie Bevins, with their family of children, came 
out from KentucW. He continued with the family two years longer, 
and then went out for himself to work with a whip saw, the day of 
circular saws not yet having dawned in this part of the country. 
He sawed lumber for several years, and furnished the lumber for the 
first business house ever erected at Liberty. In a short time he 
also took up the carpenter trade, and followed contracting and build- 
ing for several years. He built the old arsenal building at Liberty 
away back in 182-. In 1830 Mr. Bevins was married to Miss Hulda 
C, a daughter of James Riley, who came out from Fa3'ette county, 
Ky., in 1828. In the meantime he had entered and bought consider- 
able land, and soon turned his attention to farming and stock-raising, 
at which he was very successful. He raised and handled all kinds 
of farm stock — horses, mules, cattle, hogs, sheep, etc., — and is 
still interested in farming and stock-raising. From time to time 
Mr. Bevins continued to add to his landed estate, until it aggregated 
over 5,000 acres, all choice land, S|)eciall3' selected by him. He and his 
good wife, however, have reared a large family of children, and in 
providing for them they have been veiy lii)cral. Mr. Bevins has 
divided his lands among his children until he now has only about 
1,000 acres left. Of these 807 acres arc in the family homestead. 
As these facts show Mr. Bevins has been abundantly successful in 
the affairs of life, and has an ample competency. Although now 
past 80 3'cars of age, one would hardly take him to be more than 65, 
iind he still takes an active interest in the coniluct of his farm. He 
is making a specialty of sheep, and has a fine stock of 300 head. 
Mr. and Mrs. Bevins have reared a family of nine children, namely: 
Harriet, the wife of John S. Martin, deceased ; Mary A., the wife of 
Hon. E. C. Cook, ex-representative of Clinton county ; Oliver P., 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 4t)l 

David R., who was killed in the Southern army, at the battle of 
Franklin, Tenn. ; Thomas T., of Clinton connty ; James, Alice, wife 
of Cass Atchison, nepliew of Gen. Atchison, and Riley E. Three 
others died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. B. are memi)ers of the Christian 
Church. The family of Mr. B.'s parents were David M., Walker 
W., Tyra T., Malinda, Minerva, Mary Ann, Martha, Maro;aret and 
America. Malinda married a Mr. Hudson ; Minerva married a Mr. 
Merryman ; Mary Ann married a Air. Karey ; Martha married a Mr. 
Cain ; America married a Mr. Reed, and Margaret married a Mr. Ad- 
kins. All except Tyra are living. 

GEORGE E. BISHOP 

(Butcher and Dealer in Country Produce, Kearney) . 

Mr. Bishop is a native of England, born in Kent county March 24, 
1838. He was the eldest in a family of ten children of Edward and 
Eliza (Ditton) Bishop, both of old English families. His father died 
there in 1871 in his si.Kty-first year, but his mother is still living, a 
resident of England. Nine of their family of children are also still 
living. Mr. Bishop, the subject of this sketch, is tiie only one in this 
country. He was reared in Kent county and brought up to the occu- 
pation of raising sheep, which his father followed. He received an 
ordinary school education, and at the age of 27 years l)egan keeping a 
l)ublio inn, or tavern as we use to call them in tliis country, now de- 
nominated hotel, as it sounds more fastidiqus and Frenchy. He 
followed that business for five 3'ears, or until he came to the United 
States in 1871. In this country he at once loc-ated at Kearney, and 
for a time was engaged as a laborer, doing also, however, some- 
thing in the line of trading in stock. In 1878 he opened a butcher 
shoi), which he has since carried on with success. For some years he 
has furthermore been engaged in handling country produce, buying all 
kinds of I'arm products commonlv classed as produce, including l)utter 
and eggs, hides, etc., and sliipping them to the wholesale markets. 
In 1869 Mr. Bishop was married to Miss Martha A. Frampton, a 
daughter of James and Elizabeth Frampton, of England. Mr. and 
Mrs. Bishop have five children: Ellen M., Bertha E., Fredie F., 
Edmond and All)ert J. They have lost two, Katie, aged six years 
and ten months, and Emma, ten months old. Mr. and Mrs. Bishop 
^ are members of the Episcopalian Church. Mr. Bishop has a fine city 
residence ; also a small place of 30 acres, and makes a specialty of 
raising fine hogs and brown Leghorn chickens. His purpose is to give 
his entire attention to Durock Jersey-red hogs and brown Leg- 
horn chickens. 

CHARLTON B. BURGESS 

(Farmer and Breeder of Short Horn Cattle, Post-ofBce, Kearney). 

Among the younger agriculturists of the county who have become 
prominent in their calling, through their own etforts, is C. B. Bur- 
gess, comparatively a young man, now but thirty-six 3'ears of age. 



462 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

He was brought to Clay County, Mo., ])y his parents, while still in 
infancy, and grew up in this vicinity, attending, in common with sons 
of other farmers (for his father was a farmer) the common schools. 
He was favored, however, with more of an education than could there 
))e obtained, attending for some time the Mount Gilead High School, 
where he received an excellent course of instruction. He had been 
born in Mason county, Ky., March 8, 1849. His father, Joseph V. 
Burgess, and his mother. Charity (Morris) Burgess, were Kentuck- 
ians by birth, and were reared and married in that State. They came 
to Clay county in 1850, and before the father died, November 24, 
1858. The mother is yet living. They were both members of the 
Christian Church, as the mother still is. Charlton was the youngest 
of the three children in the family. On the 10th of November, 1874, 
Miss Margaret Anderson, daughter of Joseph D. and Mary Anderson 
(whose maiden name was Young), of Clay county, became his wife. 
She was also a native of this countv, and was educated at Mount 
Gilead High School. They have two children, Nora and Mary A. 
Mr. Burgess owns a farm of 210 acres, well improved, and in a good 
state of cultivation. He makes a specialty of the stock business, and 
particularly of short horns, and at this time has upon his place about 
50 head of thorough l)red short horn cattle. His wife is a member 
of the Christian Church. 

JAMES COSTELLO 

(Of Bunies & Costello, Dealers iu Lumber, Etc., Kearuey). 

Nearly 35 years ago Michael Costello came to Missouri from 
Ireland, settling at Lilierty, in Clay county, where he married Cath- 
arine Keatley. They made that pla<?e their permanent home, and the 
father, after a residence there of nearly 30 years, which was well 
oc(nipied with useful industr}', died December 15, 1868. He waas 
life-long member of the Catholic Church. The mother is still living, 
a resident of Lil)erty. Five of their children are living, nameh' : 
Mary, Katie, Annie, Nellie, and the sul)ject of this sketch. Two 
others died in early years. James Costc^llo was born at Liberty, 
Fel)ruary 3, 1856. His parents not l)eing people of means, his 
educational advantages were quite limited. At the age of 12 he left 
school and was employed in difTerent kinds of work for some time. 
In 1880 he was employed in the lumber business in Liberty, which he 
followed until early in 1883, when he formed a partnershi[) with P. 
B. Burnes, under the name of Burnes & Costello, and engaged in the 
lumber i)U«iness on their own account at Kearney. They carr}' a full 
line of lumber and all kinds of building material, and also lime, hair, 
doors, sash, blinds, mouldings, etc. Their ex[)erience has been quite 
successful in the lumber business and their trade, already a good one, 
is steadily increasing. Mr. Costello, who is of Irish ancestry, is a 
young man entitled to much credit for the energy and success with 
which he is making his way up in life. The qualities that have 
brought him to his present position in business, and as a respected, 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 



403 



useful citizen, at his present early age, will doubtless carry him for- 
ward through the long years before him to a much more advanced 
station in life. 

JOSEPHUS COURTNEY 
(Farmer, Post-ofBce, Kearney). 

The sul)jeot of this sketch was the youngest of the family of chil- 
dren referred to in tlie sketch of his brother, which is given elsewhere, 
where something of an outline of the history of the family has been 
given. Josephus Courtney was born in Clay county in 1844, and like 
his brother was brougiit up to a farm life. In 1868 he was married to 
Miss Nettie Arnold, daughter of J. B. Arnold, who came to this State 
from Kentucky in 1851, and after a residence of 10 years in Franklin 
county, removed to Clay county, where he now resides. Mrs. C.'s 
mother died here iii 18G3. Her father is still living, now a retired 
farmer, and firmerly, for about nine years, justice of the peace. 
After his marriage Mr. Courtney continued in the occupation of farm- 
ing and also engaged in raising stock, in which he has ever since been 
interested. He has a good farm of 267 acres, principally a stock and 
grass farm. Mr. and Mrs. Courtney have six children: Ebba, 
Maggie N., Willie R., Rosa J., Robert B. and Melissa E. They have 
lost one, an infant. Mr. Courtney's farm is well improved, including 
a handsome two-story brick residence. 

NATHAN E. CRAWFORD 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, I'ost-oflice, Holt). 

The second in a family of 12 children, of Maj. Smith Crawford 
and wife, nee Jane Reed, Nathan E. was born in this county on the 
10th of September, 1830. His father. Major Crawford, was well 
known in an early day in this county. He came from Alabama here, 
but was a native of Tennessee. After coming to Missouri, he 
served with distinction in the Black Hawk War, and was major of a 
regiment of Missouri volunteers. He was also quite active and 
prominent in [)ublic affairs, and was suddenly taken off by death 
while on a campaigning tour. His death occurred before he could 
reach home, and his remains were interred at the cemetery, near his 
old homestead. His wife, to whom he was married in Alabauui, 
survived him several years. Only four of their family of children 
are now living. Nathan E. was reared on the farm in this county, 
and in young manhood learned the carpenter's trade. He followed 
his trade for some years, but subsequently located on a farm, and 
finally turned his entire attention to farming. In 1881, however, he 
removed to Holt and engaged in merchandising, but two years later 
sold out and returned to his farm. Mr. and Mrs. Crawford have five 
children: Smith, Hattie, wife of Robert Shackleford ; Andrew J., 
Lydia and Willis. They have lost three, Lutie and Mollie, at tender 
ages, and Mamie, at the age of 13 years. Mr. and Mrs. Crawford arc 
meml)ers of the Baptist Church. 



464 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

JOSEPH P. DITTO 

(Farmer nud Stock-raiser, Post-office, Hoit). 

On his father's side Mr. Ditto is a representative of a family that 
has been long settled in this country and has rendered valuable ser- 
vice in time of war as well as being worthily identified with affairs in' 
times of peace. The family settled originally in Maryland and from 
that then colony William Ditto, the grandfather of the subject of this 
sketch, enlisted under Washington in the War for Inde[)endence. He 
was engaged in tiiut memorable struggle from the beginning until its 
close, for seven long years. His son, Abraham Ditto, the father of 
Joseph P., who early went to Kentucky, served in the War of 1812 
from that State. His wife was a Miss Martha Force, and both he and 
wife were natives of Baltimore. In the War of 1812 he held the rank 
of a commissioned oiEcer and did valuable service for his country. 
The Ditto family is of Scotch descent, and came over to this country 
prior to the Revolution. Mr. Ditto's mother was a daughter of 
Joseph Force, originally of Fairfax county, Virginia, and who also 
served in the War for Independence. The Forces are of French de- 
scent. Joseph Ditto was born in Shelby county, Kentucky, Jul}' 12, 
1824. He was the fifth of twelve children, only three of whom are 
living. Reared on the farm in Kentucky, he remainded there until 
1858, and then came to Missouri and located near Plattsburg, in Clin- 
ton county. The following year he was married to Miss Eliza A. Al- 
bright, a daughter of Daniel Albright, and in 18(J6 Mr. Ditto came to 
Clay county, buying a farm near Kearnc}', where he settled. He has 
ever since been engaged in farming and most of the time in trading 
in stock. He has a good farm of 100 acres. Mr. and Mrs. Ditto's 
family consists of Bettie, wife of J. N. Hunter; Prior D., Florence, 
Erasmus, Lego, Cf)rda, Prentice and Daniel. Three are deceased, two 
in childhood, and William L., a young man grown, in the spring of 
1884. Mr. Ditto is a memi)er of'the M. E. Church South. Mrs. D.- 
is a meml)er of the Christian Union. 

JAMES W. EASTIN 

(Farmer and Fine Stock Raiser, Kearney). 

In the matter of fine horses, at least for saddle and driving pur- 
poses, Kentucky has the reputation for pre-eminence, not only in this 
country but in Europe. There the breeding and training of fine 
riding and driving stock was early made a favorite pursuit with farm- 
ers and others, which they have ever since followed. Thus they 
not only succeeded in developing the finest horses in their line to be 
found in any country, but built up a school of fine-stock men who 
are not surpassed in skill and judgment in any country. Take a 
fine-horse Kentuckian anywhere and he stands in the front rank of 
professional fine-horse men. 

Missouri has also attained some reputation as a i)roducer of fine 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 4r).'> 

saddle and driving horses as well as other fine stock. But what- 
ever name she has made for herself in this direction is ver^' largely 
due to former Kentuckians, who, on coming and settling here, brought 
their taste for, and skill in, raising and training tine horses and other 
stock with them. This State has every advantage for the purpose, 
ecjual if not superior to the advantages of Kentucky ; and if our farm- 
ers would more generally turn their attention to this branch of 
industry, they would doubtless soon make the State a rival of the 
Blue Grass Commonwealth, a consummation devoutly to be wished by 
every Missourian who feels any pride in the fame of his State. See- 
ing, however, that our people do not take the interest in this pursuit 
they should, we ought to feel oidy tlie more grateful to the few among 
us who do, the worth}', true sons of Kentucky, who, having made 
homes iu this State, are ambitious to make her fame equal to that of 
their mother commonwealth. 

Prominent among Missourians from Kentucky who have virtually 
devoted their whole lives to the tine-stock interests of this State, par- 
ticularly to breeding and training fine horses, is the subject of the 
present, sketch, a fine horse raiser, who has done his full share toward 
placing Missouri in the front raidv of fine-stock States. Nor has any- 
one, even in Kentucky, more reason to feel proud of the record he 
has made in his branch of industry than Mr. Eastin. He has pro- 
duced stock whose fame has circled the earth. One of his horses, the 
celebrated "White Stocking" breed, raised and trained by him in 
this county, he sold to Dr. "Wallace, of New York City, for $10,000 
in spot cash. Other horses which have attained a wide reputation 
have been bred and brought up by him; among fine-horse men in this 
State he stands second to none, either in point of success, good judg- 
ment in passing upon the qualities of a horse or skill in training him. 
Mr. Eastin has a fine-stock farm of 400 acres near Kearney, one of 
tlie finest places in the county, devoted exclusively to this purpose. 
His place is run almost entirelv in blue grass, divided up into con- 
venient pastures and arranged with rare good judgment for handling 
stock. Its l)arus and other outbuildings are of a superior class, and 
in addition he has a handsome, tastily built and imposing two-story 
brick dwelling, containing ten rooms, a ver}' picture of a home for 
a successful farmer and stock-raiser. However, he owns good prop- 
erty in Kearney, including his residence, as well as other dwellings, 
business houses, etc., and makes his home here as ji matter of con- 
venience in posting himself daily in regard to the markets and iu 
communication with stock men .at other points by mail and telegraph. 
He rides out to his fine-stock farm nearly every day to see his 
stock and attend to the i)lace. 

As has been said, Mr. Eastin is a Kentuckian by nativity, born in 
Madison county, November 22, 1820. Reared in Kentucky, he was 
married in that State in 1846 to Miss Kezia Bishop, a daughter of 
John Bishop, a fine stock raiser of Ma<lis()n county. Afterwards, 
ill 1851, Mr. Eastin came to Missouri and located for a short time in 
Platte county, where he engaged iu farming. But in 1851 he came 



466 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

to Kearney, then known as Centre ville, where he carried on the 
business of handling fine horses and dealing in stock generally, in 
connection with a livery stable. He also owned and conducted a 
general store at this place. Handling fast horses, however, he made 
a specialty, and his livery stalile was run more as being advantageous 
to his stock business than with any other object in view. He also 
carried on a stock farm in connection with his stock business. Mr. 
Eastin bought his present large stock farm near Kearney in 1876. 

Considering that he is advancing well along in years, he is a man of 
wonderful energy and activity, and seems to be as warm and enthusi- 
astic in the stock business as would ordinarily be expected of a mau 
in the meridian of life. Nevertheless, he is aware that in the usual 
course of nature he must in a few years more retire from active life, 
and he is wisely shaping his atlairs with that object in view. But he 
has the satisfaction of knowing that he has an ample competence for 
old age and has made a name as a fine stock raiser which he can 
contemplate in retirement without regret, to say the least. 

In 1877 Mr. Eastin had the misfortune to lose his devoted and good 
wife by death. She had been a member of the Christian Church for 
many vears. Two sons of their famil}' of children are living, Frank 
W. and William H. 

Subsequently Mr. Eastin was married to Miss Anna D. Burgess, of 
Clinton county, a daughter of O. B. Burgess, formerly of Mason 
county, Ky. By his present wife Mr. E;istin has two children, John 
R. and Walden J. 

Mr. Eastin is a worthy member of the Masonic Order. His parents 
were Reuben J. and Nancy Eastin, who settled permanently in Clay 
county of this State, from Kentucky, in 1851. Both are deceased- 
Six of their children are living. 

J. C. ENGLAND 

(Grocer aud Mumber of the Towu Council, Kearney). 

Mr. England was one in a family of twelve children of Capt. James 
and Nancy (Campbell) England, of Garrard county, Ky. The father, 
however, was originally from Virginia. He was a carpenter and farmer 
by occupation, and died in 1856 at the age of 74. The mother survived 
up to January, 1884, until her ninety-second year. Slie had l)een a 
member of the M. E. Church for over 60 years. Eight of their family 
of children are living. John C. England was born in Garrard county, 
Ky., March 24, 1825, and was reared in Kentucky. At the 
age of 17 he began to learn the blacksmith's trade, which he 
followed for a period of twenty j^ears. In 1855 Mr. England came 
to Grundy county. Mo., but not liking the country he returned to 
Kentucky. He followed blacksmithing up to 1862, when he began 
merchandising in the grocery line in Garrard county. In this he con- 
tinued for twenty years, and then came to Kearney, Mo., and estab- 
lished his present i)usiness here. He keeps an excellent stock of 
goods, and iias a good trade. In 1884 he was elected a member of the 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 467 

town council, and is now serving out his term as a member of the 
council. Ill 184:9 Mr. England was married to Miss Amanda Smith, 
a daughter of Jacol) Smith, a merchant of Mercer county, Kv. They 
have live children : Thompson A., wife of Mundy Curd, a farmer of 
Kentuck}' ; James W., Alice S., Warren H., in Chicago, aud John 
C, a clerk in a store at Chillicothe. They have lost two children in 
childhood. 

AMBROSE S. GARRETT 

(Of Wilhoit, Garrett & Co., Dealers in General Merchandise, Holt). 

Mr. Garrett was partly educated at William Jewell College, where 
he took a course of several terms after quitting the common schools. 
Havingbeen reared to farm life he continued at that after leaving col- 
lege until the spring of 1884, when lie came to Holt, and became a 
HKMnber of the present firm. He is well respected as a business man 
and otherwise at Holt, and has a favorable outlook for a successful 
business experience. His father resides on a farm near this place, 
and Mr. Holt, Jr., is still interested in farming with his father, and 
also to some extent in raising stock. Mr. Garrett was reared in Clay 
county, though born in Kentucky, March 12, 1848, in Shelby countv, 
that State. His parents, William P. and Angeline (Stone) Garrett, 
removed to Missouri with their family in 1853, locating where the 
father now resides, near Holt.' The mother died in 1877. A short 
time before his mother's death Mr. Garrett, Jr., was married in this 
county to Miss Ella Wilhoit, a daughter of Thomas Wilhoit, a sub- 
stantial farmer and stock-raiser of Clay county. Mr. aud Mrs. G. 
have three children: William G., Pearle H. and Agie. The parents 
are members of the Missionary Baptist Church. 

THOMAS M. GOSNEY 

(President of the ivearney Bank, Kearney, Mo.). 

Thomas M. Gosney was born in Clark county, Ky., January 13, 
181.5, his father, Richard Gosney, being of German descent and his 
mother, Jane, JJc'eLackej', of Irish ancestry, though l)oth were Virgin- 
ians by liirth. Tiiey were reared, educated and married in Clark 
county, Ky., and removed to Clay county. Mo., in 1845, where the 
mother died August 27, 184G. The senior Gosney then made 
his home with the subject of this sketch for seven years, after which he 
removed to Monroe count^s Mo., where he was married a second time. 
Ho departed this life on the Kith of June, 185(i. In early life he was a 
hatter by occuijation, but during later years was engaged in farming. 
He was a menil)er of the Old School Baptist Church, his wife having 
been connected with the Christian denomination. They were the par- 
ents of 15 children, six sons and nine daughters, 13 of whom lived 
to be grown; eleven were married, but only four are now living. 
Thomas M. Gosney was the seventh child in his father's family and, 
like his brothers, grew up upon the farm in his native county, receiv- 
ing only such education as could be received in the primitive common 



468 IIISTOKT OF CLAY COUNTY. 

schools of the day. Having iiccompanied his parents to this county 
in 1845, he has made it his home ever since and has risen hy his own 
aid in life from a small, obscure and almost unknown tiller of the 
soil, to one of the most prominent, influential and highly successful 
men of the county. His first start to obtain a competence was in 
working as a farm hand and driving stock to the South, having for 
14 years, while still in Kentucky, gone to South Carolina and Georgia 
with stock. With the exception of 40 acres of timber, he now owns 
500 acres, all under fence, upon which is a good residence and also ex- 
cellent outbuildings. This is admirably adapted for stock purposes. 
He has turned his attention for the last 20 years principally to stock- 
raising and feeding beef cattle ; he has had ready for market nearly 
every year from two to four car loads of beef cattle besides quite a 
number of fat hogs. He has not bought over 100 barrels of corn in 
20 years. As has been estimated, he is recognized as a man of excel- 
lent financial ability, in recognition of which he was elected president 
of the Kearney Bank and in which he is one of the prominent stock- 
holders. A man of high, social and moral standing in his community, 
he is recognized everywhere for his true, sterling worth and ines- 
timable value to the county in which he has chosen to make his home. 
A warm friend and supporter of education, he has proven his appre- 
ciation of the school system of this county l)y having without com- 
pensation furnished a number of persons with the means necessary to 
obtain good school facilities. During the existence of that party, 
he was a Whig in politics and since that time has been an ardent 
Democrat. In March, 1847, Mr. Gosney was married to Miss Susan 
E. Gosney, a daughter of Rev. Fielding Gosney, of Monroe county, 
Mo. She died November 10, 1854, leaving one child, Sirsan E., wife 
of Henry Anderson, a iironiinent farmer of Clay county. Mrs. G. 
was a member of the Christian Church. Ff)r his second wife Mr. 
Gosney married Miss Mary E. Anderson, June 1, 1859. She was 
born, reared and educated in Woodford county, Ky., and is a lady of 
many estimable qualities. Her parents were Capt. Spencer and 
Catherine (Hicks) Anderson, of this count}'. Mrs. G. is a member of 
Kearney Missionary Baptist (Jhurch, while her husband is connected 
with Mount Gilead Christian Church, in which he is now and has been 
a deacon for a number of years. He became a member of the Chris- 
tian Church in Kentucky in 1838, uniting with Mt. Gilead in 1845. 
He has since had his membership there. 

WILLIAM O. GREASON 

(Dealer in General Merchandise, and .Justice of the Peace, Holt). 

Mr. Greasou has been at Holt for over ten j'ears, having come here 
from North Carolina in 1873. However, one year prior to that he 
had spent in Clinton county, of this State. He has been engaged in 
general merchandising at Holt ever since coming to the county. Mr. 
Greason is a man of excellent education, good i)usiness qualifications, 
and is justly popular both as a merchant and a citizen in and around 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 469 

Holt. He was born in Guilford county, North Carolina, in 1851, and 
when he was a youth lost his father, who died in the Confederate 
service at Charlotte, N. C, February 15, 18()5. Mr. Greason, Sr., 
was one of the substantial and highly respected citizens of Guilford 
county, in his native State. William O. was reared in that county 
and educated at Yadkin College, where he took a course extending 
through a period of about six years. He was then appointed deputy 
sheriff of Guilford county, although he was only 19 years of age. 
Mr. Greason continued in the office of deputy sheriff until he came 
to Missouri, in 1872. In 1881 he was married to Miss Maggie A. 
Fitch, a daughter of John F. and Sarah J. (Dicky) Fitch, formerly 
of Kentucky. Mr. and Mrs. Greason have no children, having lost 
their only child, a little son, in infancy. Mr. G. is a member of the 
C. U. Church, and Mrs. G is a member of the M. E. Church South. 
Mr. Greason's mother, whose maiden name was Elizalieth J. Rankin, 
is still living, a resident of North Carolina, on the old family home- 
stead. His father's Christian name was Gideon. In 1882 Mr. 
Greason was elected a justice of the peace, and has continued to 
serve in that capacity ever since he qualified for the office after his 
election. He has made an efficient and capable magistrate, one in 
whose integrity and good judgment the community have implicit 
confidence. 

JOHN T. HARMON 

(Farmer aiul Stock-raiser, Post-otlice, Kearuey) . 

Mr. Harmon was next to the eldest in the family of children of 
Jacob I. Harmon, additional reference to whom is made further along, 
and was born in Garrard county, Kentucky, December 15, 1843. 
He was a lad six years of age when his parents removed to Clay 
county, Mo., where they made their permanent home, and young 
Harmon was accordingly reared here. His school advantages were 
quite limited, and his father not lieing a man of large means, he was 
compelled to start out in the world for himself without a dollar. 
When the war broke out in 1861 he was a youth about eighteen years 
of age, and at once enlisted in Co. D, Fourth Iowa infantry, under 
Cajjt. Burton, of Col. Dodges' regiment, and was afterwards out 
in the active service for nearly two years. In 1863, however, he was 
honorably discharged on account of physical disability. He then 
went West, across the plains, principally for the benefit of his health, 
and returned in 1864. The following year Mr. Harmon was married 
to Miss Sarah, a daughter of George and Louisa (Brooks) Oder. At 
the time of his marriage, Mr. H. had a good team and three mule 
colts, which was all the stock he possessed. Nevertheless, he went 
resolutely to work, and made a good crop the first year. He was 
soon able to bu}' the necessary farm stock to carry on farming ; though 
he owned but 65 acres of land when he married. From that begin- 
ning he has steadily prospered, and is now one of the substantial citi- 
zens of the county. He owns over 500 acres of fine land in different 
tracts, and in his home place, which is well improved, has 347 acres. 



470 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

This was the T. T. Bevins f:inu which he bought in 1881. He is a 
reraarlvablv hard worliing man, and possesses unconquerable energy. 
What he has now he has made by his own hard labor, economy and 
good management. Although he has been successful by honest daily 
industry, it still looks a little hard that some who never did a hard 
day's work in their lives should be able l)y a simple dicker or trick or 
twist in the grain market to make five times as much, and five times 
five, as Mr. H. has succeeded in gathering together by a lifetime of 
labor and self-denial ; in other words, the farmer works in the rain- 
aiid burning sunshine, and in all the changes of weather to I'aise a 
bushel of wheat, while the grain speculator makes as much as the 
price of thousands of bushels in two minutes, and without even un- 
gloving his delicate, tender hands, — a condition of afl'airs which ren- 
ders such an anomaly and wrong as that not only possible, but the 
regular rule must necessarilj' l)e radically wrong ; and some day the 
people will become educated up to the point of seeing it and remedy- 
ing it. Mr. and Mrs. Harmon have six children: James H., Mary F., 
wife of Adam Foreighner, Lizzie B., Sarah T., Walter D. and Louisa. 
Three others they lost in infancy. Mrs. H. is a member of the Cliris- 
tian Church. The Harmon family is of German descent. Mr. H.'s 
great grandfather, Jacoi) Harmon, was reared in this country and 
served in the War for Independence. Jacob J. Harmon, the father of 
John T., was ason of Reese and Nanc}' (Nelson) Harmon, originally of 
Pennsylvania. Her father, Wm. Nelson, also served in the American 
army during the Revolution. He was of Irish descent. Jacol) I. 
Harmon was born in Garrar<l county, Ky., December 13, 1819, and 
in 1838 was married to Miss Mary Conn, daughter of Rev. John and 
Elizabeth Conn, of Kentucky. In 1849 Mr. H. came to Missouri, 
and settled in Clay county. Two years later he went on the plains, 
and afterwards, for about seven years, followed teaming in the far 
West, cither on his own account, for private parties, or for the Gov- 
ernment, generally coming home, however, to raise a crop during 
each cropping season. Ever since that he has followed farming ex- 
clusively, in this county. During the war he was in the militia for a 
short time ; and in 1865 he was al)sent from the county some months 
on account of the unsettled condition of affairs. Since then he has 
been engaged in farming, and has served as deputy sheriff of the 
county and as constable of the township. He and wife are members 
of the Presbyterian Church, and he is a meinl)er of the Blue Lodge 
and the Royal Arch Chapter, A. F. and A. M. He has a good farm 
comfortably improved and is pleasantly situated in life. 

FREDERICK HARTEL 

tFunner and Stock-raiser, Post-ofllce, Kearney). 

After an active and useful career of more than a generation, not 
without reward in the substantial evidences of success, as well as other- 
wise, Mr. Hartel has now comparatively retired fron; the regular duties 
of l)usiness and industrial affairs, and is spending the evening of life 



inSTOltY OF CLAY COUNTY. 471 

in (;()ni|)iir:itive ease and contentment. He coninienc(;(l f'oi- liimself at 
an early age, and from that time until the present his career has l)een 
one of unceasing industry and activity. Like many of our better 
foreign iiorn citizens he is a native of Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, 
wiiere he was horn November 15, 18()S. He was the fourth of six 
children of Abraham and Anna Marie Hartcl, and after being reared 
and educated at his native place accompanied his parents to the United 
States. Subsequently they located in Missouri, taking up their home 
ill Clay county in 1<S42, where they afterwards died. The subject of 
this sketch, Frederick Hartel, has continued to live here since that 
time, a period now of over forty years. Tiiough not numbered among 
tiie wealthiest men in the county he is, as before mentioned, in com- 
fortable cir<nimstances, having a farm of 100 acres under fence and in 
cultivation. His family is one of which any husband and father might 
well be proud. In October, 1845, Miss Barbara Hoff became his wife, 
and to them have been born si.x children: Louis, Jacob ( de(;eased ), 
Frederick, Kate, Conrad and William. Louis married Miss Agues 
Sell, and is a farmer in Clinton county. Mo. ; Kate is the wife of_ 
Prof. John H. Frick, professor of mathematics and natural sciences in 
Central Wcsleyan College at Warrenton, Mo. A sketch of his life 
and mention of the college with which he is connected are given in the 
History of St. Charles, Montgomery and Warren Counties, recently 
published by the authors of the present volume. Frederick is engaged 
in raising and shipping stock. Conrad married Miss Lizzie Irmiger, 
and is living on the farm with his parents. He is an industrious young 
man, and is more than ordinarily successful in the management of the 
homestead. William is a student in the Theological Department of 
Boston Univ(>rsity in Boston, Mass., and is a graduate of Central 
Wesleyan College. Jacolt married Miss Susan Frick. He and wife 
aie nowl)oth deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Hartel and all'of their 
childi'cn are members of the German ^L E. Church. 

WILLLIM H. HAWKINS 

(Proprietor of Hawkins' Boot and Slice Sliop, Kearney). 

Mr. Hawkins has long been engaged in the occupation whit-h he, nf)W 
follows. His father, Capt. John C. Hawkins, was in the same busi- 
ness l)efore him. However, in later years his father was also a 
farmer, and William H. was ]iartly reared on a farm. He received a 
common school education. Having gone to Texas, in the meantime, 
in 18(i2, he entei'ed the Confederate army, becoming a meml)er of Co. 
F, Eighth Texas regiment, under Col. ()verton. He did not serve, 
however, throughout the war, i)ut after being in Col. Overton's regi- 
ment, returned to Milan county, Texas, where he had previously 
resided. In ISUC) ]\Ir. Hawkins came back to Clay county. Mo., and 
resumed shoemaking, which he had previously followed in Texas. 
He has followed shoemaking also continuously ever since. However, 
in 1861), he made another tri]> to Texas and was absent aliout a year 
eniraged in farminic. Mr. Hawkins has a <rood run of eustoni at 

25 



472 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

Kearney, und is doing as well as could be expected in a place the size 
of this. In 18()8 he was married to Miss Mary -T. Groom, a daughter 
ot" Amos and Sallie (Chauey) Groom, early settlers from Kentucky. 
Mr. and Mrs. H. have one child: Mary il.; they have had the mis- 
fortune to lose six in childhood. He and wife are members of the 
Christian Church. Mr. H. is a strict temperance man. His father, 
Capt. Hawkins, came from Woodford county, Ky., and located at 
Liberty in about 1829. Subsequently he engaged in farming in Clay 
county. He was in the Mormon War, and helped to drive the dis- 
ciples of polygamy out of the States. There was where he received 
his title of captain. He died in 1868, in the sixty-fifth year of his 
age. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary E. Turnum, died in 
1857. They had 12 children, 11 of whom are living. William H., 
the seventh in their family of children, was born June 14, 1840. 

GEORGE S. HENDERSON 

(Dealer in Hardware, Farm Implements, Etc., Kearney). 

Mr. Henderson was a youth seventeen years of age when his pa- 
rents came to Missouri in 1853, and had received an elementary 
knowledge of books in the log school-houses of the period. But 
here he went to work at hard lalior on the farm and was beginning 
to get something of a start wlien the war broke out in 18(31. He then 
enlisted in Capt. Tom McCarty's company for the Southern service, 
and served until 18()3, when he was taken sick and compelled to re- 
turn home. In 18(55 he went to St. Louis county, where the family 
had removed in the meantime, and remained there until 1866 engaged 
in farming. At that time he was emplo\'ed by Messrs. E. M. Samuel 
& Sons, commission merchants, to travel for their house, which he fol- 
lowed for a year. After his emplo^'mcnt with Messrs. Samuel & 
Sons, Mr. H. went to Holt county and engaged in the saw milling 
business. Two years later he bought a saw mill at Rulo, Neb., but 
in 1874 came back to Clay county, where he was interested in a farm 
and engaged in farming. In 187(;Mr. Henderson was married to Miss 
Nannie B. Leacii, a daughter of Daniel and Ijlizabeth Leach, formerly 
of Scott county, Ky., but afterwards of Platte county, and later still 
of this (Clay) county. Mr. Henderson l)ought his present stock of 
goods in February, 1884, and has been engaged in business ever since. 
He and wife have two children : Daniel H. and G. DeMatt. Mrs. H. 
is a member of the Christian Church. Mr. Henderson was formerly 
interested in short horn cattle. He is a man of energy and enter- 
prise and will doui)tless jirove one of the successful men of the county. 
Mr. Henderson's father was James Henderson, originally of Mason 
county, Ky., but whose parents came from Virginia. He was a large 
trader from Kentucky with the South before the railroads, and made 
as many as 13 trips from New Orleans to Kentucky on horseback. 
He dealt largely in nudes and also in bacon, and transported his bacon 
either b}' wagons or b}' flatboats to the South. He w'as a man of great 
enerev and thorough reliabilitv. He came to Missouri with his faniilv 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 473 

in 1853, locating first in Lafayette county, but settled in Clay county 
the following year. He died here in 1877 in the seventy-second year 
of his age. His wife, who was a Miss Brittyann Howe before her mar- 
riage, lived to reach the age of 66, dying in 1870. They were both 
members of the Old School Presbyterian Church, and are buried 
at Mount Gilead, Clay county. Mo. They had a family of five chil- 
dren, four sons and one daughter; the daughter is dead. 

JACOB HESSEL (deceased) 

(Late of Kearney Township;. 

On the 13th of August, 1881, died at his homestead in this county, 
Jacob Hessel, where for over 25 years he was known as one of the 
highly respected and influential citizens of Kearney township. He 
was a man who achieved success in life solely by his own exertions 
and personal worth, and his intelligent appreciation of the conditions 
and opportunities of life ar(nind him. From early circumstances but 
little or no Ijetter than the average of those of the youths among 
whom he was reared, he rose to a creditable degree of success in life, 
both in standing and influence. He came of a well respected German 
family, and was the youngest of five children, born February 14, 1824, 
in Germany. In 1845 he left the country of his nativity and came to 
America, locating in Clay county. Mo., in 1846. He was a farmer 
by occupation, but when the news of the discovery of gold in Cali- 
fornia reached the citizens of this county, he was drawn into tlie tide 
of Western emigrants, and went to tiie golden coast of that far-ott' 
Eldorado, remaining for three years. However, he then returned to 
Clay county, and here made his home until his death. Successful in 
the material affairs of life, he had accumulated 21(i acres of land, all 
of which is now under fence, and 1(30 acres are in cultivation and blue 
grass pasture. On Octolier IG, 1855, he had been married to one of 
the fairest daughters of the old Fatherland, Mrs. Malia Bauman, 
whose maiden name was Moeller. Their family consisted of seven 
ciiildreu : William is now in Denver, Col.; Louis is a student at 
Central Wesleyan College, at Warrenton; Carrie is attending the same 
school; Mary is living with her mother; Jacob died September 15, 
1883 ; Edw.ud and Henry live on the old homestead and carry on the 
farming and stock-raising operations. They are enterprising and 
progressive 3'oung agriculturists, and have achieved quite a reputation 
in the stock business, having sold during the past year two car loads 
of cattle and one of hogs. Mr. Hessel was a member of the Bethel 
German M. E. Church. His wife and her children are connected with 
the same denomination. 

CONRAD HESSEL 

(Farmer, Post-office, Kearney). 

Mr. Hessel is another example of what energy, industry and perse- 
verance, when intelligently applied, have accomplished for those of 



474 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

foreiiiu birth who liave seeu fit to locate within the lioundaries of this 
countiT. Like many of the oldest residents of this connty who have 
become possessed of means and gained a competence sufficient to en- 
able them to i)ass their later years in ease and retirement, is a native 
of Germany, having been born there February 8, 1821. Other mem- 
liers of this family have also settled in Clay county from Germany, 
mention of whom is made elsewhere. The youth of Conrad was passed 
as those of other youths of the country, and when 22 years of age he 
left the place of his birth and emigrated to the United States, locating' 
first in Ohio, in 1843, and then in 1847 in Clay county, which has con- 
tinued to be his home for a period of about 40 years. His beginning 
in this county was indeed an humble one. Poor in purse, and by no 
means thoroughly conversant with the customs of this country, he 
commenced at once with characteristic thrift and industry to situate 
himself comfortably in life, which he has done, though at a cost of 
many years of hard toil and labor. The fruit of his success is now 
seen in the handsome homestead which he owns, a beautifull}' culti- 
vated farm of 525 acres. In 1855 he was married to Miss Christina 
Heinz, and to them were born seven children: Fred, Kathrina, Eliza- 
beth, Conrad, Louis, Barbara and Christina. Three of these are mar- 
ried, viz. : Frederick married Miss Katie Weber, and is now engaged 
in farming in this county ; Elizabeth, wife of O. H. Weber, also a 
farmer, and Kathrina, now Mrs. William H. Stein, whose husband is 
l)astor of the German Methodist Church at Hays City, Kas. Conrad 
is superintendent of the Sabbath-school connected with the Bethel ]\L 
E. Church, of which Mr. and Mrs. Hessel and their children are mem- 
bers. His domestic life has been one of great contentment and happi- 
ness, and he has reared a worthy family of children. A j)rogressive 
farmer and an intelligent citizen, he is held in high respect l)y all who 
know him. 

JOHN L. HODGES 

(Stock Trader, Post-Offlce, Kearuey). 

It was as early as 1826 that the family of which Mr. Hodges was a 
member settled in Clay county. His parents were among the pioneer 
settlers of the county, and became well-to-do and highly respected 
residents of Fishing Itiver townshii). His father. Judge Hodges, 
served as an officer in the Black Hawk War, and was afterward elected 
a judge of the county court for a number of terms. He was one of 
the most popular men in the county, and was elected by an almost 
unanimous vote of the people. He died iiere in January, 1873. His 
wife, whose maiden name was Louisana Lingfelter, of German descent, 
died in April, 1881, in her seventy-seventh year. Judge Hodges had a 
fine farm of-some 400 acres, most of which is still in possession of the 
famil\'. He was a slaveholder before the war and a man of strong 
Southern feeling, though he took no active part, on account of his 
advanced years. Still, he enlisted in the State Guard, for home pro- 
tection. He was an earnest and consistent member of the Old School 
Baptist Church, as was also his wife. He was quite zealous for the 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 



475 



church, and a liberal supporter of both it and the cause of good 
schools. Of their faniil}' of eleven children seven are living, all sons 
except one, Amanda, the wife of A. G. Mosby, and all residents of 
Clay county, except All)ert, who went to Oregon in 1850. Jolm L. 
Hodges was born in this county March 11, 1851, and at the age of 20 
eniisk'd in Co. F, under Capt."^ Pixley, of the Missouri State Guard, 
of which company he was orderly sergeant. He was in the battles of 
Lexington and Pea Ridge. But on account of inflammatory rheuma- 
tism, brought on by the exposures of camp-life, he was compelled to 
return honie. In 18(i5 he was married to Miss Sarah E. Riley, a daugh- 
ter of William P. Riley of this county. Mr. Hodges has been en- 
gaged in farming and stock-raising and also dealing in stock up to 
four years ago. ^He had a good farm, l)ut sold his place in 1880 and 
removed to Kearney, where he is engaged exclusively in dealing in 
and shipping stock. He is considered one of the I)est judges of stock 
in this part of the county, and has had a successful experience as a 
stock dealer. Mr. and Mrs. Hodges have three childi-en : John L., 
Jr., Anna M. and Allen O. They have lost one, William H., at an 
early age. Mr. H. and wife are members of the Christian Church. 

JOHN T. HUFFAKER 

(Of Mitchell & Huffaker, Dealers in General Merchandise, Holt). 

As is well known Clay county received its largest early immigra- 
tion during the "Thirties," at which time there was almost a flood 
tide of pioneer settlers, princii)aliy from Kentucky. Among the hun- 
dreds of other families who came during the tirst years of the " Thir- 
ties," was that of the father of Mr. Huffaker, Washington Hutfaker. 
He settled in this county in 1831, and was the tirst sheritt' of the cftunty 
after its organization. He was subsequently a county judge for a 
number of years, and held other otScial positions. Judge Huflaker 
was one of the prominent and highly respected citizens of the county. 
He was a successful farmer and died hero in 18(>3. His wife, who was 
a Miss Sarah Shackleford before her marriage, died in 18G4. They 
reared a family of seven children, all of whom are living and are 
themselves the heads of families. John T. was born on the farm in 
this county in 1850. On growing up he became a farmer and fol- 
lowed farming and stock-raising until 1S79, when he engaged in busi- 
ness at Holt with the Rev. Mr. Mitchell. Mr. Hnfl'aker has served as 
mayor of Holt and in the town council. In 1880 he was married to 
Miss Laura Holt, a daughter of Col. John B. Holt, the founder of 
the town of Holt, and one of tlie leading wealthy citizens of the county. 
He was a gallant soldier in the ^lexican War, and served in the 
Confederate army through the Civil War, rising by his ability and 
intrei>idity as an olEcer to the command of a company which became 
noted for its valor on many a hard fought field. He is now living 
a quiet, retired life at Holt, in the possession of a competence, but 
best of all of an honored name and clear conscience. Mr. Huffaker, 
the subject of this sketch, is a leading and prominent Mason, and a 
worth}' and exemplary member of the Christian Church. 



476 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 



JOHN N. HUNTER 

(Postmaster, Holt). 

Mr. Hutiter is a native of Nebraska, a fact whicii can perhaps be 
truthfully asserted of no other citizen of Missouri, at least of none 
not younger than he and probably a few others in the whole country, 
Nebraska included. His father, R. M. Hunter, was one of the 
pioneers of Nebraska, going there away back in the " Fifties," before - 
the scream of the locomotive was heard on the plains, or the l)utfalo 
and Indian had been pushed on against the apron of the Cordilleras. 
He was born in Nemaha county, Neb., in 1859. His mother's maiden 
name was Miss Hollenbeck, a native of Illinois. His father was 
originally from Ohio, and was a saddle and harnessmaker, a trade 
that was very profitable in Nebraska in an early day, when one could 
exchange a good saddle for nearly enough buffalo robes to wall in and 
cover an ordinary sized house. There was also a good demand for 
saddles and harness among the white pioneers and emigrants bound 
for the golden shore, washed by the Pacific sea. However, on account 
of the severity of the climate in that early day when all the country 
was open and the biting frost came flying across the country with the 
speed of the wind, apparently guided only by the portentous sun 
dogs that seemed to absorb the warmth from the cheerless star of 
day, the family left Nebraska and came further south, to Missouri, 
where the elements and animal life were not so much at war with 
each other as they are in the young Stale of the plains. After re- 
siding in Atchison county for awhile, they settled in Clay county, 
near Holt. In 187!) they removed to Kansas, where they now reside. 
Mr. Hunter, Jr., was partly" reared in the vicinity of Holt, and has 
made this iii.s home continuously from the time the family first came 
here. In 1883 he was appointed deputj' postmaster of Holt, and a 
short time afterwards was himself made postmaster. He has held 
tiie office ever since. He also carries a stock of ])ooks and stationery- 
in connection with his duties as postmaster. In 1876 Mr. Hunter 
was married to Miss Elizabeth Ditto, a daughter of J. P. Ditto, of 
Clay county. Mr. and Mrs. H. have two children, John J. and 
Leonard W. They have lost one in infancy, Ida May. Mr. and 
Mr. H. are members of the Christian Union Church. Mr. Hunter's 
father also followed farming and handling stock, in which he is still 
engaged to some extent. 

GEORGE M. ISLEY 

(Of Morgan & Isley, Millers, Holt). 

Mr. Isley has been in active business life for over thirty years, and 
is a man, who by experience, energy and business qualifications, is 
justly entitled to be classed among the better class of business men 
of the county. He is a North Carolinian by nativity, born in Ala- 
mance oountv, June 27, 1832. He was the eldest in a family of 



IIlSTOUy OF CLAY COUNTY. 477 

children of Austin ;uid Polly Isley, both of early North Carolina 
families. On his father's side the family is of German descent, but 
has been settled in this country for generations. The father is still 
living and is a retired stock-i'aiser, having been quite successful in 
life. The mother died only about tour years ago. Mr. Islej', Jr., or 
the subject of this sketch, was reared in his native county, and at 
the age of 21 engaged in merchandising at Giljsonville, that county. 
He continued in business as a merchant for about five years, at the 
expiration of which he was appointed postmaster at Gibsonville and 
also station agent on the railroad. Mr. Isley had charge of these 
offices for some seventeen years. He then removed to Raleigh, where 
he bought and took charge of a large distillery. Two years later, 
however, he sold out at Raleigh and removed to Missouri, locating 
in the vicinity of Holt. Here he also established a distillery and 
carried on a farm, which he purchased on coining to this county. He 
still owns the farm, and is engaged in farming, in addition to his 
milling business. Ho bought a half interest in the flouring and grist 
mill at this place, becoming a member of the firm of Morgan & 
Isley in 1875. He has ever since been engaged in milling. In 1855 
Mr. Isley was married to a Miss ShoS'ner, a daughter of Daniel 
and Barbara Shofl'ner, of Alamance county, N. C. Her par- 
ents are both now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Isley have had seven 
children, all living and residents of Holt. Thomas and Augustus 
are engaged in the livery business at this place and are young men 
of energy and enterprise. Mr. and Mrs. Isley are members of the 
Christian Union Church. Mr. I. is a member of the Masonic order 
and is one of the Democrats who has been voting the straight ticket 
(except while North Carolina was out of the Union) ever since 1851), 
without seeing a Democratic President inaugurated. That interesting 
event he was fortunate enough to enjoy on the 4th of March last. 

WILLIAM H. LaRUE, 

(Of Stowers & LaRue, Driigjiists, Holt). 

Mr. LaRue was a teacher by profession, having come from Indiana 
to this State, and after coming here taught some three years in Clay 
count}' before engaging in the drug business. However, ho had had 
experience in handling drugs and in pharmacy anil had a good knowl- 
edge of the business before he became a member, of the firm with 
which he is now connected. The firm of Stowers & LaRue have a 
neat drug store, keeping constantly in stock a full assortment of fresh 
and pure drugs. They also carry other lines of goods usually found 
in a first-class drug store. Being both good business men and upright 
and obliging in their dealings, they have of course succeeded in at- 
tracting a good trade. Mr. LaRue was born in Greene county, Ind., 
April 18, 18G0. His parents were Jesse and Nancy (Dugger) LaRue, 
his father being a carpenter and contractor by occu|)ation. The family 
on either side was from Tennessee and Virginia, respectively. 
The mother died in 1883, but the father is still livins'. William H. 



478 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

was reared in Indiana and educated at the coninion and Normal Schools 
and tlie State University. Prior to entering the Normal School, how- 
ever ( at which he graduated ), he had taught school and after concluding 
his educational course he resumed teaching, coming West to Missouri 
for that purpose. He came to Holt, Clay county, Mo., iu March, 
1881. The following year after coming to Missouri Mr. LaRue was 
married to Miss Lura L. Harris, a daughter of William Harris, of Clay 
county. They have one child, a daughter, Jessie, Mr. and Mrs. L. 
are members of the M. E. Church South. He is a member of the' 
Masonic fraternity. 

WILLIAM B. LEACH 

(Dealer in Hardware, Tinware, Cutlery, Farm Implements, Wagons, Buggies, Etc. 

Kearney) . 

Mr. Leach engaged in his present business in 1880, as a successor 
in the business to George S[)ears. Mr. Spears had previously' carried 
it on for some 3'ears,but in the spring of 1880 committed suicide in his 
store by shooting himself. Mr. Leach afterwards bought the stock 
and continued the business. He has materially enlarged and im- 
proved the stock of goods and added much to the patronage of the 
house. It is now one of the leading houses of this class in the 
northeastern part of the county. j\Ir. Leach was born in Scott 
county, K}'., July 23, 1840. When he was a lad about seven years 
of age his parents removed to Missouri and settled in Platte county, 
where young Leach grew to manhood. In 18(57 the family removed 
to Clay couutj', where they still reside. In the meantime William B. 
had grown up and gone out into the world for himself. In 1861 
he enlisted in the army, but after a term of service of less than a 
year, returned to Platte county, and the same year went to New 
Mexico. He came back, however, in 1862, but in June of that 
year went to Montana Territory, and was engaged in trading in 
stock for the following six or seven years. He was also in 
Utah, Idaho and British America. He went to the noted Koot- 
ney mines on a prospecting tour. In 1869 he returned to Mis- 
souri, and as his father's family had removed to Clay county, he 
stopped at Kearney. Here he engaged in farming and handling stock 
to some extent, which he continued until 1880, when he bought out 
the Spears stock of goods as stated above. While handling stock in 
the West Mr. Leach wi:s also engaged in farming. In 187(5 he was 
married to Miss Cassie McGinnis, daughter of James McGinnis, of 
Kearney, i)ut formerly of Kentuck}'. They have one cliild, a little 
son. Mrs. L. is a memi)er of the Christian Church and he is a mem- 
ber of Lodge No. 311, A. F. and A. M., at Kearney. 

L. W. LEAVELL 

(Farmer, Fine Stock Raiser and Stock-dealer, Post-office, Kearney, Mo.). 

Clay county has long had the reputation of being one of the best 
stock-raising counties in the State. Not only do the farmers here 



HISTOUY OF CLAY COUNTY. 479 

give their principal attention to stock-raising, for which the county is 
remarkably well ailaj)ted, but tliey are generally a class of men of 
enterprise and information, who take pride in securing the best stock 
for l)reeding purposes to l)0 had. This practice has had a beneficial 
result in two ways : it has not only been profitable to the farmers 
themselves, but has given the county an enviable name as a fine stock 
county. Prominent among the farmers who have done their full share 
toward advancing the stock interests of Clay county is the subject of 
the i)resent sketch, Mr. Leavell, who came here in 18.54. He was a 
well-to-do fine stock raiser of Kentucky, and after coming here bought 
about 1,700 aci'es of fine land. Having some forty odd or fifty ne- 
groes, he improved a large farm, and engaged in farming and stock- 
raising quite extensively. His negro property was soon afterwards 
taken from him by operation of the war, but he has, nevertheless, 
had a prosperous career in other respects. For years he has been 
recognized as one of the leading farmers and stock-raisers of the 
county. He is a man of high character and superior intelligence and 
information, and occupies a prominent position in the community. 
He was born in Todd county, Ky., December 12, 1821, and was 
reared to a farm life, receiving a common-school education as he grew 
up. In 1838 he was married to Miss Harriet D. Winn, a daughter 
of George Winn, of Christian county, Ky., a prominent and wealthy 
citizen of that county. Eight children have been the fruits of their 
union, namely, Frances, now the wife of Rev. G. W. Rogers, of 
Dallas, Texas ; Sarah, the wife of Samuel C. Greenfield, of this 
county; Georgia A., the wife of Dr. Silas Denham, of Clay county. 
Mo.; Daniel W., now a resident of Kansas; Eugenia S., wife of 
William Rust, also a resident of Kansas ; Leonidas, W. Llewellyn, 
Lane and Robert Ernest Lee. Tlu-ee others are deceased, who, 
however, lived to mature years. Lycurgus L., their eldest son, who 
died in California; Harriet L., who died whilst the wife of John J. 
Eastin, and Montgomery D. Mr. and Mrs. Leavell are members of 
the Baptist Church, and Mr. L. is a Royal Arch Mason. Mr. 
Leavell's farm contains 860 acres. The l)alance of his land is 
divided up among his cliildren. He has a handsome homestead, in- 
cluding a commodious and tastily built residence, and substantial, 
neat appearing barns and other outbuildings. He is very comfortably 
situated in life. 

ALBERT LINCOLN 

(Retired Farmer, Post-offlce, Kearney). 

Only the few who have given the subject any thought and investi- 
gation have any idea of the imj^ortant part Virginia has taken in the 
history of the country, and of the vast influence she still exerts, per- 
haps now not so much directly as indirectly. Leaving out of the 
account what she has done directly and is still doing, her indirect in- 
fluence in affairs is not even approached in importance by that of any 
other Commonwealth in the Union. She not onl}' gave to the country 
its great Northwest Territory, out of which have been formed some 



480 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

of the most populous, prosperous and progressive States of the Union, 
hut hirgely gave the sturdy pioneers and brave settlers who founded 
these States and made them what they are. Besides this she peopled 
Kentucky, presenting the territory and the population of the Blue 
Grass State to the Union as a proud and free and generous gift. All 
Southern Ohio was mainly settled by her sons, or the sons of her eld- 
est and fairest daughter, Kentucky, as were also most of Indiana and 
Illinois, and a large percentage of the other Northern States, and of 
the Pactolian Commonwealth of the Pacific coast, California. So, - 
the younger States of the South were largely peopled from the Old 
Dominion, including Missouri and Arkansas. Likewise there is Texas, 
settled almost exclusively by Virginians, Kentuckians, Missourians 
and West Tennesseeans, settlers who sprang originally, almost with- 
out an exception, from Virginia families. Any comprehensive genesis 
of the population of the West and Southwest would show that, more 
then 75 per cent of the people are of Virginia descent. But it is not 
in this respect alone that the Old Dominion holds a distinguished and 
pre-eminent position in the history of the couutr}'. Take the names 
of the great men that shed the i)rightest lustre on our career as a na- 
tion, and they are in a large majority of cases the names of Virginians, 
either by nativity or descent. Hardly less is this true of the present, 
than of the past. At the beginning, the " Father of our Country " 
was a son of the Old Mother Commonwealth. So, also, with most of 
the other early characters of prominence and distinction. Nor has 
there been an important epoch in the history of the country since 
that time in which the name of a Virginian has not stood out above 
and brighter than all others. In the great crisis of the Civil War the 
brightest names that illuminated that dark period were either of or 
from the Old Dominion. This was true on both sides. To the North 
and the Nation, Virginia gave Abraham Lincoln, a mati who, on the 
Union side, was nearer than all others after the pattern of Washington, 
a brave, pure, true, great man. On the side of the South we 
had Lee and Stonewall Jackson, names that any country might well 
be proud to boast. Now and at all times Virginians have occu- 
pied the first places in the history and in the hearts of their 
countrymen. Jackson, the " Iron President," Harrison, the " Hero 
of Tippecanoe," of Indiana, the great Clay, and hundreds of 
others traced their lineage back to Vii'ginia. And it is a re- 
markable circumstance that the Washingtons, Lincolns and Lees were 
all orginally settled in Northern Virginia. From there branches 
of these families s[)read out into other parts of the State and into other 
States. But in the [)resent sketch wo have only to do with the Lin- 
coln family — Ali)ert Lincoln, whose biography is here given, being 
one of the descendants of that family. The Lincolns came to this 
country from Euglaud in early colonial times and settled, in the first 
place, in Northeastern Virginia. — Lincoln, ot that section of the Old 
Dominion, was the great-grandfather of President Lincoln and the 
grandfather of .\braham Lincoln (the father of the subject of this 
sketch), who became one of the pioneer settlers of Western-Central 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 481 

Missouri. Judge James E. Lincoln, oF Liberty, is also a descendant 
of the same family. His father, George Lincohi, was a son of Thos. 
Lincoln, of Fayette county, Ky., but originally from Rockingham 
county, Ya. Thomas Lincoln was a brother of Abraham Lincoln, the 
grandfather of President Lincoln. Judge Lincoln's father and Albert 
Lincoln's father were brothers. George Lincoln was one of the 
pioneer settlers of Clay county. He and Albert Lincoln's father, 
Abraham Lincoln, who were brothers, were both blacksmiths by trade, 
and both from Kentucky to this State. Abraham Lincoln, however, 
came to Missouri at an earlier da}' than the removal of George Lin- 
coln. He, the former, settled in Saline count}', or what is now 
Saline, before the county was formed, and in early territorial times. 
Subsequently he removed to Clay county, in about 1823 ; and later 
still (but yet at an early day), he settled on the Platte Purchase, where 
he located a claim ; but while temporarily absent his place on the 
Platte Purchase was taken possession of or "jumped," as they termed 
it then, by another party, who hadn't even a color of right to it. 
Still, Mr. Lincoln being a quiet, upright man, preferred to lose his 
claim rather than engage in a lawsuit, or have any personal trouble 
with the claimant. He therefore decided to make his permanent home 
in Clay county, and afterwards resided here for many years, until his 
death, engaged at his trade and in farming. He was a man of sterling 
worth, stiict integrity and strong, natural good sense — characteristics 
everywhere of the Lincoln family. His wife came of an old and re- 
spected family of Kentucky, but originally of Virginia. Her Chris- 
tain name was Agnes Feming. They had a family of five children, 

11 of whom lived to reach mature years and to become the heads of 
families themselves. Only three are now living. AUtert Lincoln, 
whose name stands at the head of this sketch, was born in Saline 
county, April 18, 1819, but as his parents subsequently removed to 
Cla- county, he was partly reared in this county. He learned the 
bl„jksmith's trade under his father, as he grew up, and afterwai'ds 
f llowed it for some years. In 1844 Mr. Lincoln was married to Miss 
Armilda Soper, a daughter of Benjamin Soper, formerly of Kentucky. 
In about 18.50 Mr. L. engaged in fiirmiug, and soon afterwards quit 
blacksmithing altogether and turned his entire attention to farming 
and stock-raising. Ever since that time he has made agricultural life 
his sole pursuit. A man of industry and good intelligence, he has 
always lived comfortably and has never been embarrassed by the re- 
wu-ses that often overtake men of more venturesome disposition. His 
greatest desire has been not to accumulate large means, but to live an 
">.i|n-ight, quiet, unobtrusive and respectable life, and to rear his family 

f children in comfort and creditably ; but above all to rear them 
:: ith the ideas of personal honesty thoroughly instilled into their 
minds, and with the conviction that only by honest industry should 
success be sought or hoped for. In all this he may be truthf"ully said 
to have been successful to the utmost of his desires. No man has 
traveled down the pathway of life to the shades of old age with a 
name more spotless than his. Albert Lincoln stands as high in the 



482 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

esteem of all who know hiiu for integrity and personal worth as any 
man whose citizenship ever did honor to the country. Mr. Lincoln 
has a comfortable farm of 160 acres, and is now living in retirement 
from the severe activities of life. Nevertheless, he is a man of indus- 
try and perseverance and still assists, when necessary, at farm work. 
Though closely approaching the allotted age of three-score and ten, 
he is well preserved and is unusually active, considering his years. 
He and his good wife have reared a family of four children, one of 
whom is now deceased. The living are: John W., Newton H. and' 
Benjamin F. Archibald died in young manhood in 1860. Mr. and 
Mrs. L. arc members of the Christian Church. 

LARZ A. LOGAN 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser and County Assessor, Post-office, Kearney). 

Among the officials of Clay county L. A. Logan, the subject of the 
present sketch, is deserving of more than a passing notice. Though 
only having been elected to his present office in 1882, sufficient time 
has elapsed to judge of his ability for the position to whicii he was 
chosen, and doubtless the people of this county will show their ap- 
preciation of his services by electing him to discharge the duties of 
this office for another term when it becomes necessary to do so. He 
is a Kentuckian by birth, having been born Juue 17, 1832, in Shelby 
county. After leaving there in 1857, he came to Missouri, but sub- 
sequently went to Colorado and Montana where he remaiaded until 
1866, then returning to Platte count}'. Mo. In 1872 he took up his 
home in Clay county and here, on the 18tii of January, of that year, 
he was married to a daughter of one of the old pioneers of Clay 
county. Miss Jennie E. Duncan, whose father was Alexander Dun- 
can. They have been blessed with four children, one of whom, how- 
ever, is deceased, Mary Ann. Those living are Gwathmey P., 
Matt. D. and A3'tchmonde. When Mr. Logan came to this county 
he settled on 80 acres of land, but in 1879 moved to the place on 
which he now lives. 'Here, in addition to his agricultural pursuits, 
he is occupied to some extent in the stock business, more esjiecially 
in the breeding of short horn cattle. His landed estate embraces 
some 300 ;icres. He and his wife are members of the Mount Gilead 
Christian Church. 

JOHN S. MAJOR 

(Fanner, Fine Stock-Raiser and Casliier of the Ivearney Bank, Kearney). 

Mr. Major, in addition to his duties as cashier of the Savings Bank, 
is interested on his farm near this place in breeding and raising fine 
stock of different kinds. His interest in stock includes horses, cattle 
and hogs, and he deals to a considerable extent in all of these. He 
makes a specialty of Pure Bates and Bates Topped short horns cattle, 
of which he has some unusually fine re|)reseiit:itives. His other stock 
also are generally of superior grades and his experience with fine stock 



HISTORY OF CLAV COUNTY. 483 

mid ill the stock business, ceiieraily, has been one of success and en- 
tire satisfaction. Mr. Major became identified with the Kearney 
Bank on its fix'st organization. Indeed, he was one of its original 
.stockholders and was instrumental in organizing the bank. It was 
organized in 1882, with a paid-up stock of $10,000, and has since had 
an entirely prosperous career. It has ever since paid an annual divi- 
dend of 25 per cent. It is cue of the well-conducted, substantial bank- 
ing institutions of the county, and is the onlj^bank at this place. Mr. 
Major is a native of Clay county, born in this township February 22, 
18.52. His father was Dr. Herman S. Major, a leading and success- 
ful physician of this part of the county, originally from Kentucky, 
but now deceased. Dr. Major was also extensively engaged in farm- 
ing and stock-raising and was prosperous. He gi'aduated at the Louis- 
ville Mefjical College in 1850, and came to this county the following 
3'ear. The same year of his graduation he was married to Miss Mary 
L. Swearingen, of an old and highly respected Kentucky family. The 
Doctor died here in 18G9. His widow, Mrs. Major, is still living and 
i-esiding on the old family homestead near Kearne}'. They had a 
family of nine children : Charles S., a farmer of Clinton county ; Will- 
iam W., now in the bank at Kearney ; Mary R., a twin sister to Will- 
iam W., and the wife of R. E. Bevins : Slaughter G., a farmer of this 
county, with whom his mother resides on the old homestead ; Susan 
Y., a twin sister to Slaughter G. ; Sallie B., Reuben H., Hermonetta, 
now deceased, and John S. John S. was reai'ed in this county and 
educated at Kentucky Military Institute, near Frankfort, Ky., and at 
William Jewell College, of Liberty. In 187(5 he was married to Miss 
Jennie Anderson, a daughter of Joseph and Mary Anderson, who came 
to this county from Clark county, Ky., in 1843. The father died 
here in 1859. Mr. and Mrs. Major have one child and have lost one. 

SLAUGHTER G. M.UOR 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Kearney). 

Mr. Major was born in this county in July, 1860, and was the fifth 
in the family of children of Herman and Mary Major, reference to 
whom is made in the sketch of John S. Major, another son of theirs, 
which precedes this. Slaughter G. was reared on the farm and re- 
ceived his primary education in the common schools. In 1878, at 
the age of 18, he entered William Jewell College, in which he took a 
course of three years, graduating in the class of '81. Besides taking 
a general English and classical course, he graduated in German and 
French. After his graduation he returned to the farm where he was 
reared, and resumed farming and stock-raising, to which he was 
brought up. He has continued occupied with these industries ever 
since that time. He and his brother, Reuben, and their sister, Sarah 
B., remain at home with their mother, their father having previously 
died. Mr. Major is at the head of the afl'airs of the farm and is 
showing nuirked good judgment and enterprise in its management. 
The place contains 240 acres and is well improved. He has about 



484 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

75 head of good cattle on the phice aside from a small herd of short 
horns and other stock, and he feeds annually for the markets about 
40 head of beef cattle and a larger number of hogs. The younger 
brother, Reuben, is now completing his course at college. 

ZENAS F. MILBOURN 

(Proprietor of the Kearney Livery, Feed aad Sales Stables, Kearney). 

Mr. Milbourn has a first-class establishment in the livery line, in-, 
eluding a capacious and neatly built stable and a full stock of riding 
and driving horses and buggies, carriages, drummers' wagons, etc. 
He has been in this line of business some years and has had a suc- 
cessful experience as a liver^'man. His stables have an established 
reputation and a patronage which is steadily increasing in extent and 
profit. Mr. Milbourn is a native of Maryland, born July 4, 1848. 
His fatlier was Zenas F. Mill)ourn, Sr., formerly of Virginia, and his 
mother's maiden name was Adeline C. Marcellus. She was i)orn and 
reared in Marj'land. Mr. Milbourn Sr., went from Loudoun county, 
Va., to Maryland, where he was married, in Baltimore, to Miss Mar- 
cellus, a young lad}' of French descent. After some 3'ears' residence 
in Maryland he returned to Virginia. During the war he served in 
Co. A, Eighth Virginia regiment, and was wounded at Ball's Bluff, 
October 21, 1861, by which he was disabled for the service, and 
thereafter returned home. He is still living in Virginia but his wife 
died in 1856. Of their family of children three are living. Zenas 
F. Milbourn was reared in Virginia and in 1861 entered the Southern 
army. He was a member of Mosby's command and was out until the 
close of the war. Just before the lireaking out of the war he had 
begun to learn the shoemaker's trade, and after the war he finished 
his apprenticeship at Baltimore. In 1868 Mr. Milbourn, Jr., removed 
to Ohio, where he followed his trade a year and then came to Mis- 
souri, working at difierent points until 1870, when he came to Clay 
county. Here he worked at his trade until 1878, and then engaged 
in the livery business at Kearney in partnership with Z. M. Tapp. 
Five years later he sold his interest in the stable aud built the one 
he now occupies, where he has ever since been engaged in the business. 
June 23, 1871, he was married to Miss Mary L. Peper, a daughter of 
William Peper, of Mason county, K}'. Mr. and Mrs. Milbourn have 
one child, Zenas F., Jr. They lost one child in infancy. Mr. Mil- 
bourn has a good farm of 180 acres, where he is engaged in raising 
fine short horn cattle. Mr. and Mrs. M. are members of the Christian 
Church. 

REV. GEORGE W. MITCHELL 

(Christian Union Minister, Holt). 

Rev. Mr. Mitchell's father's family was one of the early families to 
settle at Independence, in Jackson county. They remained there, 
however, only a short time, removing thence to Lafayette county, 
where they resided for a ()eriod of about 25 years. The father, 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 485 

Benjamin F. Mitchell, was a fanner and carpenter, and removed from 
Kentucky to this State. After farming some years in Lafa3'ette 
county, he made his residence at Lexington. But in 1866 he re- 
moved to Haynesvillc, in Clinton county, where lie resided until his 
death, which occurred at the age of 70, in 1877. The mother, the 
wife of Mr. Mitchell, Sr., preceded her husband to the grave in 1860. 
She was a Miss Margaret Franklin before her marriage. At her death 
there were five children, including the subject of this sketch, who was 
about 17 years of age. He was born in Lafa3-ette county in 1842. 
As his parents shortly removed to Lexington, he had the advantages 
afforded by the schools of that place, and received a good general 
English education. However, at the age of 18 he went to work at 
the blacksmith's trade, which he afterwards followed for some six or 
seven years. In 1866 he engaged in general merch;indising at Haynes- 
villc, remaining in business there for about 13 years. Mr. Mitchell 
then removed to Holt, and became a menxber of the firm of Mitchell 
& Huffaker, general merchants, with which he has ever since been 
connected. He has long been a meuiber of the Christian Union 
Cinirch, and in 1875 he felt that it was his duty to prepare himself for 
the ministry and exert whatever power and influence in the pulpit he 
might have for the highest and best interest of humanity, the salva- 
tion of souls. He accordingly studied the Scriptures thoroughly, 
and informed himself in general theology, particulai'ly the theology 
and polity of his own church, and in 1876 he was licensed to preach. 
Two years later, Mr. Mitchell was regularly ordained a preacher of 
the Gospel. Ever since becoming a licentiate of the church he has 
been an active i)reacher, and has done much good for the cause of 
religion and of the church. In 1864, Mr. ^Mitchell was married to 
Miss Josephine Harris, a daughter of Solomon Harris, a farmer of 
the vicinity of Excelsior Springs. Mr. M. and his good wife are 
blessed with a family of ten children. Mr. Mitchell has a good farm 
of 120 acres on the Clay and Clinton county line. Ho is a member 
of the A. F. and A. M., including the Royal Arch Chapter, and is a 
member of the school board at Holt. At a series of revival meetings, 
held by Jlr. Mitchell in 1883, and extending over a period of 47 days, 
35 at Haynesville, and 12 at Holt, no less than 160 converts were 
made. 

A. NETHERTON 

f Manufacturer of anil Dealer in Saddles, Harness, Etc., Kearney). 

Mr. Netherton was born in Jefferson county, Ky., Octoi)er 18, 1830, 
.-tnd was the youngest in a family of five children of John and Betsey 
(Wells) Netherton, both of Maryland. They came to Kentucky in an 
early da}', and the father is still a resident of that State, in Bullitt 
county. The mother died in 1884. Mr. Netherton's grandfather was 
a physician by profession and served in the War of 1812. They 
leared a family of five children : Eliza, wife of William Hall, now de- 
ceased, his witlow being a resident of Louisville, Ky. ; William, a 
farmer of Kentucky ; Richard, a farmer of Callawav county. Mo. ; 



486 HISTORV OF CLAY COUNTY. 

Jiimes, a fiiriner of Kentucky, and the subject of this sketch. Mr. 
Netherton attended the common schools until he was about 16 yeai-s 
of age and then began to learn, the saddle and harness-maker's trade. 
In 1856 he came to Missouri and first located at Parkville, then in 
Platte City, and in 1858 at Plattsburg. He reniainded at the latter 
place until 1861, when he went into the Confederate Army under Col. 
John T. Hughes, becoming a member of Co. K, Hughes' regiment 
and Gen. Platte's division. He was in the engagements at Carthage, 
Wilson's Creek, Dry ^Yood and Lexington, and in the early 
l)art of 18(52 went to Clinton, where he engaged in farming near that 
place, but times became so critical there that he came to Haynesville, 
in Clinton county, where he worked at his trade until 1864. He then 
went to Indiana, and was married there in March, 1865, to Miss Eliza 
HoUingsworth, a daughter of Elias Hollingsworth, a farmer of Marion 
county, Ind. In 1867 Mr. Netherton removed to Centreville, Mo., now 
Kearney, and has made this his home ever since. He has a good trade 
ill the saddle and harness business, and keeps an excellent assortment 
of goods on hand. Mrs. Netherton\is a lady of great energy and ex- 
cellent business qualifications, but no less refined, and of agreeable, 
winning manners. While her husband attends to his saddle and har- 
tiessmaking business she, with commendal)le industry', keeps a neat 
hotel at Kearney, which has a good patronage and is doing well. It 
is the only hotel in the place. But although without competition she 
keeps it with as much determination to excel as if there were any 
number of competing houses in the place. 

A. L. NORFLEET, M. D. 

(Physician and Surgeon, Kearney) . 

Dr. Norfleet is a young physician who has been to more than ordi- 
nary labor and expense in the acquisition of his professional education, 
having started out with the determination to qualify himself thoroughly 
for his calling. He was principally reared in Lafayette county, this 
State, and at the age of 20 began the study of medicine under Dr. J. 
B. Wood, of Waverly. Subsequently he took regular courses at the 
St. Louis Medical College, and graduated with marked credit in the 
class of '81. He afterwards practiced medicine in Lafayette county 
until early in 1882, when lie located at Kearney. Here he has ever 
since resided and practiced his profession, except most of the year 
1883, when absent attending medical lectures, either at New York or 
Philadelphia. He attended medical college at both of those cities for 
the purpose, as stated al)ove, of acquainting himself with the most ad- 
viuiced learning in his profession in the Eastern States. Returning 
thence to Kearney, he resumed his practice here, and has already suc- 
ceeded in taking a leading position among the most prominent physi- 
cians of the count}'. Hois highly esteemed at Kearney, personally 
as well as professionally. On the 18th of January, 1858, Dr. Nor- 
ilcet was born in Miller county, Mo. He was the eighth in a family 
often children of Larkin and Frances (Gaw) Norfleet, who came to 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 487 

Missouri from Kentucky in about 1854, and located in Miller county. 
In 18G5 they removed to Johnson county, and four years later to 
Lafaj'ette county, where they now reside. Dr. Xoi-fleet is a_well 
known and much esteemed minister of the M. E. Church South. 

CAPT. WILLIAM H. PENCE 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Kearney) . 

Among the old and highly respected citizens of Clay county whose 
lives form the woof and warp of the history of the county, is the sub- 
ject of the present sketch. Capt. Pence, now a man in his sixtieth 
year, has been a resident of the county almost continuously from 
childhood. His parents, Adam and Annie (Snell) Pence, came to 
this county from Kentucky as early as 1825. They located three 
miles west of Liljerty, where the father entered land and improved a 
farm. He subsequent!}' returned to Kentucky with his family and re- 
mained a short time, after which he l)ought land near Kearney and 
settled here permanently. He became a successful farmer and a 
large land-owner, and is still living at the advanced age of 81. His 
good wife, 80 years of age, is also living. Seven of their famil}' of 
eleven children are now themselves the heads of families, and all but 
two, Josiah and Doniphan, residents of this State. The latter reside 
in Kentucky, and Doniphan has been sheriff of Nelson county for 
ai)out seven years. In an early day, the father followed the distilling 
business for somej^ears, but farming was his permanent occupation. 
Capt. Pence was born in Scott county, Ky., in 1825. Reared, how- 
ever, in Clay county. Mo., he entered the army, under Doniphan, for 
the Mexican War, and participated in the exiiedition to Santa Fe, El 
Paso, Chihuahua, and on down to Monterev, where a junction was 
formed with Gens. Taylor and Wood. After the war, Capt. Pence 
came home b\' New Orleans with the other Missouri volunteers. lu 
1849 he went to California, and was successfully engaged in trading 
for several years, l)ut met with a reverse that more than offset all the 
profits of the business. He was a regular trader, engaged principally 
in supplying different mining districts wnth goods from Sacramento or 
San Francisco by pack-mule transportation, something after the 
fashion of the merchants in the Land of the Pyramids, only they use 
camels to transport their goods, and call their trains "caravans." On 
one of these expeditions to a mining district in the northern part of Cali- 
fornia, Capt. Pence had a train of about 20 i)ack mules, loaded with 
goods, and when away up in the mountains a heavy snow storm came 
on, the snow finally becoming so dee[t that travel was impossible. 
Being thus snow-bound, the snow continued to fall until it became 
al)ont fifteen feet deep. There was no hope of it passing off before 
starvation would overtake the train. Still Capt. P. and his assistants 
resolutely fought against fate until their packmules were all either 
starved or frozen to death. Seeing a like fate staring them in the 
face, themselves, they improvised each a set of snow shoes, and, 
abandoning everything, made their wav on foot to the nearest settle- 

26 



488 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

ment, after indescribable suffering from cold and liunger. Capt. 
Pence's loss was about $7,000. After that he was, of course, com- 
pelled to quit the busiui^ss as a trader, but still having a little means 
left he engaged in a small way in stock trading in the Sacramento 
Valley, where he owned a ranch and some stock. But in 1852 he sold 
out in California and returned to Clay county. Here, the following 
year, he was married to Miss Dinitia Estes, a daughter of Henry and 
Lucinda (Cronin) Estes, who came here from Virginia in about 1820. 
Mr. Estes was one of the party who laid off the town of Liberty! 
Capt. Pence, after his marriage, resided on a farm in Platte county 
that he owned for about a year, and then returned to Clay county, 
where he has ever since made his home. He has a good farm of 300 
acres, all well improved, and raises considerable stock, including some 
thoroughln-ed short horn cattle. He also deals in stock to some ex- 
tent. In 1861 Capt. Pence entered the Southern army under Gen. 
Price, becoming captain of Co. C, of Col. Thompson's regiment, where 
he served a term of about six months. Subsequently he returned 
home, and for a time was a member of a company of paw-paw militia, 
organized in the county, to prevent the Kansas jayhawkers from rob- 
bing and plundering the people. In 1871 Capt. Pence had the mis- 
fortune to lose his first wife. To his present wife he was married in 
1880. She was a Miss America Smith, a daughter of Hon. J. M. 
Smith, an attorney of Buchanan county, but who was murdered by 
the Home Guard on his return home from St. Joseph in 1864. Capt. 
Pence has held the oiEce of road overseer for the past 29 j'ears, 
and is a Mason of long and honorable standing. He has been treas- 
urer of the lodge at Kearney for the past eight years. Eight of his 
family of children are living, and one deceased, the latter having been 
Lucinda, the wife of Edward Miller. The Captain and wife are mem- 
bers of the Christian Chui'ch. 

A. W. PIPES 

CFarmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Kearney). 

The fifth in a family of ten children, Mr. Pipes was born in Mercer 
county, Kentucky, February 19, 1828. His father was Nathaniel 
Pipes, and his mother's maiden name, Margaret Harmon. Both his 
grandf.ithers, John Pipes and John Harmon, were soldiers in the 
Revolutionary War under Washington. The Pipes were of English 
descent and settled in North Carolina. The Harmons were of German 
extraction and settled in Pennsylvania. Mr. Pipes was reared in 
Mercer county, Kentucky, and continued to reside there after he grew 
up until LS55, when he came to Missouri to locate a land claim. In 
the meantime he had taught school in Kentucky for several years, and 
afterwards also followed merchandising at Mitchellsburg, l)cing also 
postmaster at that place. After locating and securing some valuable 
lands in Missouri and Kansas, he returned to Kentucky and engaged 
in dealing in hogs and corn quite extensively, in which he had good 
success. In 1856 he was married to Miss Rachel Brand, a dauirhtcr 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 480 

of James A. <and Cathei'ine (Blink) Brand, formerly of Maryland. 
On lioth sides his wife was pr()l)ahly of German descent. After his 
nKirriage Mr. Pipes removed to Marion county, Kentucky, where he 
l<ought a farm, which he conducted witli success, and also carried on 
the stock business, dealing principally in cattle, hogs and mules. He re- 
maiTied there until 1882, and then sold out and went to Texas, locating 
in Denton county. But not l>eitig satisfied with the country, he soon 
afterwards returned to Missouri and bought the farm where he now 
resides, in Clay county. He has a good farm and deals in cattle and 
hogs, and mules and horses. Mr. and Mrs. Pipes have seven children : 
Alouzo L., Laura K., wife of James W. England, James N. (Nat), 
Obie S., Mary L., Lizzie M. and Iniogene. Two others died in 
infancy. Botli parents are members of the Christian Churcii,and Mr. 
P. is a member of the A. F. and A. M. 

ABNER J. PORTER 

(Farmer, Post-olRci:', Keariie}). 

Mr. Porter commenced life for himself as a brick-mason while yet 
a youth, and after learning tiiat trade worked at it a number of vears. 
Finally, however, after the Civil War he turned his attention to farm- 
ing and has been principally engaged in farming and stock-raising 
ever since. He is a native of Virginia, born in Orange county in 
1827. He was the second in a family of ten children of Samuel S. and 
Marj' A. (Becker) Porter, both of old Virginia families. They came 
to Missouri in 1843 when Abner J. was about sixteen years of age. 
They settled in Clay county, and here the father became a prosperous 
farmer. He owned at one time aljout 600 acres of land. Mr. Porter, 
Sr., died in 1875, at the age of 80 years. His wife died in 1864, 
at the age of 61. Both were meml)ers of the Baptist Church. Seven 
of their family of children are still living. Al)ner J. Porter began 
learning the brick trade in 1848, and worked at it until he enlisted in 
the State Guard in 1861. In the meantime, in 1849, he was married 
to Miss Susan Dykes, a daughter of John and Susan Dykes, formerly 
of Kentucky, and who came to Clay county in 1827. Of this union 
were born nine children: George, John W., Benjamin D., Abner J., 
Emerson, Shearly S., Mary S., wife of L. B. Keas, and Alice and 
Nettie, the last two deceased. The mother of these died in 187.3. She 
was a member of the Christian Church. To his present wife Mr. 
Porter was married in 1880. She was a Miss Sarah J. Lafore, daugh- 
ter of William Lafore. She is also a member of the Christian Church, 
as is likewise Mr. Portfer himself. Mr. Porter owns about 550 acres 
of land in two places. His home place contains 395 acres and is well 
improved. Mr. Porter is a prominent farmer and stock-raiser, and is 
one of the highly respected citizens of the northern part of the county. 

LEWIS O. RILEY 

(Farmer and Fine Stock Raiser, Post-office, Kearney). 
Mr. Riley's father, Alfred M. Rilc}', who died in this county about 
three years ago, was one of the old and well respected citizens of the 



490 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

(bounty. He came here from Kentucky in 1830, and was a farmer by 
occupation. He also taught school for many years, and took a warm 
interest in the cause of education and in church matters. He was an 
elder in the Mt. Gilead Church for about 40 years. Elder Riley was 
twice married. His first wife, who was a Miss Lucy J. Tapp (the 
mother of the subject of this sketch), died in 1849, leaving eight 
children, five of whom ai"e living. His second wife was a Miss Ann 
Morris. Of this union four children of the six are living. Lewis O. 
Riley, the subject of the present sketch, was born on the farm near - 
Kearney in 1839. In 1861 he entered the Southern army under Gen. 
Price, and was in the infantrj' service for al)out six months. About 
this time he was married to Miss Isaljelle Smith, a daughter of 
George and Mary (Harris) Smith, of Clay county. After his mar- 
riage Mr. Riley settled down to farming on a tract of 200 acres of 
land given him by his father. He has ever since been actively en- 
gaged in the duties connected with his farm. For a number of years 
he has made something of a specialty of stock, particularly fine short 
horn cattle, of which he has a handsome herd. Mr. R.'s farm now 
contains 326 acres, and is one of the most comfortable homesteads to 
be found in this part of the country. Mr. Riley is a member of the 
Clay County Short Horn Association, and is in every sense an enter- 
prising, go-ahead agriculturist. Mr. and Mrs. Riley have seven 
ciiildren : Mar}', Annie, Gertrude, Arthur, George A., William S. 
and Charles A. They have lost four, including Horace, who died, at 
the age of twenty years, last spring. The others, Lucy, Lizzie and 
Lewis, died in childhood. 

J. D. SAUNDERS 

(Dealer ia Furniture and Undertaker's Goods, Kearney). 

Mr. Saunders came out to Missouri in 1882 from Virginia, where he 
had been engaged in the furniture and undertaking business, and set- 
tled in Kearney. A 3'oung man of limited education but of business 
qualifications, he was employed by Mr. James T. Riley, of Liberty, 
this county, to manage and carry on his branch store in that line in 
the town of Kearney. He carries a full line of furniture and all kinds 
of undertaker's goods required at this market. j\Ir. Saunders has a 
good run of custom, especially in the furniture line. In the under- 
taker's line his trade is all that could be expected, considering the 
health and longevity of the peo[)le in and around Kearney. He was 
born in Franklin county, Va., Ai)ril 19, 18.52, and was the eldest of 
nine children of John Q. and Nancy S. (Webster) Saunders, his fa- 
ther of an old Virginia family but his mother of Pennsylvania descent. 
The family came to Missouri in 1880 and settled in Callaway county, 
near Mexico, where the}' now reside. The father eritered the South- 
ern army in 1862 and served throughout the war without receiving a 
wound, notwithstanding he participated in the battles of Gettysburg, 
Vicksburg, Seven Pines, Petersburg and others. Mr. Saunders, the 
subject of this sketch, was educated in the common schools, and at 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 491 

Greenville and Tusculum College, East TeinicssGe, in the latter of 
which he spent two years. He commenced life for himself at the car- 
penter's trade, which he followed until 1867, or for a period of about 
ten years. He then engaged in the furniture and undertaking Ijusi- 
ness, which he followed until 1882 at Rocky Mount, Va. Thence he 
came to Missouri, as stated above. In 1878 Mr. Saunders, Jr., was 
married to Miss Ellen Hurt, a daughter of Joel L. and Sallie Hurt, of 
Bedford county, Va. Mrs. Sauuders' father died in 1878. Her mother 
is still living, a resident of that county. Mr. and Mrs. Saunders 
have two children, William D. and Lawrence Cleveland. Mrs. S. is 
a member of the M. E. Church. 

WILLIAM SEYMOUR 

(With Bradley & Co., Dealers in Hardware, Agricultural Implements, Etc., Kearney;. 

Mr. Seymour is of English-Scotch parentage, and was born in Jef- 
ferson county, N. Y., July 8, 1842. His father, Calvin Seymour, 
a native of England, was a wealthy farmer and prominent citizen of 
Jefferson county. The mother was a Miss Almyra McKnight before 
her marriage, originally from Scotland. Each came to the United 
States at an early age, and after they grew up were married in New 
York. The father "died in 1859, at the age of 70 years ; the mother 
in 1860, at the age of 60 years. Both were members of the Presby- 
terian Church. The father was also a jjrominent ofBcer in the Masonic 
Order. He was a member of the Old Line Whig party, and a great 
admirer of that prince of statesmen, "Harry of the West." William 
Seymour was reared in Jefferson county and concluded his education 
at Watertown Academy, where he spent four years, graduating in the 
class of '59. He then commenced an apprenticeship at the tinner's 
trade, in which he continued until the war broke out. Early in 1861 
he enlisted in Co. A, Ninety-fourth New York infantry, and was at 
once ordered South. He served throughout the war. He took part 
in the first battle of Bull Run, where he was wounded. In 1863 he 
was transferred to the Twentieth New York cavalry, and at the close 
of the war was orderly sergeant of his comp:iny. Mr. Seymour took 
part in a number of the principal battles of the war, including the 
second battle at Manassas, the battle at Cedar Creek, and the one at 
Alda. He was also present at the surrender of Lee at Appomattox. 
After the close of the war he returned to New York, and in 1873 
came West as far as Frankfort, Ky., where he worked at his trade. 
Afterwards he went to Dayton, Ohio, where he had charge of a tin- 
ware and stove house, and in 1877 he went to Ft. Smith, Ark., where 
he was also engaged in the tinware and stove business. Three years 
afterwards he came to Missouri, locating at Smithville, and in 1884 
he came to Kearney, where he engaged in his present business with 
Mr. Bradley. Their business has already been described in Mr. 
Bradley's sketch, which appears on a preceding page. In 1873 iSIr. 
Seymour was married to Miss Fannie Partridge, a daughter of Charles 
Partridge, formerly of England. Mr. and Mrs. S. have five children : 



492 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

Reuben, Peal, Fannie, Charles and Maiy. Mrs. S. is a member of 
the Episcopal Church. 

P. TAPP SOPER 

CFarmer, Post-otBce, Kearney) . 

Mr. Soper was the eighth in a famiiv of thirteen children of Benj- 
amin and Nancy (Tapp) Soper, the father a native of Maryland, but 
the mother born and reared in Kentucky. They were married in 
Kentnck}' and came to Missouri in 1830, settling in Clay county, where 
the father followed farming and carpentering, liaving been brought 
up to the first occupation and being a natural mechanic. He lived a 
worthy and respected life in this county and died in 1877, at the age 
of 81. He had served as justice of the peace for about tweutj^-five 
years and had always taken a warm interest in public scliools, being 
for many 3'ears an active and useful member of the district school 
board. 'Squire Soper was of German descent, though the family had 
long been settled in this country. His wife died in 1879, at the age 
of 78. Both were members of the Primitive Baptist Ciiurch. Their 
children were Almedia, Louisiana, Martha E., Ann M., Almilda, John 
L., Fannie E., James \V., P. Tapp, Emeline, Nannie N., Benjamin 
F. and Alfred B. Five of the al)ove are deceased, Almedia, Ann M., 
John L., James W. and Nannie N. John L. was murdered by an 
assassin from ambush at the age of 50 j^ears. He was out in his barn- 
yard feeding stock at nightfall and was shot down in cold lilood. 
The mystery of his murder was never unraveled, although the greatest 
efforts were made to ferret out the crime, both by the unfortunate 
man's relatives and the public authorities. This, at least, has proved 
one exception to the often-quoted couplet of Dryden : — 

" Murder may pass unpunished for a time, 
But tardy justice will o'ertake the crime." 

Tiie difficulty that rendered investigation little less than hopeless 
was that Mr. Soi)er was not known to have a personal eneni}'. Some 
years l)efore he had been quite dissipated, but had fully reformed and 
long prior to the time of his death had worthily established the repu- 
tation of being one of the most stead}^ quiet and exemphuy citizens of 
the community. He was a man of marked intelligence and great energy 
and was rapidly coming to the front as one of the representative 
men of the eouuty. The mystery of his murder will probably never 
be made clear to those who knew him in life, and to whom his sad and 
untimely taking-olf was a great bereavement, until the light of the 
Judgment Day, which is to reveal all things, shall come ; then the fate 
of the murderer will be sadder and far more pitiable in proportion, 
as the tortures of tiie lost exceed the ills of this life, than that which 
overlook Mr. Soper on the fatal night of his death. P. Tapp Soper, 
the subject of this sketch, was born in this county, July 11, 1835. 
He was reared on his father's farm, and afterwards continued farming 
as his regular occupation, enirajjinsj also in raisins; and handling stock. 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 493 

Mr. Soper is now coiiifortahh' situated on a good farm of over 100 
acres. In Deceniher, 18()1, he enlisted in the Southern service at Lex- 
ington, Mo., becoming a member of an infantry regiment in the Mis- 
souri State Guard. Six months hiter, after the expiration of his term 
of State Guard service, he enlisted in the regular Confederate army 
and continued in the army until the close of the war, being paroled at 
Shreve[)ort, La., June IG, 1805. After his first six months' term he 
was under Gen. Shell)\', and during his entire service participated in 
no less than forty-two euiragements, and had two horses killed under 
him, but never himself received a wound. In how many instances, 
alas ! was the reverse of his experience true. How often it was the 
case that one horse bore different riders, even on one field of battle, 
Mhere the brave rcinsmen, one after another, fell, whilst the gallant 
war-horse which bore them passed through the battle unhai-med ! 
After the war Mr. Soper returned home and resumed farming. In 
186(i he was married to Miss Georgic Cook, a daughter of James and 
Lucy Cook, formerly of Kentucky. Her father died in 1841, and her 
mother afterwards became tlie wife of Col. Moses Hul)bard, who also 
is now deceased. The mother made her home with Mrs. Soper until 
her death, which occurred in 1878. Mr. and Mi\s. S. have seven 
children, James M., Mary L., Nannie S., Fannie M., Alexander C, 
Dollie and Lida M. Thej' have lost four in infanc}'. Both parents are 
members of the Christian Church. 

JOHN V. STROETER 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-offlce, Kearney). 

Mr. Stroeter is one of those thrifty, intelligent German-American 
citizens, almost invariably law-abiding and useful to the community 
where they live, who came over to this country when young men, 
without means and for the purpose of establishing themselves com- 
fortably in life by honest industry and attending strictly to their own 
business. This is his record here exactly. He was born in Prussia 
in 1835, and was one of a large family of chihireu. After receiving 
a partial education in his native countrjs he came to the United States 
in his seventeenth year and made his home in Wisconsin. There, for 
several years, he worked on a farm during the cropping seasons as a 
laborer at six dollars a mouth, with board, washing and mending in- 
cluded, and during the winters he worked for his board, nights and 
mornings and of Saturdays, and attended school during the balance of 
each week. His parents, Emanuel and Maria (Kajstner) Stroeter, 
came over in 1854 with their family, and soon afterwards he went to 
live svith them. But in 18(50 he started out for himself as a farmer, 
and five years later he removed to Madison county, 111. Mean- 
time, in 1860, he was married to Miss Elizal)eth Mueller, a daughter 
of Conrad and Anna Mueller from Hesse-Darmstadt. Mr. Stroeter 
continued to reside in Illinois until 1S82, when he came to Clay 
county and bought the farm where he now resides, one of the hand- 
somest farms in this part of the county. It contains 214 acres and 



494 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

is well impi'oved, including a fine brick residence, one of the best 
barns in the county and other betterments to correspond. Mr. 
and Mrs. Stroeter have seven children: Edward, Araelie (wife of 
George Mueller), Ida, Henry, George, Emma and William. Mr. and 
Mrs. S. are members of the Evangelical Church. 

T. G. TEANEY 

(Farmer, Post-office, Kearney). 

October 1, 1825, was the date of Mr. Teaney's advent into this life, 
and the place of his birth was in Montgomery county, Va. His 
parents wore Samuel Teaney and Johannah (Dobbins) Teaney, who 
were both born and reared in the Old Dominion, and were married 
there in 1821. The father was a wagon maker l)y trade, and by de- 
scent of German stock. In 1837 they sUirted to Missouri, but stopped 
two years on the way in Tennessee and six years in Kentucky, finally 
locating in Henry county, this State, in 1843. There the father died 
the following September, and the mother in the fall of the next year. 
The father had been a soldier in the Mexican war. They left a family 
of eight children, six of whom are living. T. G. Teaney started out 
for himself before reaching his majorit}' and came to Platte county, 
where he worked as a farm hand for aliout two 3'ears. He was then 
married in 1847 to Miss Nancy, a daughter of Samuel and Phojbe 
Ann Wiley, formerly of Madison county, Kentucky. After his mar- 
riage Mr. Teaney located on a farm in Buchanan county, where he 
continued six years. He then removed to the vicinity of Weston, in 
Platte county. For fourteen years Mr. Teaney resided near Weston. 
From there he came to Clay county in 18(i7. Mr. Teaney has a good 
farm in this county of 130 acres. His first wife died here in 1873. 
She had borne him ten children, all of whom are living, namely : 
Samuel T., Jason O., Phoebe A., wife of Abraham Shaver; Annette, 
wife of Marshall Baker, John A., Margaret, James M., Mary F., 
Charles D. and AVilliam H. In 1879 Mr^Teaney was married to his 
pi'esent wife, whose maiden name was Elizal)eth Cave, a daughter of 
Urial and Susan Cave. She had been married to D. T. Duncan, who 
died in 1873. Both her parents are also deceased. She had five 
children by her first marriage : Lizzie, wife of Dr. W. L. Porterfield ; 
Sarah, wife of Charles I\liddaugh ; Rose, wife of Madison Eaton, 
Susie and Urial, the latter of whom died three years ago, in his twen- 
ty-seventh 3'ear. Mr. and Mrs. Teane}' are members of the Baptist 
Church. Mr. T. served in the Mexican War. 

THOMAS WAGY 

(Farmer, Stock-raiser and Feeder, Post-office, Kearney). 

Mr. Wagy became a citizen of Clay county. Mo., in 1869, when he 
removed here from Adams county. 111., which had been bis home for 
many years. He has since lived in this county and has become thor- 
oughly identified with its interests, ever lending his aid and influence 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 495 

ill promoting its prosperity and advancement. A warm friend of the 
pulilic school system, he has ably and staunchly advocated and sup- 
ported such measures as would tend to the betterment and promulga- 
tion of school facilities in this State, and especially in the community 
in which he lives. His parents were Henry W. Wagy, a farmer by 
occupation and Virginian by birth, and Eleanor (Stone) Wagy, 
originally of Oliio. They were married in the latter State, and in 
1830, leaving there, settled in Adams county, 111., which continued 
to be their home during life. The father died June 4, 1.S79, and his 
widow January 13, 1881. There were eiglit cliildren iiitiie parental fam- 
ily, of whom Thomas was the third. He was born in Licking county, 
Ohio, Feliriuiry 22, 1830, and was very young when taken to Adams 
county. 111., where he spent his 3'outh and early manhood, receiving 
such education as could be obtained from the limited common schools. 
Farming occupied his time and attention (and in which he was very 
successful) until his marriage October 24, 1850, in Pike county. 111., 
when Miss Martha Decker became his wife. Siie was a daughter of 
Moses and Midinda Decker, nee Boren, of Pike county, where she 
herself was born, reared and educated. The fruits of this union 
were six children : Jasi)er, Ellen, wife of John G. Hassel, a farmer 
in this county; Mary, wife of E. J. Shouldis ; Park, married Miss 
Minnie Rol)inson and is proprietor of a livery and feed stable at Law- 
son, Eay county. Mo. ; Nevada and Albert Jasper, those unmarried 
l)eing still at home with their parents. His present homestead con- 
tains 200 acres of improved land, upon which is a neat residence, be- 
sides other substantial buildings, and here he is actively engaged in 
agricultural pursuits. He is a member of the A. F. and A. M. 
Mrs. Wagy is a member of the M. E. Church. 

PLEASANT WILHOIT 

(OfWilhoit Bros. & Giinvtt, Dealers in Genoral Merchandise, Kearney). 

Mr. Wilhoit began merchandising in April, 1882, at Holt, and has 
continued in that line of business ever since. The present firm have 
been quite successful at merchandising, considering the time in which 
they have been engaged in it, and their house now takes rank among 
the leading establishments in their line at Kcarne^'. Their customers 
include many of the best and most substantial citizens of the vicinity, 
and their trade is almost altogether for cash. They have quite a large 
custom, and are doing an excellent business. All the members of the 
firm are gentlemen of recognized standing for business integrity and 
enterprise, and they have the entire confidence of the public. Prior 
to engaging in merchandising Mr. Wilhoit taught school for a number 
of years and then followed farming. He was educated at Plattsburg 
and in Greenville, at which places, together, he attended school after 
taking the usual common-school course, for about three years. He 
followed teaching continuously for about eight years, except for one 
year, during which he was in the Southern array. In 18()4 he was un- 
der Capt. Cundiff, of Shanks' brigade, and served until the close of 



496 HISTORY or clay county. 

the war. In 1869 Mr. Wilhoit located on a farm -in Clay county, 
which he owned, and was afterwards engaged in farming for about 
thirteen years, or until he began merchandising. Mr. Wilhoit was 
born in this county, November 6, 1835, and was a son of Andrew 
Wilhoit, referred to in a sketch of David Wilhoit, which follows 
this. Pleasant Wilhoit was reared on the farm and was brought up 
to active industry in farm-work, learning fully all the details of agri- 
cultural life. He attended the neighborhood schools, and at the age 
of 20 began his high school course. In 1873 he was married to Miss 
M. E. Snody, an adopted daughter of Uncle Dick Clark, her fathei 
having died when she was infancy. " Uncle " Dick Clark was an uncle 
of her mother's. Mr. and Mrs. Wilhoit have three children : Luther 
Elmer, Walton Hugh and Minnie Emma. Two are deceased: Leila 
and Maude S. Both parents are members of the M. E. Church, Mr. 
W. having been a member ever since he was 16 years of age ; he now 
holds the ofSce of deacon in the church. He is also a member of the 
Masonic Order. 

DAVID L. WILHOIT 

(Of Wilhoit & Bro., Geaeral Merchants, Holt). 

Back during the latter part of the last century, three brothers by 
the name of Wilhoit came to this country from Germany and settled 
in North Carolina. From those, it is believed, all in this country of 
that name have sprung. Mr. Wilhoit's grandfather, James Wilhoit, 
married and removed to Tennessee, where he reared a large family of 
children. Of his children, Andrew Wilhoit, the father of Mr. W., 
was born in the latter State in 1812. He grew up and removed to 
Missouri, where he met and was married to Miss Jane Gentry. They 
settled in Clay county, and here the father, a farmer by occupation, 
died in about 1859. Mrs. Wilhoit survived until 1877. Both were 
members of the M. E. Church, and the father was a class leader and 
deacon in the church. They had a family of 13 children, including 
the subject of the present sketch. David L. Wilhoit was born in 
Clay county in 1841, and was reared to a farm life. In early man- 
hood he engaged in farminsj for himself, and in a few years in raising 
stock. Mr. Wilhoit continued on the farm until 1883, when he and 
his brother, Preston, formed a partnership, and established a general 
store at Holt. Their venture i)roved a success, and they are doing a 
good business. Mr. W. still owns his farm, which he has rented out. 
In 1864 he was married to Miss Eliza Yates, daughter of William 
Yates, of Clay county. They have two children, Cordelia B. and Ocie. 

WILLIAM WRIGHT 

(Farmer and Fine Stock Raiser, Post-offlce, Kearney) . 

Mr. Wright is a native of Ireland, and came to this country when 
a young man about 19 years of age, in 1863. He was born in the 
county Antrim, in May, 1844, and was an only child of AVilliani and 
Elizabeth (Hill) Wright. The father is still living, and a resident of 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 497 

that county. Young Wriglit's youth, up to the age of 14, was prin- 
cipally spent at school. He was then employed to attend fine stock, 
and as a gardener in his native county, being soon afterwards made 
foreman on the place. Working in these employments for some five 
years, he learned them thoroughly, and became a skillful and well 
qualified handler of fine stock, becoming also an e.xcellent judge of 
stock. After coming to the United States he continued work as a fine 
stock man, obtaining employment in New Jersey. Five years later 
he came as far West as Kentucky, where he worked at the same busi- 
ness, and in 1883 he removed to Missouri, and bought the Emersou 
Green place, in Chiy county, a fine farm of 200 acres. Here he is 
engaged in general farming and in raising and handling stock. lu 
1869 Mr. Wright was married to Miss Jane Gilbci-th, daughter of 
Joseph and Mary Gilberth, who came from Ireland in 1869. Mrs. 
Wright was born in the county Derry, Ireland, in March, 1846. Mr. 
and Mrs. Wright have six children : Mary E., William H., Joseph, 
John, Henry and Edward. He and wife are members of the Presby- 
terian Church. 

ARTHUR YATES 

(Farmer and Stock-dealer, Post-ofBce, Holtj . 

Mr Yates, although hardly vet more than entered upon the middle 
of life, has already established himself as one of the leading agricul- 
turists and stock men of the northern part of the county. His farm 
contains 180 acres, which is well improved and well stocked, and 
besides this he has four other farms, altogether aggregating over 860 
acres. His farms are all well fenced and otherwise substantially im- 
proved, and are run principally in grass for stock purposes, tdthough 
he also raises enough grain and other produce for general farm uses. 
Now, only in his forty-third year, he started out for himself when a 
young man without any means, and has accumulated all he possesses 
by his own industry, energy and good management. Mr. Yates is 
also an extensive dealer in stock and buys and ships to the wholesale 
markets on a large scale. In this he has been very successful, and is 
reputed one of the best stock men in his part of the county. Mr. 
Yates was born on his father's farm in Kearney township, April 16, 
1842, and was the sixth in a family of eight children of William L. 
and Elizabeth (Gow) Yates, from Mason county, Ky. They came 
here in 1831, and the father died September 24, 1869, at the age of 
sixty-six years. Mrs. Yates died in 1844. Both were members of 
the Baptist Church. Mr. Yates, Sr., was subsequently married 
twice, his second wife surviving her marriage only a short time, and 
leaving one daughter, Nannie. His third wife is still living. She was 
a Miss Rebecca Watkins. Mr. Yates, Jr., the subject of this sketch, 
was reared on the farm and on the 27th of November, 1862, was mar- 
ried to Miss Agnes Shackelford, daughter of James and Mary Schack- 
elford, formerly of Kentucky. Her father is deceased, but her mother 
is still living. Mr. Yates and wife have six children: Shelby, William, 
Arthur, Roy, Mabel and Jesse. Two others are deceased : Archie 
and Ruby. Mr. and Mrs. Y. are members of the Christian Church. 



CHAPTER XA'II. 

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP. 

Location and Physical Features — Hamlets of Greenville and Claysville — Early His- 
tory — Orgauizatiou — Mount Vernon Missionary Baptist Church — Biographical. 

LOCATION AND PIITSCAL FEATURES. 

Washington township tonus the northeastern portion of Clay 
county, and is composed of all of congressional township 53 and the 
lower tier of sections of township 54, in range 30. Much of the terri- 
tor3' is very broken, rough, and rocky and worthless for agricultural 
purposes. Many small streams, all of which ultimately run into Fish- 
ing river and its forks, head in the township. In many places pictur- 
esque bluffs are found along these streams, and the scencr\' is beautiful 
to look upon, but hardh* appreciated by those owning the land. 

The township contains but two small hamlets, Greenville and Claj'S- 
ville. The St. Joe branch of the Wabash Railroad runs through the 
northeastern corner of the township, a distance of about two miles, 
and Lawson, in Kay county, is the nearest station and general ship- 
ping point. Kearnc}^ and Holt, on the Hannibal road, give the peo- 
ple something of competition in the matter of railroad facilities. 

GreenviUe (Claytonville P. O.) is located in the southern part of the 
township, on Williams creek, 16 miles northeast of Liberty and about 
six east of Kearney. It contains a school-house, two churches 
(ilethodist and Christian), and about 75 inhabitants. It is one of the 
oldest villages in the county. 

ClaysviUe (Prospect Hill P. O.) is about two niiles northeast of 
Greenville, within half a mile of the Riy county line, and four miles 
south of Lawson, the nearest railroad station. It contains perhaps 50 
inhabitants, or less. . 

EARLY HISTORY. 

As early as 1824 Travis Finley settled on section 2t> in this township, 
two miles southeast of Greenville. Archibald Mcllvaine, Stephen Bax- 
ter and othei-s were also early settlers. Ryland Shackelford located 
northwest of Greenville soon after Finley came, and Mr. Shackelford 
often declared that when he made his location, and for a year after- 
wards, there was not a white settler between him and the North Pole. 
(498) 



III.STOItV OF (;i>AV (JOtLNTY. 



499 



At, the Miiy Loiii oCtlio county court,, IH.'iO, Wii.-sliingloii vvjib created 
iirt ii municipal township out of Platte iuitl Fi.sliing rivor. The boun- 
diirioH were orif^inally the same, practically, as at present, the two 
western tiers of sections being takfsn off in 1H72 when Kearney was 
formed. 'I'ho boundaries as ordiwed by the county court when the 
township was organized were as follows : — 

Heginning at the point oti the county line between Ray and Clay 
counties where the; line between townships 52 and 53 strikes the same, 
thence due west along said townshij) lin(! for eight miles to the section 
cornfsr (m said township line between sections 34 and 35, in range 31 ; 
thence due north along said Hectif)n line between sections 34 and 35, 
ir) range 31, to the northern bonntlary line of the county. 

Sintrularly enough the court f)niitted to describe the northern and 
eastern boundaries f)f this township. They will be understood, how- 
ever, to have been the northern l)onn(lary of the State, and tlie liijc 
between Ray and (Jlay extended to tiiat boundary. 

It was certified to the Secretary of State that there were at least 95 
taxable inhabitants in the township upon its creation. John P. Smith 
and Harlow Hinkston were the first justi(;es of the |)eace, John Wright 
the first constable, and Stephen Haxtci-, Archibald Mcllvain, and 
Richard Clark the first ehjction judg(!s. Tin; first election was held at 
the house of Steplien Baxter. 

MOUNT VKKNON MISSIONAItY IlAl'TIST CHURCH, 

local (m1 on s(!ction 15, township 53, I'aiige 30, was organized in 
1857 by Rev. William Barrett. Tlu; nam(!S of the original members 
were Waltus L. Watkins, Mary N. Watkins, Kate Watkins, Spencer 
Anderson, Kitty Anderson, Mary Anderson, Rev. William C. Barrett, 
Jackson Garrett, L. B. Garrett, Samuel Hollingsworth, T. W. Bar- 
rett, Louisa Barrett, Olivia Barrett and Nancy K. Barrett. The pre- 
sent membership is 'i4. The names of those who have served as pas- 
tors are Revs. William Barrett, who filled the pulpit for thre» years, 
Thomas Montgomery, Asa N. Bird, J. W. Luke, G. L. Black and J. 
J. Fetts, who is the present pastor. This l)rick edifice was erected in 
1871 at a cost of $5,000, more than one-iialf of wiiicii was contributed 
by Waltus L. Watkins. 



500 HISTORY OF CLAY CODNTY. 



BIOGEAPHICAL 



CHESTER BETHEL 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Lawson). 

Notwithstiinding the great hurnih and Imbbiib raised in this State 
over the James boys and Clay county as an awful robl)er-infested 
region by a few unscrupulous journals for political efl'ect, and more 
interested in partisan success and capturing the offices than in the 
welfare and good name of the State, intelligent Northern men, both 
Republicans and Democrats, are constantly pouring into Missouri and 
making their homes upon its rich and favored lands. Clay county is 
no exception in this resj^ect to the other counties of the State. Large 
numbers of Northern men have settled in this county since the war, 
and within the last four, six and twelve years. Among the many 
others that might be referred to is the subject of the j)resent sketch. 
Mr. Bethel came to this county in the winter of 1871—72, and is one 
of the substantial farmers of the county. He has a finely improved 
place situated near Lawson. Besides farming in a general way, he is 
also engaged in i-aising stock. He was born in Jersey county. 111., 
June 17, 1847, and was a son of Bluford Bethel and wife, 7iee Nancy 
Sevmour, the father originally from Tennessee, but reared in Illinois, 
and the mother born and reared in that State. His father was a sub- 
stantial farmer of Macoupin county, and died there in August, 1875. 
His mother died July 28, 1858. She was a member of the Mission- 
ary Baptist Church. The father was a member of the A. F. and A. 
M. Mr. Bethel was reared in Jersey county, and was the fourth in 
his parents' family of eight children, five of whom are living. He 
was educated in Macoupin county, and after coming to Missouri in 
1871, was married to Miss Emma Witt, Deceml)er 4, 1874, a daughter 
of Pryor and Eliza J. (Tunnel) Witt, of Greene county, 111. Mr. 
and Mrs. Bethel have two children : Nancy Alice and Mary Effie. 
Mr. B. belongs to the Order of the A. F. and A. M. 

ROBERT A. FORD 

(Farmer and Fine Stock Raiser, Post-office, Lawson). 

Mr. Ford is one of the self-made men of Clay county. When he 
was in infancy, his father died, leaving his mother with a large family 
of children, and no means to speak of to go upon. The children, 
after they had struggled along through their earlier 3'ears, and come 
up old enough to work, had not only to look out for theuTseives, but 
to assist toward providing for the family. But the mother was 
a true and n()l)le woman, and kept her family together during her life- 
time. She died in 1857, when the subject of this sketch was about 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 501 

17 years of age. There were nine other children, and nine of the 
ten are still living. When the family came to Clay county, in 1851, 
Mr. F. was a lad about eleven years of age. He was here in 1861, 
when the war broke out, and entered the Confederate army or State 
Guard, under Gen. Price. After serving out his term of enlistment 
for six months, he returned tf) the county, and in 1863 went to Colo- 
rado. Three years later he came back, and has been a resident of the 
county ever since. He learned the occupation of farming as he grew 
up, and handling stock, and has made these his permanent pursuits. 
Starting out without anything but his industry, energy and intelli- 
gence, he has, nevertheless, become one of the substantial farmers 
and successful fine stock raisers of the county. He has a herd of 
60 head of high grade cattle, and nine head of regular registered short 
horns. His farm is nearly all in blue grass, and is finely improved, 
his handsome brick residence alone costing $17,000. His place con- 
tains 220 acres of as fine land as there is in the county. Mr. Ford 
was born in Fauquier county, Virginia, March 13, 1840. His parents, 
Austin and Jane (Allison) Ford, were lioth i)orn and reared in that 
county, and after their marriage came to Missouri, in 1840, locating 
in Clark county, where the father died the following year. He had 
i)een a soldier in the War of 1812, and was a farmer by occupation. 
The mother, with her family of children, removed to Clay county in 
1851, where she died in 1857, as stated above. October 6^ 1867, Mr. 
Ford, the subject of this sketch, was married Jto Miss Mary E. Story, 
a daughter of Thomas and Lucy A. (Baldwin) Story, of this county. 
Mr. and Mrs. F. have seven childi'en living, Oscar N., John T., Jesse 
J., Ella T., Walter N., Maggie L. and Robert A. Three others. 
Flora Belle, James T. and Arthur F., died at tender ages. The 
oldest, Oscar N., an exceptionally l)right youth, 14 3'ears of age, is al- 
ready an unusually accomplished penman. His work in general pen- 
manship, card writing, etc., equals that of manv professional penmen. 

RUFUS M. MAJORS 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-oftice, Lawson). 

Rufus M. Majors was born in Clay county, September 7, 1841. 
His father was Elisha Majors, formerly of Burke county. North Car- 
olina, and his mother's maiden name Catherine Huffaker, of Wayne 
county, Ky. Mr. Majors' grandfather, John Majors, a native of 
Maryland, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. Mr. Majoi's' pa- 
rents were married in Wayne county, Ky., and remained there until 
1837, when he removed with his family to Clay county. Mo. He made 
his home in this county until his death, which occurred October 24, 
1878. He was a successful farmer and worthy citizen of the county. 
His wife died here April 27, 1876. But three of their family of eight 
children are living, Michael, a farmer of Vernon county, and Eliza- 
beth, the wife of B F. Elston, a farmer of Clinton county, being the 
other two, i)esides the subject of this sketch. Rufus Marion Majors 
was the seventh in the familv of children, and was reared on the firm 



502 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

in this county. He received a district school education, and ou the 
22d of August, 1880, was married to Miss Sarah M. Wilhoit, a 
daughter of Thomas and Mourning (Benton) Wilhoit, of this county. 
Mr. and Mrs. Majors are members of the Missionary Baptist Church. 
Mr. M. has a good farm of 270 acres, all under fence andin an excel- 
lent state of improvement. 

JUDGE ROBERT W. MIMMS 

(Farmer, Post-office, Holt) . 

The Mimms family is one of pioueer ancestry in the history of the 
countrj', and one not altogether without note. One of the repre- 
sentatives of the famil}' rendered distinguished services in the Rev- 
olution in the South Atlantic States, and a remembrancer of his careei* 
stands to this day in the shape of the ruins of Old Ft. Mimms in 
Georgia. Another member of the family was a gallant officer in the 
Northwestei'u campaign under Gen. Harrison, and Ft. Mimms, iu 
^liohigau, was named in honor of his services. The family is be- 
lieved to have come to this country at about the tiiue of the first 
settlement of Jamestown or with some of the colonial immigrants to 
Virginia soon afterwards. From Virginia branches of the family 
dispersed themselves throughout most of the Southern and Western 
States. Judge Mimms conies of the Kentucky branch of the family. 
He was born in Logan county, K}'., March 20, 1830, and was a sou 
of John W. Mimms, whose father was one of the pioneer settlers of 
that State. The Judge's mother was a Miss ilary James before her 
marriage, originally of Goochland county, Va. The Judge's parents 
continued to reside iu Kentucky until 185G, when they came to Mis- 
souri and his father established Mimms' Hotel, at Kansas City, well 
known in the days of the l)order troubles as the stopping place of 
.thousands who passed that way going to or coming from " Bleeding 
Kansas." Mimms' hotel building, if it could talk, would be aide to 
tell many a stirring and thrilling incident of those trying and terrible 
times. There, under the same roof, the Red-leg and the Border- 
ruffian, tiie Jawhawker and the Slave-driver, the emigrant sent out by 
the New England Aid Society, with nothing but his black carpet-sack, 
his Bible and his rifle, to colonize Kansas, and the adventurous, rest- 
less, fearless Down-Souther, with his long hair, piercing eyes, navy 
revolvers and douljle-barrol shotgun, who came out to see that Kansas 
was uot permitted to fail into the hands of " the sniveling, negro- 
loving Yankee." as he always termed his New England brother, met 
:nid lefreshed themselves at the same board. Not unfrequently hot 
words of scorn and hatred were hissed at each other across the table, 
liut Mr. Mimms was a man of peace and without fear, and under his 
loof the hospitality of his house was made the protection of every 
guest, from wheresoever he came. North, South, East or West. The 
truth of history, however, compels the statement that many insulting 
words quietly spoken between partisans of the opposing factions who 
sto[)ped at Mimms' Hotel were afterwards avenged by the rifle or 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 503 

shotgiui, or tlie pi^^tol or dirk, on the stakcless and lonely (jrairios of 
Kansas. Such were the unhappy times of that unhappy day. But 
through it all " Uncle John Minims," as he was known far and wide, 
though a Southern man and a brave and fearless one, maintained an 
attitude as landlord of strict impartiality, and won the respcict and 
atlection of all who ever pulled his welcome latch-string. He was au 
ordained minister of the Missionary Ba[)tist Church, and died at his 
home, iu April, 18(J9, profoundly mourned hy a wide circle of friends 
and ac(inaintances. His wife died eight years afterwards. Judge 
Miinms, who was the eldest iu a family of twelve children, was reared 
in Kentucky, and came to Missouri in 1847. He iirst resided in Cass 
county, l)ut came to Clay county the following year. In 1850 he 
went to California and spent eight years in that State, mining, etc., 
with varying success. Returning home' in 1858, he subsequently went 
to Colorado, in 1861, and was elected treasurer and collector in Park 
county in 18(i2. In 18(i3 he went to Montana, locating at Helena. 
He re[)resonted Helena in the Teri'itorial Legislature two terms, and 
was the author of the Sunday and High Liciense laws of the Territory. 
He was soon elected judge of the jjolice court of that city, a position 
he held for two years. In that day at Helena, not only a good 
knowledge of the law was reipiired of a criminal judge, but a full 
measure of personal courage. A judge who was suspected of having 
anything like fear about him would have been made the laughing 
stock of the place and every mining camp in the vicinity, and his 
court would have fallen into the most helpless and puerile contempt. 
His weapon of defense was the weapon of moral suasion and good 
will toward all men. Consctjuently, he kept the peace and adminis- 
teretl justice with even scall^s and without fear. As a judge and as a 
citizen he became one of the most wid(!ly known and [jopular men in 
the Territory. But in 1868 Judge Miinnis, in whose heart some of 
the softer sentiments had begun to steal like the rays of the morning 
sun at early dawn, returned to Clay county, and in a little while after- 
wards was made the happy husband of one whom to him was fairer 
than the evening air chid in the beauty of a thousand stars, and much 
dearer than all the rest of the constellations, with the sun, moon and 
Mother Terra thrown in. The Judge's wife was a Miss Martha A. 
Thoniason, to whom he was m;irried September 8, 1870, a daughter 
of Robert and Sarah (Lindsey) Thoniason. Her father was a soldier 
in the War of 1812, under Col. R. N. Johnson, of Kentucky. The 
Judge and Mrs. Minims have three children: John R. L., Mary 
Lizzie and Lucy Ethel. Ruth died at a tender age. The Judge and 
wife are members of the Missionarv Baptist Chnreli. The Judge is an 
energetic farmer of Washington township, and owns a neat and comfort- 
al)li! homestead. 

JOHN W. SHOUSE 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section 2'J, Post-olfice, Kearney). 

Mr. Sliouse has had an extensive military career, in that he not only 
served gallantly for three years as a Confederate soldier in the War of 

27 



504 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

1861 under Gen. Price, but also for a time was under Gen. A. W. 
Doniphan in the war with Mexico. He came ordinarily from Ken- 
tucky, his parents, John and Sarah (Slaughter) Shouse, having also 
been born in that State, where they were subsequently married. In 
1827, leaving the State of their ijirth, they came to Missouri and 
located in Clay county, where they made their home until their death; 
the father died in August, 1863, and the mother in 1875. John W. 
Shouse, the fourth in a family of six children, was born in Franklin 
county, Ky., April 12, 1825, and was in infancy when his parents re-» 
moved to Clay county. He was reared here to agricultural pursuits 
and received such educational advantages as the school opportunities 
of that early day afforded. One of the earliest settlers in the county, 
he has remained here ever since and his career as a tiller of the soil 
and private citizen has been not less creditable than his career as a 
soldier. His farm of 160 acres is one of the neatest places in Wash- 
ington township, is all under fence and has upon it good improvements. 
When the Civil War broke out Mr. S., imbued with patriotic enthu- 
siasm, organized a company for the Confederate army, of which he 
was made captain, which position he held until his health failing he 
was compelled to resign, and soon thereafter returned home. On the 
1st of June, 1848, Capt. Shouse was married in Clay county to Miss 
Elizabeth Writsman, a daughter of Peter and Polly Writsman, nee 
Officer. Mrs. S. was born, reared and educated in this county. To 
tiiein have been born ten children, as follows : Thomas R., a farmer 
of this county, who married Miss Flora Lynn ; James O., who mar- 
ried the first time Miss Bettie Dagley ; she died October 27, 1879, and 
he then married Martha Whorton ; he is also engaged in farming ; 
Florence R., wife of William I. Price; Lola A., now Mrs. James 
Mo!)erly of Clinton county, Mo. ; Mary C, wife of William M. Riley ; 
and Jolin N., Frances M., Sarali E., Richard and Edna, who are still 
at home with their parents. 

WALTUS L. WATKINS (deceased) 

(Lawson Vicinity). 

On the 24th of January, 1884, died at his residence, in this count}', 
near Lawson, Waltus Locket Watkins, the subject of the j)resent 
sketch. The life of Mr. Watkins, as is well known to every one ac- 
quainted with the affairs of Clay count}', was long and prominently 
identified with the best interests of the county. The record of his 
career presents his life pre-eminently in two aspects, — one as an 
active and useful citizen in the business and industrial aff"airs of the 
county, and the other as a man of the most generous and philanthro- 
pic impulses, laboring at all times, when an opportunity was presented, 
for the spiritual, moral and educational good of the community of 
which he was a nuMuber. Nor were his services unimportant in either 
respect. As a citizen of enterprise, he stood among the first in the 
countv ; and in works for the social welfare of the community, he was 
second to none in private life. Mr. Watkins descended from a sterl- 



HISTOKY OF CLAY COUNTY. 505 

ing race of men, with whom matters of principle were supreme to 
everything else ; who would stand by what they l)elieved to he right 
though the world were against them and fidelity brought them ruin — 
the brave-hearted, honest, faithful Protestants of Catholic France, the 
French Huguenots. His first ancestor in this country, on his mother's 
side. Gen. Bartholomew Dupu}', was a distinguished representative 
of that fearless and true sect of Frenchmen. He had been a gallant 
ofBcer in the French army, but on account of his Protestant faith aud 
his refusal to forswear it, he was driven from the army and from 
France. Coming thence to this country in about 1700, he located in 
Virginia, where ho became a prominent citizen and successful man 
of affairs, leaving at his death, a large family of ciiildren. To one of 
Gen. Dui)uy's descendants. Miss Jane Minter, Mr. Watkins' father, 
Benjamin Watkins, was married, in Virginia. Of this union came 
the subject of the present sketch, and twelve other children. After 
their marriage they removed to Kentnckv and settled in Woodford 
county, whei-e Waltus L. Watkins was born on the 30th of Octolier, 
180*5. Reared in Kentucky, he remained there until he was about 
25 years of age and then came to Missouri, in 1831, and settled in 
Liberty, Clay county. In the meantime he had learned the ma- 
chinist's trade in the East, and had also worked in cotton and 
woolen industries. It is a fact worthy of note, in passing, that he 
worked on the first railway locomotive ever built in the United States. 
After coming to Clay county he built the first cotton and woolen mill 
ever estal)lished in the county, and also introduced the first circular 
saw ever brought to the county. These were in connection with a 
grist mill, and his was one of the pioneer grist mills of this part of 
the countrj'. It was patronized by people from a distance of seventy- 
five miles. In 1839 he moved to the land on which the family now 
reside, on which he improved a fine farm, erecting a iiandsome brick 
dwelling and making all of his other impi'ovements of a superior class. 
He added to his lands from time to time by additional purchases and 
entry till they aggregated 5,000 acres, from which he sold several fine 
farms. On retiring from business he sold to his successoi's, John 
Watkins & Bros., 3,600 acres of fine lands, his milling property and 
live stock. The woolen, flouring and grist mills, now conducted by 
his sons, John Watkins & Bros., consisting of John H., A. Judson 
and Joe B. Watkins, he erected in 18(;0,"at a cost of $30,000, the 
largest establishment of the kind in the State, outside of the large 
cities. The mills have a cai)acity of three sets of cards, 1,080 spindles, 
25 looms and two sets of buhrs. He was also an extensive farmer 
and stock-raiser, and dealt largely in stock. All these various lines 
of business his sons keep up. The " Watkins Mills " manufacture 
on an extensive scale cassimeres, flannels, jeans, blankets, yarns, etc. 
John Watkins & Bros, also have a fine herd of 500 head of thorough- 
bred and high grade short horn cattle, from which they annually sell 
some of the l)est representatives of that breed to be met with in the 
C(uintry. Mr. Watkins, their father, was for many years an earnest 
member of the ilt. Vernon Missionary Baptist Church, and one of its 



506 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

most liberal supporters as well as a generous contributor to other 
churches, and the cause of education. Toward the erection of his 
own church Iniilding he contributed $1,200 in cash and spent the 
majority ot" two years working for the building and the completion of 
the church. He also built a comfortable and commodious brick 
school house near his farm, which was long used as a public school 
building. For the erection of other school houses and churches he 
contributed, from time to time, thousands of dollars. For a long 
time he was one of the trvistees of William Jewell College, and con- 
tributed largely to that institution. Mr. Watkins was for many years 
un earnest advocate of temperance, and even in the time of the Wash- 
ington Temperance Society, when home-made whisky was more 
common than wild honey, he was a member of that society, and ever 
after held his pledge of temperance sacred and inviolate. He had a 
high sense of honor. His duties to society, morality, religion and his 
fiuancial obligations were his supreme law. On the 4th of March, 
1834, Mr. Watkins was married to Miss Mary Ann Holloway, of 
Jessamine county, Ky., a daughter of Spencer and Catherine (Reed) 
Holloway. Mrs. Watkins is still living, residing on the old family 
homestead with her children. Eight of her family of eleven children 
are living, namely: George S., John H., Martha A., Mary E., 
Waltus J., Jr., Caroline E., A. Judson and Joe Barry. John H., 
Alfred and Catherine J. are deceased, the first being the eldest of the 
family, and for him his brother John H., living, was named. Mrs. 
Watkins and several of her family are members of the Missionary 
Baptist Church. 




» CHAPTEE XVIII. 

GALLATIN TOWNSHIP. 

Boundary aad Physical Features — Villages in this Township — Barry — Harlem — 
Moscow — ^Arnold's Station — Minaville — Churches — Biographical. 

BOUNDARY AND PHYSICAL FEATURES. 

Galliitin township compri.ses the southwestern portion of Clay 
county, and is hounded on the. east by Liberty township and the Mis- 
souri river, on the south by the river, on the west by Platte county, 
and on the north by Platte township. It contains some excellent 
lands and fine farms, but there is also a great deal of rough and un- 
productive tracts in the township. Big Shoal creek and its branches 
drain the greater portion of the township. 

Gallatin was one of the original townships of Clay county, com- 
prising in 1822 the western half of the county. Settlements were 
made along Big Shoal in 1822. David Manchester's mill was a noted 
point in 1825. It is alleged that a few French families lived on Ran- 
dolph] Blutt's in 1800.' In the neighborhood of Barry settlements 
were made about 1830, and there was a post-office at Barry in 1836, 
with P. Flemming as postmaster. 

Gallatin township boasts of the enterprising and public spirit of its 
citizens, and is noted for its fine horses, cattle and live stock gener- 
ally. The horse shows at Barry in their season are occasions of note 
and are attended by farmers from all parts of the country. 

The villages of Gallatin township are five in number, viz : Barry, 
Harlem, Moscow, Arnold (or Blue Eagle), and Minaville, or North 
Missouri Junction. 

Barry was establishe<l first as an Indian ti'ading post about the year 
1830, before the Platte Purchase, when what is now Platte county 
belonged to the red men. Its location immediately on the boundary 
line (west half of center section 10 and east half of center of section 
11, township 51, range 33) puts half the town in Clay and half in 
Platte. It has a population of about 200, contains two churches, 
Cnml^erland Presbyterian and Christian, a good school, stores, shops, 
etc. It is 10 miles west of Liberty, and ai)ont the same distance 



1 Vide Campbell's Gazetteer. 

(507) 



508 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

north of Kansas City. Some of the citizens are now moving to con- 
nect the village with Kansas City by a macadamized road. 

Harlem lies in the extreme southwestern part of the township, on 
the north bank of the Missouri, immediately across the river from 
Kansas City. It dates its origin from the completion of the raikoad 
through it to Kansas City. Prior to 1880 the location was subject to 
complete overflow by every "June rise" in the Missouri, but in that 
year the United States Government built a strong levee to the north- 
west, and large additional appropriations have since been made from 
time to time to strengthen this work so as to prevent future serious 
overflow. The great flood of 1881, however, nearly drowned out the 
village. The following lines of railroad pass through Harlem : The 
Hannibal and St. Joseph, the Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific, the Kansas 
City, St. Joseph and Council Bluffs, and the Chicago, Rock Island and 
Pacific — the latter running over the track of the H. & St. Jo. At 
present the population of Harlem is about 200. 

Moscoio is located on the northeast quarter of section 7, township 
50, range 32, eleven miles southwest of Liberty and five and one-half 
miles from Kansas City. The nearest station is Arnold's, two and a 
half miles away. It contains two churches. Baptist and Christian, a 
good mill, general stores, shops, etc., and has a population of about 150. 

Arnold's Station, on the Hannibal and St. Joseph (sect. I/4 of 9— 
50-32), seven miles northeast of Kansas City, was founded upon the 
completion of the railroad by M. S. Arnold, Esq., for whom the place 
was named. From its earliest history it has been quite a shipping 
point. It is reported that the average shipments of hogs, cattle, wood, 
ties, grain, etc., per month is about 25 cars. March 4, 1880, the 
western portion of the town was destroyed l)y fire, involving a loss of 
$2,800. The buildings destroyed were soon replaced by better struc- 
tures, costing in the aggregate over $5,000. It is claimed that the 
present population of Arnold's Station is 200. The post-office is 
called Blue Eagle. 

Minaville, or North Missouri Junction, is located on the northeast 
quarter of section 11, township 50, range 32, eight miles from Kansas 
City and six miles from Liberty. It is the i)oint where the Hannil)al 
and St. Joseph and the Wabash Railroad tracks formerly connected, 
and dates its existence from about 1868. It contains perhaps 125 in- 
habitants. 

CHURCHES. 

Barry Cumberland Presbyterian Church — At Barry, on the county 
line, between Clay and Platte counties, was organized June 3, 1826, 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 509 

')y R. D. Morrow, with 27 members, jimong whom were Heiny J. 
Weedeii, Jonatliun English, Jeroiiiiah Burns, Benjamin Craig, Herman 
Davis, Easter (or Esther) Davis, John English, Jane Burns, Polly 
English, David P. Gill, William Hulott, Thomas Adams, Matilda 
Simrall and Hugh Brown. The present membership numbers about 
102. Some of the pastors who have served this church ai"e Rovs. 
Robert D. Morrow, O. D. Allen, A. D. Miller. AV. Schenk, W. O. H. 
Perry, and J. H. Norman. The present frame church was built in 
1859, costing about $2,000. The Sunda}' school has about 45 scholars, 
its superintendent being Dan Carpenter. 

Barry Christian Church. — In the winter of 1840 a frame house of 
worship was built at Barry for a congregation which had been formed 
as a church organization on the 26th of April of that year. Among 
the original members were Thomas Chisis, Annie Chisis, William Beal, 
John Callerman, Bass Callerman, Archibald Woods, Jane Woods, 
Adam Woods, Mary Woods, Jan^es and Catherine Cerry, Ann 
Ham, and Catherine Endicott. Some of those who have filled the 
pulpit of the church are John Callerman, Bayard Waller, Josiah Wal- 
ler, G. R. Hand, Preston Aker, A. E. Higgason, J. A. Lord, S. G. 
Clay, W. S. Ramey, William C. Rodgers, and others whose names are 
not now recalled. In 1859 a second church edifice was erected ; it is 
also a frame one. The present membership is 120. The Sal)bath 
school of 81 members is su|)eriutended by Samuel Dooley. 

Ebenezer Christian Church at Minaville — Was organized in 1865, 
with John Foster, Thomas and Betsy Stevens, John Tipton, Lucinda 
Tipton, John J. and Mary Brost, Elizabeth Lindenman, Thomas and 
Dinah Gibbons, John F. and Susan Foster, Eleanor Foster, and James 
and Lucinda Stevens as constituent members. This membershij) has 
been increased until it now numbers 40. The pastors in charge have 
been Richard Morton, Bro. Pickerall, Joseph Wollery and Bayard 
AYaller. They occupy a frame house of worship, built at a cost of 
$1,500 in the same year of the organization. 

Big Shoal 0. S. Baptist Church — Located eight miles southwest 
from Lil)erty, was organized May 21, 1823, b}^ Rev. William Thorp. 
The number of the present membership is 46. This church building 
is of brick, erected in 1854 at a cost of $2,200. 

Bethel Baptist Church — Located on the Barry road, five miles west 
of Liberty, was organized in Pleasant Valley school-house, in 1872, 
by Elder James Rouse. Their present house of worship, a frame 
building, was erected in 1883, at a cost of $1,500. The present 
membership is 26. 



510 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

Antioch Christian Church — Located five miles northeast of Kan- 
sas City, was organized in 1854. The number of the present member- 
ship is 75. This church building is frame, erected in 1858 at a cost 
of $1,800. 

Faurbion Chapel M. E. Church South — Located eight miles 
southwest of Liberty, was organized in 1837. The number of the 
present membership is 60. Their present house of worship, a frame 
structure, was erected in 1870, at a cost of $2,150. 



Rising Sun Lodge JSTo. 13, A. F. & A. i¥. — May 6, 1852, this 
lodge was organized. Of the first officers and members there were 
but two names furnished, Wm. Conway, master and James W. Smith, 
senior warden. The membership now numbers 51. The present 
officers are C. M. Grouse, master ; E. F. Knighton, senior warden ; J. 
R. Funk, junior warden; G. W. Thompson, treasurer; Wm. Samuel, 
secretary ; Lon Darby, senior warden ; J. C. Woods, junior warden ; 
G. W. Elzea, tyler. 



BIOGRAPHICAL. 



JOHN ALLEN 

(Farmer, Post-office, Harlem). 

Mr. Allen, besides being an energetic farmer, takes a warm inter- 
est in the cause of temperance, which he believes to be a movement 
fraught with more good to humanity than anj' great reformatory meas- 
ure that has challenged the consideration of men for centuries. He 
is thoroughly persuaded that intemperance has been the cause of more 
crime and sorrow, more sadness and affliction in the world than all 
other causes combined. Thus believing, it is but natural that being a 
man of large sympathies and warm iihilanthropic impulses, he should 
actively interest himself in the temperance movement. He is a promi- 
nent member of the Christian Temperance Union at St. Joseph, and 
contributes much in the way of counsel, work and actual means when 
necessary for the good of the cause. Mr. Allen is also a magistrate 
and administers justice for his neighbors and all in his township. 
During the war he served with credit in the enrolled militia for a 
period of about twelve montlis. He is a Kentuckian and came to Mis- 
souri some years ago, settling in Clay county. He was married in Casey 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 511 

county, Ky., to Miss Mahiila P. Mills in 1854, hut she died in 1856. 
She left him three children, two of whom are living: Nimrod D. and 
Mary E. Susan is deceased. Mr. Allen's second wife was a Miss 
Mary D. Bradhurt, daughter of Jacob and Sallie Bradhurt of this 
county. His marriage to her occurred January 14, 1869. Four of 
their five children are living: James O., John E., George and Sa- 
rah E. Mr. Allen has a farm of 121 acres, which is well improved. 
He was born in Casey county, Ky., February 11, 1834. He was one 
in a family of thirteen children of James and Samuel (Bromson) Al- 
len. Six of the children are living and both the parents, the latter 
still residents of Casey county, Ky. 

WILLIAM M. BELLEW 

(Farmer, Post-ofiice, Acme Springs) . 

Mr. Bellew was a son of John Bellew, who went originally from Ala- 
bama to Kentucky, then coming to Missouri. The father first settled 
in Mercer county away back in 1837. He was married there in 1840 to 
Miss Cincinnati Duukerson, formerly of Kentucky. He was a farmer 
and stock-raiser by occupation, and made his home in Mercer county 
for nearl}' thirty years. But in 18()4 he removed to Pottawatomie 
county, and four years afterwards to Cass county. Later along he 
removed to Bates county, and thence to Clay county in 1872. He 
died here in the spring of 1882. He was an energetic and respected 
farmer, and a worthy member of the A. F. and A. M. The mother is 
still living. They were blessed with a family of fourteen children, six 
of whom are living. Both parents were meml)ers of the Missionary 
Baptist Church. William M. Bellew was born in Mercer county 
March 3, 1842, and was i-eai-ed in that county. In 1862 he enlisted 
in the Union service, Co. F, Twenty-seventh Missouri infantry, under 
Col. Thomas Kerley, of St. Louis, and Capt. Clark. Mr. Bellew 
served for about 14 months, and during that time participated in the 
siege of Vicksburg and a number of engagements. Meantime, on the 
26th of June, 1860, he was married to Miss Mary F. Smith, a daugh- 
ter of Albert and Hester Smith, formerly of Kentucky. Mr. Bellew's 
first wife died in 1864, leaving two children, John and Charles. His 
j)resent wife was previously a Miss Mary Allen, a daughter of William 
J. and Patsey Munson. By his present wife there are three children: 
William T., IMinnie M. and Fannie H. Mrs. Bellew is a member of 
the Baptist Church. Mr. Bellew is engaged in farming, and came to 
Clay county in 1885. He is an industrious, energetic man, and is well 
respected by his friends. 

JOHN T. BARBOUR 

(Farmer, Post-office, Barry). 

Robert Barbour, the father of the subject of this sketch, came from 
England in 1836, and settled in Clay county the following year. He 
was a farmer by occupation and resided in the county for many years, 



512 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

but was accidently killed at Leavenworth, Kan., in 1862, by a runaway 
team. He had been married in the county in 1842, when Miss Isabella 
McGuire became his wife. She was from Ireland. Eiglit of their 
family of children are livin?, as is also the mother. She is a member 
of the Missionary Baptist Church. The father was an Episcopalian. 
John T. Barbour, the subject of this sketch, was born July 27, 1844, 
and was reared in the county to a farm life. He traveled consider- 
ably in the Western States and Territories and in 1861 enlisted under 
Col. Thompson in the Confederate army, where he served a term of 
six months, taking part during that time in the battle of Lexington. 
He was married in Clinton county to Miss Mollie E., a daughter of 
Thomas and Eliza Arnold, formerly of Kentucky, in December, 1882. 
Since then he has been engaged in farming in the count3^ He and 
wife are members of the Christian Church. 

William H. Barbour, brother to John T., was born July 2, 1848, and 
was married in Cass county, December 9, 1877. His wife was a Miss 
Mary Cooper, a daughter of Benjamin and Mary Cooper, of that county. 
William H. and John T. are engaged in stock feeding and dealing in 
stock. They are good stock-men, understand their business thor- 
oughly and are full of energy and enterprise. 

RICHARD S. BARNES 

(Farmer, Post-office, Blue Eagle) . 

Richard Barnes, Sr., the father of the subject of this sketch, was a 
lieutenant under Col. Johnson in the War of 1812 and afterwards 
drew a pension from the Government in. recognition of his services. 
He was a Virginian by nativity and a mechanic by trade, but after- 
wards devoted his time and attention largely to farming. In an early 
day he removed to Kentuck}' and then, in 1823, to Boone county. Mo. 
Two years later he came to Clay county, where lie made his permanent 
home. He died here in 1861, at an advanced age. His wife, who 
was previously a Miss Elizal)eth Adkins, of Woodford county, Ky., 
died in this county, November 23, 1876. Both were members of the 
Baptist Church, and took a prominent part in religious matters. 
They had a family of eight children, si.x of whom are living. Richard 
S. Barnes, the subject of this sketch, was born in this county Decem- 
ber 27, 1826. Reared here, in 1853 he went to Oregon and a year 
later dropped down into California, where ho was engaged in mining, 
ship building, etc., for about two years. Returning thence to Mis- 
souri, the foUowing year he went back to California, and was in that 
State and Nevada until 1865. Previous to going West he had enlisted 
for service in tiie Mexican War, but his company was never ordered 
out. Mr. Barnes was married in this county, February 6, 18(58, to 
Miss Fannie, a daughter of Henry and Sarah Nail. Mr. and Mrs. B. 
have five children: Lewis H., Edward T., Charles G., Earl N. and 
Willie E. Mr. Barnes has been one of the active and energetic 
farmers of Clay county ever since the war, and has had good success. 
He owns an excellent farm of 370 acres, all choice land and well ini- 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 



513 



proved. In the matter of religious conviction Mr. Barnes is a disciple 
of Nature, believing that the only true idea of God is to be formed 
from the visible manifestations of His works, in the beauty and har- 
mony and order of Nature. Ho is entirely content to let sectarians 
differ and contend over written creeds, whilst he looks up and does 
reverence and honor to the majestic God of the Universe, regardless 
of bibles, korans and all the other books that have been prepared in 
the distant past for the guidance of the highest and liest interests 
of humanity. 

JUDGE JOHN BROADHURST 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, and Judge of the County Court, Post-office, Acme) . 

The Broadhurst fiimily were early settlers in Western Missouri. 
The Judge's parents, John Broadhurst, Sr., and wife, whose maiden 
name was Mary Teenier, came to this State away back in 1816. They 
were from North Carolina, and on coming here first located in 
Howard county. The father was a blacksmitli by trade, and he fol- 
lowed his trade at Old Franklin for about eight years. But in 1824 
he pushed on up the river witii his family, and made his permanent 
home in Clay county. Here he followed blacksniithing for some years, 
but finally turned his attention to farming. He became a substantial 
farmer and stock-raiser of the county. He had served under Gen. 
Jackson in the War of 1812, and in his old age drew a pension on 
account of his services. He died on his homestead in this county 
in 1876, at an advanced nge. His wife preceded him to the 
grave in 1875. At the time of her death they had been married 65 
years, having been married in Buncombe county, N. C, in 1810. Six 
children were the fruits of their married life, all of whom lived to be 
grown, and two of whom are still living. Judge Broadhurst was born 
in this county, October 24, 1826. He was reared to the occupation of 
farming and stock-raising. This he adopted as his permanent calling 
after he grew up, and has been fairly successful in his chosen pursuit. 
Judge Broadhurst is comfortably situated. He has a good farm well 
stocked and well improved. On the 10th of October, 1844, he was mar- 
ried to Miss Melinda D. Faubion, a daughter of Rev. Jacob Faubion, 
an early settler of this county. The Judge and wife have had 11 
children, eight of whom are living: James H., Sarah F., wife of A. 
F. Tetton ; Martha A., wife of John A. Holt ; Thonnxs H., John R., 
Ruth I., George W. and Mary H. Mary A., Cynthia E. and Franklin 
S. are deceased. The Judge and his family are members of the M. 
E. Church South. In 1860 Judge Broadhurst was elected to the office 
of justice of the peace, the duties of which ho discharged for four 
3'ears. Eight years afterwards he was elected a member of the county 
court, and held that office for six years. In 1882 he was re-elected to 
the county bench for a term of six years, and is now serving out his 
second term. He takes a commendable and public-spirited interest in 
the affairs of the county, and the fact that they are conducted on prin- 
ciples of business intelligence and economy, and are in an enviable 



514 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

condition, is due to the close attention, eflBciency and good judgment 
which characterize the official conduct of the members of its county 
court. Judge Broadhurst is a man of good business qualifications 
and high character, and is one of the highly esteemed citizens of the 
county. 

DAVID T. BKONAUGH 
(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Barry). 

Among the prominent agriculturists of Gallatiu township may very' 
properly be mentioned the subject of the present sketch. Mr. Bron- 
augh has an excellent stock farm of 320 acres, which is largely run 
in grass, but enough being reserved for grain to answer his purposes 
as a stock-raiser. He is a man of industry and enterprise and al- 
though he has hardly 3'et more than reached middle age, he has suc- 
ceeded, by his sterling qualities and good judgment as a business 
farmer, in coming to the front. Mr. Bronaugh was born in the county 
April 25, 1843. His parents were John and Hannah (Morton) Bron- 
augh, both from Kentucky. They came here in 1842. His father 
was a man of considera1)le business prominence. In Kentucky he 
was cashier of a bank for some years. He then went to Louisville, 
and for a time was connected with one of the leading wholesale grocery 
houses of that city. Aftercomingto Missouri hegave his entire time and 
attention to farming and stock-raising. He died here in 1883. His 
wife is still living. He was a member of the Episcopal Church, as 
she still is. They have five children, but David T. is the only one 
living. He was reared on the farm in this county, and in 1861 en- 
listed in the Southern army under Gen. Price, continuing in the ser- 
vice until the close of the war. He was in nearly all the battles in 
which his command took part, including those of Springfield, Mo., 
and Corinth, Miss. After the war Mr. Bronaugh returned home 
and engaged in farming and raising stock, which he has continued 
ever since. In 1871 he was married to Miss Marj' Newler, a daugh- 
ter of E. M. and Jane Newler. Mr. and Mrs. B. are members of the 
Christian Church. They have two children, John and Newler. 

CHARLES W. BUSTER 

(Farmer, Post-office, Blue Eagle). 

Mr. Buster has a good farm of 480 acres, well improved and well 
stocked. He is engaged in both general farming and raising stock, and 
is one of the enterprising farmers and highly respected citizens of 
Gallatin township. Like most of the older residents of tliis part of the 
county, he is of Kentucky parentage. His parents, James J. and 
Lucy D. (Younger) Buster, came to Missouri from Kentucky away 
back in 1820. They first located in Howard county, but in a short 
time settled in Clay county. However, it should be said by way 
of correction of the above that the father, James J. Buster, came 
to this county in 1822. He married Miss Younger, who had pre- 
viously come out with her parents, November 25, 1824, in Clay 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 515 

county. They had eleven children, three of whom are living. The 
father died in April, 1851 ; the mother in 1876. She was a mem- 
ber of the Primitive Baptist Church. Charles W. was born Febru- 
ary 26, 1833, in Clay county. He was reared on his father's farm 
in this county, where he followed farming and handling stock until 
1853, when he went to California. There he was engaged in mining 
for two years. Returning then to Clay county, he resumed farming 
and stock raising. For four years preceding 1863 he was mer- 
chandising at Kearney, but since then has given his undivided atten- 
tion to farming. December 23, 1851, he was married to Miss 
Georgia A., a daughter of John and Harriet Minter. Mr. and Mrs. 
Buster have had ten children, eight of whom are living: Harriet 
E., Charles E., James R. (deceased), Helen, John, Lucy, Mattie, 
Emma, Bradley (deceased) and Lillie. 

WILLIAM C. CAMPBELL 

(Farmer, Post-offlce, Harlem). 

Mr. Campbell is a native of Kentucky, born in Madison county, 
March 22, 1820. His father, also named William, was a Virginian 
by nativity, and came from Bedford county, that State, when a boy 
with his parents to Madison county, Ky., in 1789. He there grew up 
and was married to Miss Elizabeth Snodd}', and in 1834 thfey came to 
Missouri and settled in Clay county. He was an energetic farmer and 
was for a mimber of years magistrate of his township. He died here 
in 1859. His wife died in 1857. They had nine children. Six lived 
to be grown but oidy two are now living. William C. Campbell was 
14 years of age when his parents came to this county. He was brought 
up to the occupation of farming and handling stock, which he has 
followed ever since. In 1851 he was married to Miss Amanda, a 
daughter of William and Amelia Evans. Mr. and Mrs. Campl)ell 
have had three children, but William C. is tlie only one living. The 
others were Ella and Emma. Mr. and Mrs. Campbell are members of 
the Christian Church. Mr. Campbell is still living on the home- 
stead which his father iniproved on coming to this county. It is a 
good place of 560 acres, well improved, including a substantial brick 
house. 

DAN CARPENTER 

(Dealer in General Merchandise, Barrj', Mo.). 

Dan Carpenter was born at Hanging Rock, Lawrence county, Ohio, 
Mai'ch 7, 1825, and received what education he could get in the 
common schools of his native and adopted State. At the age of 18 
years he emigrated with his parents to Clinton county, Mo., in 1843. 
In 1845 he was established in merchandising at Randolph, Clay 
county. Mo., with his elder brother, Amos Carpenter. In 1847 he 
removed to Barry, in the same county, where he has continued in 
mercantile pursuits until the present. In 1850 he crossed the plains 
to California with an ox-train of merchandise. Selling most of his 



516 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

goods in Salt Lake City, he arrived in Placerville, California, the 22d 
of September, just five months from his departure — as many months as 
it now requires days to make the same trip. Returning to Missouri 
in 1851, via Panama and New Orleans, here-engaged in merchandising 
with a reasonable degree of success, and has won for himself a good 
reputation for fair, honest and honorable dealing. In merchandising, 
and l)U)'ingand selling produce, he has had business frequently amount- 
ing to $50,000 per annum. In December, 1853, he was married to 
Miss Pauline Gash, daughter of Joseph D. and Eliza Gash, who was' 
born in Buncombe county, N. C. While an infant her parents emi- 
grated to Missouri, settling in Clay county in 1832, and liy industr}' 
and econoni}', became of easy circumstances. Her ^father died in 
1851, and mother in 1865, both being substantial and influential mem- 
bers of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Mrs. Carpenter is an 
estimable Christian lad}', and prominent in every good work for the 
promotion of the interests of society, and especially for the good of 
the young, having been a prominent Sabba thschool teacher for thirtj' 
years, and an instructor of young ladies in music. In 1859 Mr. C. 
professed faith in Christ, united with, and was soon made an elder in 
the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, which ofBce he still holds. In 
1860 he was elected a superintendent of a Sabbath school, which 
position he still occupies, and has seen over 150 of his pupils united 
to the church. Has been postmaster at Barry, with two intermissions 
of about four years, since 1852, serving under every administration 
from Franklin Pierce to Chester A. Arthur, and hopes to be honored 
b}' a continuance under Mr. Cleveland, of whom he was an ardent ad- 
mirer and earnest supporter — being thoroughly Democratic in every 
political sentiment, unless in being a prohibitionist in principle and 
practice for over thirty years, he differs with the principles of that 
party. Believing its principles to be misunderstood, he holds to the 
party that has ever advocated "the greatest good to the greatest 
numi)er." In 1866 he began improving, and in 1869 moved upon a 
good farm of 160 acres, and engaged in fruit raising and genera! 
agriculture, having one of the largest orchards in the county. 

His chief endeavor is to promote the glory of God and influence his 
friends to become Christians, and no weather hinders the attendance 
of himself and wife upon the means of grace or their work in the Sab- 
bath school. For many years he has been an occasional correspond- 
ent of his county, church and agricultural papers, discussing with 
freedom all questions of public, religious and agricultural interest. 
His father, William Carpenter, was a native of Harrison county, Va., 
born in 1792, whose father was a Methodist minister, and his mother, 
Hannah Clark, daughter of Samuc;! Clark, was born in S|)ottsylvania 
county, same State, 1798. Wm. Carpenter was a merchant Ijy occu- 
pation and survej'or by profession ; was prominent in tiie affairs of 
Lawrence county, O., where he came at an early age with his parents ; 
was colonel of a regiment of Oiiio militia, at that time more honor- 
al)le than now, and at one time represented his county in the Legisla- 
ture, but declined re-election to the "muddy pool of politics." He 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 51 I 

belonged to the "minute men," and was c:illed to the front in the 
War of 1812. After his de:ith his widow received a pension on 
a<'connt of his services, lie persistently rcfusin^to apply for it during 
his lifetime, declaring the Government needetl the money worse than 
he did. How isit at the present day? Every thing that can swear or 
prove the loss of a hair or toe-nail is clamoring to he hung on the 
pension list. During the late unpleasantness he moved from his ele- 
gant home in Chester county to Leavenworth City, Kas., on account 
of his attachment to the Union. After the "cruel war was over" he 
moved to Weston, Platte county, Mo., where he died in 1873 at the 
age of 82 3'ears. At one time he had amassed a considerable fortune 
for that da}', before millionaires had become thick as blackberries, but 
the ravages of war swept a large part of it away. He was a man of 
large experience, a logical mind, a close thinker and was thoroughly 
informed in history, science, mechanics, morals, politics and religion, 
and in his seventy-lifth 3'ear was admitted to the bar as a practitioner 
of law in the Platte County Circuit Court. Mrs. C, his wife, was 
a pious, Godly woman, who attended strictly to household duties and 
made home happy as only such mothers can do. She died in peace 
w ith God and man in 1882, in the eighty-fourth year of her age. 
The subject of this sketch enjoj's the confidence of his fi'iends and 
neighbors to an almost unlimited degree, and in the absence of min- 
isters has held funeral services for about 100 of his neighliors, and 
their children who have gone the way of all the earth, offering them 
the consolations of the gospel of Christ, shedding the tear of sympathy 
with them over the " loved and lost" and assuring them of a " glori- 
ous resurrection," and a hap|)y home beyond on the golden shore, 
where friends and loved ones meet to part no more. His pra^ver is 
that whether he lives long or dies soon, he may be found doing 
the Master's will and be ready for the call "Come up higher." With 
him and his good wife, their highest aspirations are 

" To .serve the present asre 

Their calliug to fulfill! 
Mav it all their powers eiiirage 

To do their Master's will." 

SAMUEL DOOLEY 

(Farmer auil Stock-raiser, aud Justice of the Peace, Post-office, Barry). 

'Squire Dooley came to this county from Kentucky in 1866. He 
iiad been reared in Montgomery county, in thatSt.-itc, and made it his 
home until he left Kentucky, now nearly 20 years ago. However, 
during the war he was away in the Southern service about three years. 
He enlisted in 1862 and most of the time was under Gen. John Mor- 
gan, the great cavalry leader of the war. On coming to this countv 
'Squire Dooley resumed farming and stock-raising, which he had pre- 
viously followed in Kentucky. He has a good farm of 120 acres, 
which is well improved. On the !>th of September, 1858, he was 
married to Miss Marv F. Wallcn, a dauirhter of Isaac and Americv, 



518 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

WiiUen, both of early and respected families in Kentuck}'. The 
'Squire and wife have three children: America B., Amelia J. and 
Georgia. Both parents are members of the Christian Church. He 
was elected to his present office, that of judicial magistrate, bailiwick 
ofGallatin, in 1882. He has made an efficient and upright magistrate 
and has administered justice to all whose causes have been heard in 
his court with an even, impartial hand. 'Squire D. was born in Clark 
county, Ky., February 14, 1837. His faliier, a farmer by occupa- 
tion, died in Nicholas county, that State, in 1883. His mother, who^ 
was a Miss Rebecca Scohee Ijofore her marriage, is still living. It is 
a remarkable fact that all their ten cliildren are also still living. 

WASHINGTON W. DREW 

CFarmer, Post-olHce, Barry) . 

Mr. Drew was born in Todd county. Ivy., July 1, 1826. He was 
reared in his native county up to the age of 17 when his parents re- 
moved to Clay county, Mo. Here he grew to manhood and at the 
age of 20 enlisted for the Me.x'ican War under Col. Doniphan. Young 
Drew was with Doniphan throughout his campaign across the plains 
tlirough New Mexico and down beyond the further shore of the Rio 
Grande, to Old Mexico. After a service of something over a year he 
was honorably discharged and came home to Clay county, where he 
remained for about three years. Bnti in 1850 he joined the general 
exodus of adventurous Argonauts from this part of the country' to 
the Pacific coast and made the journey across the plains and through 
tiie devious canons of the Rocky Mountains. Mr. Drew did not rush 
i)ack like a great many who hardly waited as long as a calf would from 
its mother before starting home again. He resolntl>ly braved the 
perils and hardships of a miner's life in the wilderness for years and 
worked like a Trojan, as the seasons came and went, delving deep 
down into the bowels of the earth and beneath the rock-ril)bed moun- 
tains of the Pacific slope for the treasures hid there for centuries be- 
fore the ark reached a haven on the heights of Mount Ararat. He re- 
mained in California for about 15 years, principally engaged in min- 
ing, and then returned to his old home in Clay county. While there 
he passed the period of life when men usually take unto themselves 
a wife, and having safely escaped through the channel of matrimony 
up to middle age, he has ever since succeeded in continuing in a state 
of single blessedness. Mr. Drew is a farmer i)y occupation and has 
been engaged in farming ever since his return to Clay county. He 
lias a well improved farm of about 200 ac-res. Mr. D. is a man well 
respected in the comnmnity, an energetic, good farmer and a worthy 
citizen . 

LEWIS ELLIOTT 

(Farmer, Post-office, Barry) . 

Mr. Elliott still resides in the county of his birth ami where he was 
reared and received his education. The latter was obtained princi- 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 519 

p.iUy ill the district schools of the neighborhood in which he was 
l)rought up. He was reared to a i'ariii lite, and thus acquired that 
taste for agricultural pursuits which subsequently influenced him to 
nialie farming his permanent calling. Among all the occujjations he 
prefers the free and independent and manly pursuit of a farmer. He 
has a good home of 160 acres, which is well stocked and substantially 
improve<l. Mr. Elliott is an industrious farmer, and a man of good 
standing in the community. He was born on his father's homestead 
in this county in 1847. His parents, Zachary and Margaret (Endi- 
cot) Elliott, were both originally from Kentucky, and came here in an 
early day. His mother, however, was a descendant of the old Eiidi- 
cot family of Massachusetts, who came over in an early day to that 
colony. Representatives of the family subsequently settled in Penn- 
sylvania, and thence in Kentucky. Mr. Elliott's father was a farmer 
and house car|)enter, but in the latter yeai'S of his life 
followed farming pretty much altogether. He died in 1862, the 
mother preceding him to the grave in 185.3. They had a family of 
four chililren, Levyis Elliott being now the only one living. During 
the war he served a short time in the Southern army, his service ex- 
tending through the last year of the war, although he was but 16 
years of age. In 1868, September 8, he was married to Miss Adeline 
A. Williams, a daughter of Edward and Frances Williams. The chil- 
<lrcn, the fruits of their married life, are: Edward, ,)ames, Margaret, 
Hattie G. and Arthur. Mr. and Mrs. Elliott are members of the 
Christian Church. 

JAMES C. EVANS 

(Farmer, Post-office, Harlem) . 

Mr. Evans' grandfather, John Evans, was one of the first five 
household(M-s who settled in Clay county with their families in 1820. 
He was from Madison county, Ky., and on fii'st coming to this State 
resided for two years in Howard county. In 1829 he removed 
with his family to Clinton county, being one of the first settlers 
of that county. He died there in 1840. William B. Evans, the 
father of the subject of this sketch, was 12 years of age when his pa- 
rcnits came to Howard county from Kentucky. Thence he went with 
them to Clay county, and with them from Clay to Clinton county in 
1829. The following year, however, he crossed the river into Jack- 
son (;()unty, where Kansas City now stands. There he met and was 
nuirried to Miss Amelia McGee, a daiiglit(U- of James H. and Ehianor 
McGee. That was in 1830, and the same year Mrs. Evans (his wife) 
had 80 acres of land set apart to her l)y her father from the family 
homestead, the same 80 now forming a part of Dundee plac^e. Mr. 
Evans settled on this with his young wife, and made it their home for 
a number of years. The ownership of the land continued in Mrs. 
Evans' name until two years ago, when the title was transferred to 
tiie Dundee Company. Mr. Evans was one of the founders of Kansas 
City. He estai)lished the first ferrv there. He helped to survey and 

28 



520 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

phit the place and bought the first lots sold. He earlj' built a house 
of entertainment down at the ferry, and what is now the foot of Main 
street, where many and many a traveler stopped in those early days 
when on their way to and from the great West. He also had a large 
warehouseandstorage buildings. He died at Kansas City in 1855. His 
wife, however, is still living, at the advanced age of 72. They had 10 
children, five of whom are living, including the subject of this sketch. 
James C. Evans was born on the present site of Kansas City, April 
25, 1833. He was reared in Jackson county, and given a good com- 
mon school education. November 15, 18(50, he was married in Clay 
county to Miss Elizabeth Campbell, a daughter of Samuel W. and 
Mary Campbell, early settlers of this county. The following 
year Mr. Evans removed to Clay county and settled on the 
farm where he now resides. He has been a resident of the 
county ever since. Mr. Evans has made himself one of the 
siil)stautial citizens and successful farmers of the county. His 
home place is a fine farm of 250 acres, on which he has a handsome 
brick residence, built at a cost of $12,000. Mr. Evans is an active 
member of the Grange, and has been a member of that organization 
since it was first established in this county. He takes a warm interest 
in the welfare of the order. He is also one of the leading horticultur- 
ists of the West, and is now president of the State Horticultural So- 
ciety. April 11, 1882, Mr. Evans had the misfortune to lose his wife. 
She left him eight children at her death. She was an earnest member 
of the Christian Church. 

FRANK GARDNER 

(Owner and Proprietor of the Capitol Mills, Moscow). 

These mills, one of the leading flouring, grist and saw mills of the 
county, jWei'e erected by Mr. Gardner and John T. Ricketts, as partner- 
ship owners and proprietors, in 1870. Since then Mr. Gardner has 
become sole owner and the mills have been greatly enlarged and im- 
proved. Originally they included no saw-mill plant, but this has since 
been added. The entire mills were remodeled in 1882 and the new 
process was introduced. Altogether they now form a desirable and 
valuable piece of mill property. The flour cajiacity of the mills is 75 
barrels every 24 hours. The flour manufactured at the Capitol Mills 
has made its way into popular favor by its own merits and is now in 
good demand wherever it has been used. Mr. Gardner is a thorough 
miller and as careful of the reputation of the mills, particularly of 
the class of work it does, both in the manufacture of breadstuft' and of 
lutnber, as he is of his own good name. Hence he never allows his 
trade-mark or brand to appear on any goods without he knows they 
are exactly what they are re[)resented to be Mr. Gardner was primari- 
ally of Kentucky, born in Nelson county, i\Iay 2, 1835. His i)arents 
were John and Elizabeth (Brown) Gardner, his father originally from 
Virginia. He came out to Kentucky in an early day, and was an 
energetic farmer and trader in general produce in Nelson county. He 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 521 

died there in 1873. The mother died April 15, 1839. The father 
had been previously married, his first wife's maiden name being Annie 
Brown, a sister to his second wife. She died March 25, 1834. Three 
children by the second wife are living, including the subject of this 
sketch. He was reared on the farm up to the age of 20. He then 
began at the miller's trade, building and running mills, at which he 
has continued ever since. Mr. Gardner came to Missouri in 1866 
and located in Clay county. He was married in Louisville, Ky., 
April 5, 1865. His wife was a Miss Kate Montgomery, a daughter 
of Raymond and Hettie Montgomery. Mr. and Mrs. G. have had 
seven children, five living: Fannie, Vernon, Benjamin, Katie and 
Lena. Ernest and Hubert, twins, are deceased. Mrs. Gardner is 
a member of the Catholic Church. She was born in Washington 
county, Ky., June 28, 1845. 

M. LEE GASH 

(Farmer, Post-offlce, Barry"). 

M. Lee Gash, son of Jos. D. and Eliza Gash, was born in Clay 
county, Mo., May 20, 1845. He received his education in the common 
schools of the county and attended one term at a well known college, in 
Jacksonville, III. His father and mother were natives of Buncombe 
county, N. C, and in 1832 emigrated west and settled in Gallatin 
township, Clay county. Mo., spending their days on the farm they 
first owned ; they had a family of seven children, six of whom are still 
living. 'Squire Gash was an active, energetic business man, accumu- 
lating what was in that day considered quite a little fortune, mostly 
lauded estate. Prominent in all objects of public good, he served as 
a justice of the peace for many years. He and his wife were faithful, 
earnest menil)ers of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. He died 
in the vigor of manhood in 1851. His widow surviving him, contin- 
ued all the business, especially farming, in which he was engaged, 
training her children for usefulness and in all Christian virtues, and 
died surrounded by them in June, 1865, trusting in a crucified Savior 
for resurrection and eternal life. M. Lee Gash was reared on the 
home farm, trained to agi'iculture and stock-raising, and has been suc- 
cessful as a rising man in his community. He has a warm heart and 
a home open to the need^', is an excni))lary member of the Cumberland 
Presbyterian Church, and labors for the advancement of Christianity 
unfalteringly. November 6, 1876 he was married to Miss Mary A. 
Sparks, daughter of Henry and Sarah Sparks, formerly of Kentucky. 
Henry Sparks, after a life spent in the church, died December 31, 
1884, leaving a widow in poor health, with a well founded hope of soon 
meeting him who has gone before, where partings never come. This 
marriage has been productive of two children : Dellie C. and Henry 
Hill. Mr. G. has a fine farm of 240 acres, well improved and stocked 
with fine cattle, sheep, hogs and horses, with a prosjject of a long, 
happy and pros|)erous career, enjoying the respect and confidence of 
all who know him. His wife is an excellent lady, a cheerful and 



522 lUSTOUT OF CLAY COUNTY. 

happy wife, a kiiul .uid faithful mother and consistent luembei' of the 
church with her husband. 

DAVID HORNER 

(Farmer, Post-office, Acme). 

yiv. Horner was horn in the county Annagh, Ireland. January 11, 
182it. His fatlier was Joseph Horner and his mother's maiden name 
Barbara Blevins. When Da^^d was about 10 years of age the family 
came to America and settled in Clay county. The mother died here 
in 1S7G. There were eight children in the family, four of whom are 
living. Both parents were members of the M. E. Church. David 
completed his adolescence in this country and learned the practical 
details of farm life as he grew up. In 1804 he was married to Mrs. 
Martha [>. Musser, whose maiden name was Donaldson, daughter of 
James and Patsey Donaldson, formerly of Kentucky. Mr. and Mrs. 
Ht)rner have lost two children in infancy and have none living. Mrs. 
H. is a member of the Presbyterian Church. He is a Jlethodist Epis- 
copalian. Mr. Horner has a good farm and is pleasantly and com- 
fortably situated at his home. He made his own start in life, having 
commenced a poor man, and all he possesses he has accumulated by 
honest industry and economy. He is one of the well respected citi- 
zens of Gallatin towushi[). 

JAMES HUGHES 

(Farmer, Post-office, Blue Eagle). 

Mr. Hughes' father, Patrick Hughes, was a native of Ireland and 
a molder of cast iron by trade. He came over to America in early 
manhood and located first in Rhode Island. He was married in that 
State to Miss Sarah McGarth, also formerly of Ireland, and three 
children were born to them, two of whom are living, one being the 
subject of this sketch. James Hughes was born in Rhode Island, 
March 10, 1837, and when in infancy was i)rought out by his parents 
to Missouri, whi> removed to Clay county, this State, in 1837. The 
mother died here in 184<>. James was reared in this county and 
brought up to the occupation of a t'armer. During the war he served 
for al)out eight months in the State militia. Mr. Hughes has a neat 
farm of 80 acres. He has never married, and is therefore living a 
life of single blessedness, a staid old bachelor, upon whom the smiles 
and wiles of all the maids have thus tar made little or no eflect. 

SAMUEL N. JACKSON 

(Dealer iu Drugs aud Groceries, Arnold Station). 

A Kentuckian by nativity, Mr. Jackson was born in Monroe county, 
November 8, 1845. His father was James A. Jackson, a blacksmith 
bv occupation, and who removed to Missouri with his family in 1852, 
settling at Independence. A year later he removed to Harrisonville, 



HI8TOKY OF CLAY COUNTY. 52<5 

Cass county, and in 1864 to Clay county, but seven years later to 
Texas, where he died January 23, 1883, aged 67 years. He was juti- 
tice of the peace in Cass county for some years and postmaster at 
Austin. Mr. Jackson's mother (Samuel N.'s) was a Sliss Mary S. 
Slaughter, formerly of Virginia. There were six children in the 
family, five of whom are living, including the subject of this sketch. 
The mother died December 24, 1882, aged 58. Samu"! N. received a 
common school education as lie grew up and engaged in his present 
business at Arnold Station in 1877. His business experience has been 
satisfactorily successful, and he has a good trade. December 31, 
1868, he was married to Miss Missouri A. Foster, a daughter of John 
A. Fo.^ter, of Clay county. They have four children : Carrie Wesley, 
Lena May, Samuel N. and James A. His wife is a member of the 
Christian Church. 

JACOB B. JOHN.SON 
(Farmer and Stock-Rai.'^er, an'i of Johnson & .Moore, Saw-millers, Post-office, Barry;. 

Mr. Johnson came to Missouri from Kentucky in 1863 and located 
in Clay county, near Barry, where he shortly bought a farm and 
engaged in farming and stock-raising. He continued that exclusively 
up to 1883, when he formed a partnership with Mr. John Moore in the 
saw mill, which they now run. Since then he has been carrying on 
his farm and assisting in the running of the saw mill. Mr. Johnson 
was born in Montgomery cf)unty, Ky., July 24, 1845, and was a son 
of Philip and Mary (Combes) Johnson. His mother died when he 
was about 13 years of age, and after that he went to live with hi.s 
uncle, Thomas Johnson, of that county. His father was subsequently 
married twice, and removed to Fannin county, Tex., where he died 
in 1878, after a residence there of over twenty years. Jacob B. John- 
son grew up in Montgomery county, Ky., and remained with his 
uncle until 1861, when he enlisted in the .Southern service under Gen. 
Marshall. Subserjuently he was transferred to Gen. Morgan's com- 
mand and followed that doughty raider and gallant cavalry leader un- 
til the close of the war, or until a short time before the close. The 
last order received by Mr. J.'s command was a general order of sur- 
render from Gen. Lee, in May, 1865. He then returned home to 
Montgomery county, Ky., and went to work. April 16, 1868, he wa.s 
married to Miss Jennie Cooley, daughter of Jabez and Rebecca Cooley. 
From Kentucky Mr. Johnson came to Missouri in 1868, as stated 
above. He and wife have six children : Charles C, Losa L., James 
H., John T., Mary B. and Harry. Both parents are members of the 
Christian Church. Mr. J.'s farm contains 200 acres. 

-MARTIN A. KL\G 

(Farmer, Post-Office, Liberty) . 

When the war broke out in 1861, or, rather, some months after- 
wards, in the fall of th<at year, Mr. King, who was born and reared in 
Clay county, enlisted in the Southern service and w.t~ ont iintil well 



59,4: HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

along iu the following spring. While under Gen. Price he partici- 
pated in the battles of Lexington, Pea Ridge and others. Returning 
home, with the view of taking no further part in the war, he soon 
found it would be impossible for him to remain without at least nomi- 
nally joining the militia (Union) service, wliich he accordingly en- 
tered. He was in the militia, doing home service, during much of 
the remaining part of the war. His company was commanded by 
Capt. Garth, of Liberty. Since then Mr. King has been engaged iu 
farming, as he had previously been. His homestead contains 330' 
acres, and is well improved. In other tracts he has 540 acres, 
which are also improved. Mr. King has made all he possesses l)y 
his own industry and energ}'. At the age of 11 years he was left an 
orphan and without a dollar. From boyhood, therefore, he has made 
his own way in the world and obtained what education he has, suiB- 
cient for all ordinary purposes, by his own application. He was born 
in this county September 22, 1842. His father, Daniel King, removed 
to Clav county with his family in 1827, and remained here for a 
period of twenty-five years, or until 1852. He then started on his 
way, moving to Arkansas, but died e?i rootle in Jackson county, this 
State. He had been justice of the peace of Clay county, and was a 
citizen well respected and of good standing. He was married three 
times; first, in Lawrence county, Ohio, and then twice in Clay county. 
His first wife died in this county in 1843. There were no children by 
either of his last two marriages. By his first wife there were five 
children, four of whom are living. Martin A., the subject of this 
sketch, was reared in this county, and about the time of the close of 
the war went to Kansas, but returned eighteen months afterwards. 
November 13, 1862, he was married to Miss Margaret R. Sutton, a 
daughter of James aud Sarah Sutton. Mr. and Mrs. King have had 
ten children ; seven are living- Anna A., Mary J., Johanna, Hubert 
U., Maggie M., Ardena and Ardella. Sarah, and Fannie and Delia, 
twins, all died at tender ages. 

PHILIP KRAUS 

(Dealer in General Merchandise, Harlem). 

Mr. Kraus came to Harlem in 1866, and has been engaged in busi- 
ness at this place ever since. He is also postmaster. He has a good 
stock of general merchandise and an excellent trade. He was born in 
Germany April 26, 1831. He came to the United States in 1850, 
locating in Ohio, after which he engaged in peddling, which he 
followed for four years. In 1860 he engaged in merchandising at 
Shawiieelown, Kas., and six yeais later he came to Harlem. He was 
married iu Platte county in 1872 to Miss Mary K., a daughter of Peter 
Klaunn. They have had two children, one living, John P. The one 
deceased was MaryM. Mrs. Kraus is also deceased, having died in 
1878. She was an exemplary member of the Lutheran Church. Mr. 
Kraus' parents were John and Catherine (Koemer) Kraus. They 
continue to make their home in Germany. There were eleven chil- 
dren in the family, three of whom are living. 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 525 

J. N. LINDSEY 

(Farmer, Post-office, Harlem). 

Mr. Lindsey wiis bora in Henry county, Ky., January 15, 1822, 
and was one in a family of eight children, lour still living, of Thomas 
and Keziah (Jones) Lindsey, the father originally from Virginia. He 
died in 1860, and the mother in 1870, both in Henry county, Ky. J. 
N. Lindsey was reared in that county, and in 1857 came to Clay 
county. Mo., where he has ever since resided. Before coming here 
he was married, February 18, 1847, in Henry county, Ky., to Miss 
Elizabeth A. Myles, a daughter of Henry and Margaret Myles. Mr. 
and Mrs. Lindsey have had ten children, eight of whom are living : 
Mary N., John P., Sarah M., AnnaK., Jemima J., Fannie E., Emma 
L. and George B. Thomas H. and William P. are deceased. Their 
mother, Mrs. Lindsey, died in 1870. She was an earnest, consistent 
member of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Lindsey has a neat farm of 
75 acres, where he resides. 

JOHN NEAL, 

(Farmer, Post-office, Blue Eagle). 

Mr. Neal has a good farm of 490 acres, which is fairly improved. 
It is a comfortable homestead and his situation is one of compara- 
tively easy circumstances. His occupation throughout life has been 
that of a farmer, and as the foregoing facts show, he has been satis- 
factorily successful. He was born in Mason county, Ky., January 19, 
1826, and came to Clay county. Mo., with his parents in 1837. His 
father died here in 1844. He was a farmer by occupation and had 
been a soldier in the War of 1812. The mother died in 1873. She 
was a Miss Sidney L. Ellis. He was born in Kentucky in 1796. Of 
their famil v of three children, the subject of this sketch is the only one 
living. Mr. Neal, Jr., grew up in this county, and in 1846 enlisted 
under Col. Doniphan t'ov the Mexican War. He accompanied Doni- 
phan's command throughout its famous and romantic campaign to 
the West and on down the valley of the Rio Grande and across to the 
cathedral city of the Montezunnis. After the war he returned to 
Clay county and resumed farming. In 1854 he was married to Miss 
Amanda Burnette of this county. She died in 1863, leaving one 
child, "Edward. His second wife was Miss Virginia L. Woods, and 
they were married in 1868. She was a daughter of Thomas Woods 
of this county. They have one child, Thomas N. Mrs. Neal is a 
member of the Christian Church. 

ROBERT REDDISH, M. D. 

(Physician and Surgeon, Barrj'). 

Dr. Reddish, born in Nelson county, Ky., April 11, 1835, was 
reared and educated in that county and in 1855 began the study of 



526 HISTORY or clay county. 

medicine at Mt. Washington, in Bullitt county, under Dr. S. M. 
Hobbs. After taking a course under Dr. Hobbs, he matriculated at 
the Kentucky School of Medicine of Louisville, Ky., in which he took 
a course of two terms, and graduated in the class of 1857. That fall 
his parents, Joseph E. and Jacyntha E. (King) Reddish, removed to 
Missouri but he preceded them in the spring, all locating at Barry, in 
Clay county. Here Dr. Reddish engaged in the practice of his pro- 
fession and has ever since continued it with excellent success and with- 
out interruption, except for about a year, during the latter part of' 
the war, which he spent at Nebraska City. His removal to that place 
was caused by the unsettled and dangerous condition of affairs in this 
county at that time. Indeed, the immediate cause of his removal was 
the murder of his father by a band of Jennison's Kansas Red Legs who 
gave out, however, that they were a company of Colorado troops under 
the command of Col. Ford. Dr. Reddish's father was an inoffensive 
old gentlemen who had taken no part in the war, either directly or in- 
directly, and was as highly respected as any man in the community. 
He was an industrious, hard working man who attended strictly to 
his own affairs. He was taken out unarmed, for he had never had 
any use for arms, and while a prisoner and utterly defenseless was 
shot down in cold blood, as foul and cruel a murder of a white-haired, 
harmless old man as was ever perpetrated, and as inexcusable as if 
he had been a helpless, sleeping infant. But such was one of the 
many outrages committed in this part of the country during the war. 
God only knows what the answer shall be for them hereafter. Dr. 
Reddish was married in this county, September 6, 1858. His wife 
was a Miss Annie E. Tillery, a daughter of Clayton and Annie Tillery, 
early settlers of this county. The Doctor and Mrs. R. have live 
children, three of whom are living: Frankie T., Anna B. and Joseph 
C. The deceased were William T. and Annie E. The Doctor and 
wife ai*e members of the Christian Church. The Doctor has been 
fairly successful as a physician and has a good practice. He also has 
a good farm of 350 acres. He has been practicing medicine at Barry 
for the last 27 years. 

CHRISTOPHER M. RUSSELL 

(Farmer, Post-office, Harlem). 

It was as early as 1817 that the Russell family came to Missouri. 
Mr. R.'s father, Andrew Russell, came from Tennessee when a young 
man. He located in Saline county. Two years later he was married 
there, in 1819, to a Miss Martin, of Clark county, Ky. In 1822 they 
removed to Clay county, and the father died here February 13, 1854. 
He served in the War of 1812 and in the Mormon War. The mother 
is still living, at the age of 83 years. They had a family of 14 
children, six of whom are living. Christopher M. Russell, the subject 
of this sketch, was born in Clay county June 21, 1841. In 18fil he 
entered Price's army, and was in the service 12 months. He then 
returned home, and, November 7, 1865, was married to Miss Mary R. 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 527 

Baker, ;i dauglitei' of Josiah and Sarah Baker, from Kentucky to this 
county. Mr. and Mrs. Russell have had 10 children, all daughters, 
and eight of whom are living, namely: Mattie, Ella, Bettie S., Ida, 
Annie E., Clara, Mary and Rosia. Maggie and Emma died at tender 
ages. Mr. Rus,sell has always made farming his occupation. His 
homestead contains 160 acres. He also has 300 acres in other 
tracts. 

CHRISTOPHER SCHRADER 

(Post-offiee, Barry). 

Mr. Christopher Schrader was born August 7, 1834, in Hasede, 
Hanover, Germany. His father was named Conrad Schrader, and his 
mother's maiden name was Elizabeth EUechers. Both were born and 
reared in Hasede. They received but a common school education. 
At the age of 16 yeai's Mr. Schrader' s father volunteered to join the 
urmy under Napoleon the Great, and fought through the l)attle of 
Waterloo. After the defeat he served under the German empire for 
15 years. The balance of his life he was strictly engaged in trading. 
He was known as a noble and generous man, blessed with many fond 
and tender friends. He died at the age of 83, in Hasede, Hanover, 
Germany, in 1875. His wife died in 1871. Their number of children 
were five : Joseph, Christopher, Daniel, Catherine and Gertrude. 
Catherine is deceased. Mr. Schrader's occupation was shoemaking, 
and, having learned his trade satisfactorily, he left his native country 
for America in the year of 1853, landing at New Orleans. Thence he 
came to Platte county. Mo. In 1855 he established a shoe shop at 
Barry, Mo., with the capital of $5. In the same 3'ear he was married 
to Miss Wilhelmine Mour, daughter of Wm. Mour, of Hanover, 
Gernuuiy, who died in the year 1835, leaving a wife and daughter to 
mourn his loss. His wife's name was Caroline Mour, who came to 
America in 1836, locating in St. Louis, Mo., for one year. Thence 
she came to Parkville, Platte county. Mo., where she married Chris- 
topher Diester, who became the father of seven children : Nina, Henry, 
Daniel, Thomas, Caroline, Magdalene and Christopher. Caroline, 
Ciiristopher and Magdalene are deceased. Mrs. Schrader's mother's 
name was Caroline Biltamou, who was born and reared in Hanover, 
Germany. She was of a moral and religious family, members of the 
Lutheran Church. Her parents were well-to-do and highly respected 
by all. Mr. Schrader had a successful business for 15 years at Barry, 
Mo., endeavoring most earnestly to obtain an honorable position, which 
he has so far gained. He retired from business in 1869, engaging in 
farming and stock-raising, which also proved quite successful. He 
owns 253 acres of land and a vast herd of stock. He has one daughter 
m.irried (Rosa) to a worthy young man of Kansas City, Mo., a dis- 
tinguished druggist, well worthy of bis position. His name is J. H. 
"Wirthman. 



528 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

SIDNEY SUMMERS 

(Farmer, Po^.t-'^ffice, Harlem). 

Mr. Summers, as a farmer, has the benefit of a good education, 
which b}' no means is a small advantage. He took a course at the 
William Jewell College and acquired a good knowledge of the higher 
branches. Though a native of Kentucky, he was partly reared in 
this county, his parents having come here from Woodford county,' 
that State, in 1858. He was born in Woodford county, March 14, 
1842. His father, Adam H. Summers, was originally from Virginia, 
which he left at the age of 20. He was married in Woodford county 
to Miss Dolly Flemming. They had eight children, three of whom 
are living. He died here in 1865. Mr. Summers, Sr., was a 
farmer by occupation and a man in comfortable circumstances. He 
was a useful and well respected citizen. The mother is also deceased. 
Sidney Summers after he grew up was married in this county to Miss 
Bettie Russell, a daughter of Andrew Russell, whose sketch appears 
in this volume. They have one child, Lelia. He and wife are mem- 
bers of the Christian Church. Mr. Summers is a farmer by occupa- 
tion and has a good place of 213 acres. 

LLEWELLYN TILLERY 

(Farmer aud Stock-raiser, Post-office, Barry). 

Mr. Tillery was a son of Capt. Clayton Tillery, one of the early 
settlers and well known and highly respected citizens of Clay county. 
He came here when a young man away back in 1821 and made his 
home in this county until his death, which occurred at an honored old 
age, in 1868. He was a farmer l)y occupation and was in comfortable 
circumstances. For thirty years he served as magistrate for Galla- 
tin township and in old muster days he had command of a company 
of militia and was said to be a fine drill master, being a man of pre- 
possessing military presence and a thorough disciplinarian. He was 
married soon after coming to Claj'^ county but his wife only survived 
her marriage a short time, leaving two children at her death. Capt. 
Tillery was subsequently niarrieil to Mrs. Annie M. Vaughn. Three 
children were the fruits of Capt. Tillery's last union, one of whom was 
Llewellyn, the subject of this sketch. Capt. Tillery was an earnest 
and exemplary member of the Primitive Church. His last wife was 
also a member of that denomination, as was likewise his first wife. 
Llewellyn Tillery was born on the old family homestead in Gallatin 
township, November 3, 1843, and was reared on a farm, receiving as 
he grew up a common school education. On the outbreak of the Civil 
War, in 1861, although then only about 17 years of age, he enlisted 
in the Southern service, becoming a memlier of S. P. Daugherty's 
company, and remaining out until the close of the war. Young Til- 
lery took part in thirteen principal engagements, and was twice 
wounded, being disabled by his wounds for a (jcriod, altogether, of 



HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 529 

five months. He made one of the bravest of the brave soldiers of the 
Sonth and on more than one field of earnage and death attracted the 
attention and admiration of his comrades by his gallantry and intre- 
pidity. Among the nuni(^-oi!s great battles of the war the writer recalls 
the following mentioned by him: Pea Ridge, Vicksburg, Corinth, 
Big Bhie, Baker's Creek, Atlanta, Ga., and Franklin, Tenn. After 
the war Mr. Tillery returned home and resumed farming and stock- 
raising and soon showed that a brave and faithful soldier could make 
equally as law-abiding and useful a citizen. Industry and good man- 
agement soon began to bear their usual fruits, and as the years have 
come and gone, he has become comfortably situated. Several years 
after the war, in 1868, he was married in Augusta county, Va., to 
Miss Lou M. Conger, daughter of John S. Conger, of that county, 
and he now has an interesting family of children, and is doubtless one 
of the happiest and most contented of pateres familias, at least he 
has every appearance of being so. 

ZATTU TODD 

(Farmer, Post-office, Harlem). 

Zattu Todd was born in Howard county, Mo., February 4, 1818. 
His father, Elisha Todd, was one of the first settlers of that county, 
coming there from Kentucky as early as 1809. He served in all the 
early Indian troubles in that part of the State. Subsequently, in 1822, 
he removed to Clay county. He was married in Estill county, Ky., 
in 1806, to Miss Sarah McMahon. She died in Clay county in 1849, 
and he also died here. They had five children, two of whom are 
living. Zattu Todd was principally reared in this county, and has 
made farming his life occupation. His place contains 330 acres, which is 
fairly improved. Mr. Todd has lived a peaceful home life, as had been 
his greatest desire. In 1845 he was married to Miss Margaret Rick- 
ets. She died 11 years afterwards, in 1856, having been the mother 
of five children, one of whom only, Mary E., now the widow of Roly 
Porter, is living. To his second wife Mr. Todd was married April 7, 
1857. She was a Miss Mary A. Darby. She, too, was taken from 
him l)y death, dying August 24, 1872, without issue. Mr. Todd was 
married to his present wife. Miss Martha A. Morris, Januai'v 13, 1874, 
by Elder H. M. Richai'dson. She was the daughter of Darius and 
Maria Morris, of Mason county, Ky., and a member of the Missionary 
Baptist Church. 

JOHN F. WHITAKER 

(Farmer, Post-OfBce, Blue Eagle). 

Mr. Whitaker was one of the early New England school teachers 
who came West from New Hampshire, away back in the "Forties." 
He was educated at Kimball's Union Academy, in New Hampshire, 
and came out to Kentucky in 1846. He taught school in that State 
two years, and then came to Clay county. Mo., where he continued 
teaching. Altogether he taught some fifteen years. A New En- 



530 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

glander by nativity and education, he was very naturally a Union man 
during the war, and served in the militia of this State. Since retiring 
from the school-room, however, his principal occupation has been 
farming. He has a neat place of 80 acres, and is regarded as one of 
the industrious, intelligent formers of the vicinity. Mr Whitaker's 
first wife, who was a Miss Mary Chandler before her marriage, a 
daughter of Mack and Nancy Chandler, survived her marriage 
eighteen months, dying in 1850, and leaving one child : John W.^ 
His present wife was a Mrs. Dunsworth, relict of Jackson Dunsworth. 
They were married August 1, 1867. She was a native of Ohio, and 
a daughter of Elias and Ellen Reagen. She is a member of the Baptist 
Church. Mr. Whitaker was born in Sullivan count)', N. H., May 9, 
1825, and a son of Emery and Mary (Colston) Whitaker. His father, 
who was a farmer, died there in 1863, and his mother, originally from 
Vermont, died in Kentucky in 1878. They had a family of eight 
children, five of whom are livino:. 



ADDBJS^DUM. 



In the first line of the first jjaragraph, on page 211, in the account 
of the battle of Blue Mills — it is stated that the Federals were 
" marching "gaily along," etc., when a "galling fire was suddenly 
opened on them from both sides of the road." This would indicate 
that the Federals were marching in column along the road when fired 
on. Since the account was put in tj'pe, the compiler has been assured 
byMaj.L.M. James, of the Caldwell Home Guards, who was present, 
and now resides near Kingston, Caldwell county, that when fired on, 
the Federals were advancing in line of battle, extending from east to 
west on both sides of the road, the line having been so formed about 
five minutes, and an advance of 100 yards made before the Secession 
troops opened fire. Maj. James says that the locality and presence 
of the enemy had been discovered, but their exact position was not 
known, and that the Federal advance was conducted with reasonable 
prudence and caution. 




HISTORY 



PLATTE COUNTY, MO. 



CHAPTER I. 

ABORIGINES. 



Pre-Historic lahibitauts — The ladians — Sioux aud Algonquins — The Missouris — : 
The Osages, the Sac and Foxes, and the lowas — Battle of the Little Platte — Pot- 
tawatomies — Kickapoos — The Issue House — Reminiscences. 

PRE-HISTORIC INHABITANTS. 

Of this country before the Indians came, and even of the Indians 
themselves, before the appearance of a white man, but little is kno^ffll. 
Here and there are found evidences of the presence of a pre-historic 
race, prior to centuries, and perhaps chiliads gone by. But whom they 
were and when they came, how long they remained or what was their 
fate, history will probably never be able to tell. 

Indeed it is not certain but that, or to speak more accurately, it is 
quite certain that more than one distinct race preceded the Indian here. 
The best authorities are agreed that there were at least two. 

Of one, the Mound Builders,' there can be no doubt ;'^ and of the 
presence of the other, the Cave Dwellers, but at a time extremely un- 
certain in the distant past, their skeletons and works in caves, and 
other relicts seem conclusively to show.' 



' Views of Louisiana (1811). — H. M. Breckeiiridge. Pre-Historic Races. — Foster. 

2 There is an interesting mound near Weston left by these people, and other mounds 
elsewhere in the county. There is also an able article on the subject, " Ancient 
Wonders in Platte County: Relics of the Mound Builders," in Vae Landmark, of March 
23, 1877, by .Judge E. P. West, which was read before the Kansas City Academy of 
Science, and published in the February number (1877) of the Western Eeviev). 

' The Commonwealth of Missouri. — Barnes. 

C531) 



532 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

But whomsoever the Indians found here they drove out, and doubt- 
less with less mercy than that with which they themselves were 
afterwards expelled. 

THE INDIANS. 

By the best historical evidence which modern research has been able 
to bring forward, it is generally accepted as a fact that the Indians 
came originally from Eastern Asia to America, by way of Behriiig- 
Strait, and that by natural increase of numbers, and subsequent im- 
migration, being a roving and migratory race, they finally distributed 
themselves throughout the entire Continent, North and South. The 
date of their first appearance in Mexico has been fixed with reasonable 
certainty at A. D. 554' — coming from the Northwest. These were 
succeeded and superseded by others of a later immigration in 
1170. 

AVhen our own ancestors, the Europeans, came, they found the 
Indians divided into a great number of tribes, large and small ; in 
some instances confederated for mutual protection and assistance, but 
usually entirely independent of each other.' But later investigations 
have proven that all these tribes belonged to a few great families, 
occupying separate and immense districts of country and speaking 
entirely dift'erent languages.' 

• SIOUX AND ALGONQUIN8. 

However, so far as the history of Platte county is concerned, it is 
necessary to speak only of two principal families — the Sioux or 
Dakotas, and the Algonquins or Oiil)was.'' Tribes of each of these, 
from time to time, owned and occupied the territory now included 
within the limits of this county. 

The Sioux or Dakotas, who included the Missouris, the Otoes, the 
Kansas, the lowas, the Osages, the Winnebagoes and many others, 
were settled west of the Mississippi to the Kocky mountains, and 
beyond, and north of the Arkansas into British America, even beyond 
and west of Pecos river. 

The tribes of the Algonquins occupied and held all of New England 
and the Northern States east of the Mississippi, and all of Canada, 
extending their possessions north to, and east of the Great Salt lake. 



■ Aborizinal America. — McColloh U. S. Ethnological lieports. 

■ nistory of the Uuited States. — Bancroft. 

' Synopsis of the Iiulian Tribes. — Qallatin. 

' Otherwise also called Chippewas or Delawares. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 533 

Among the hundreds of tribes included in this family are the Sacs and 
Foxes, the Pottawatomies, the Shawnees and the Kickapoos. 

Between the tribes bordering on the Mississippi, of the two great 
nationalities, respectively, referred to above, tradition tells us that 
almost constant wars were waged. This we know was the case for 
years after the French and Spanish came. True, tribes of the same 
family often went on the war path against each other, and sometimes 
one side or the other would call in the half of a tribe of another 
family, as was the case at the battle of the Little Platte, mentioned 
further along. But this, probably, was rarely resorted to. Among 
the Indians, for generations before the white man came, the Mis- 
sis,sip[)i was the dividing line between the two great peoples of the 
North and West, as were the lines that separated the free from the 
slave States before the late war. 

THE MISSOURIS. 

To this fact, probably, it was largely due that the Missonris, a pow- 
erful tribe who owned and occupied the Missouri river country for 
miles on either side, and from tlie Mississippi up to the Iowa line and 
l)eyond — it was due to this, perhaps, their border situation and the 
consequent interminable wars in which they were compelled to en- 
gage, that they were gradually exhausted and ruined, and finally 
hardly less than exterminated. This great tribe, distributed through- 
out all this region of country, and that gave their name to the mighty 
liver whose waters flow majestically through our State from the 
mountains to the sea — the Missouris, who stood up a powerful nation 
wiien the Indians were heroic and great, with the warlike Sacs and 
Foxes on the one hand and the fearless Osages on the other — they, 
the original proprietors according to our earliest knowledge, of the 
soil which we are proud to call our own, had already virtually passed 
away when first we came, and other tribes had succeeded to their 
titles and homes. 

In 1764, according to Col. Bouquet, the Missouris numbered 3,000 
fighting men and were considered one of the principal tribes on this 
side of the Mississippi. But in 1833 they had been nearly or quite 
broken up as a tribe, and had been consolidated with the Ottoes. 
Their principal village was on the Missoun just below the mouth of 
the Grand.' 



' Expedition against the Ohio Indians. — Bouquet. 



534 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 



THE OSAGES, THE SACS AND FOXES, AND THE lOWAS. 

The ruin of the Missouris left their territory a fruitful source of 
contention among the Osages, the Sacs and Foxes and the lowas. 

The Sacs and Foxes were one of the most powerful tribes (for they 
wei-e practically one tribe) of the Northwest. They were originally 
located in the Lake Michigan country, but afterwards they extended 
their claims to the Missouri. The lowas were another important tribe, 
situated on the Upper Missouri in Iowa. They very naturally claimed 
the upper part of the Missouris' country, which included what is now 
the Platte Purchase. But, on the other hand, south of Missouri were 
the Osages, one of the principal tribes on this side the Mississippi, 
and who claimed not only the territory of the Missouris on the south 
side of the Missouri but also all on this side as well. They recognized 
neither the claims of the Sacs and Foxes nor of the lowas to any of it. 
Frequently coming over on this side on their hunting expeditions, 
collisions of course unavoidably with the' lowas and others occurred. 
How many of these took place before the white man came to record 
them as a part of the history of the country, or what were their results, 
no one now can tell. But neither the conflict of claims nor the conflict 
of arms had closed in 1809, when early white pioneers began to pene- 
trate into what is now Western Missouri. 

BATTLE OF THE LITTLE PLATTE. 

To this, therefore, it is due that we have been favored with the facts 
for record of the first battle known to liave been fought in the immediate 
vicinity of this county — the battle of the Little Platte. The follow- 
ing description of the battle is reproduced from an article published 
in the La)uhnark of date March 23, 1883, and prepared at the dicta- 
tion of Mr. Valentine Bernard, an early settler and an honored citizen 
of this county. AVherever necessary for In-evity or perspicuity we 
have omitted unimi)ortant sentences, and even changed the language 
in places : — 

"The Sacs and Foxes occupied lands in what is now the Platte Pur- 
chase during the time intervening betw^een 1804 and 1809.* The 
lowas were also here, continuing up to 1836.* Frequently the Osages 
came acrwss on this side of tiie Missouri, and caused much disturb- 
ance by plundering and warring with other tribes. 



• Only a part of them is meant ; and some of them continued here until the "Pur- 
chase" was made. 
- Duly a part is meant. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 535 

"In 1809 one of the above tribes had wigwams on the Little Platte,^ 
near the mouth of Second creek, and were engaged in fishing and 
hunting. Black bass, cat and buffalo were abundant, as also were 
ducks and geese. It was while thus enjoying themselves, and in sup- 
posed security, that they were attacked by the others and taken com- 
pletely l)y surprise. Nevertheless a spirited and hotly contested 
fight followed. 

"But the Osages being outnumbered and not well prepared for Ijattle, 
fought at a great disadvantage, and were compelled to fall back. They 
therefore moved rapidly along the south or "shingle rock" side of the 
river, hotly pursued by their enemies, some of whom took advantage 
of the high banks on the north side and fired into them from there. 
A running fight was kept up for quite a distance, but finally the Osages 
succeeded in reaching the Missouri at Old Randolph (just below the 
l^resent site of Kansas City), where they crossed, and thus placed 
themselves out of danger. 

"Some time afterwards a pocket diary of one of the Osages — prob- 
al)ly kept by a French half-breed— was found at that place, which 
gave the numbers engaged in the battle. It was written in corrupted 
French, and placed the strength of the Osages at 1,200. The Sacs 
and Foxes were put at the same figures, but the strength of the lowas 
was not stated. 

"For years after the battle flints, knives and other articles of 
warfare, and even bones were found, where it was fought. The number 
of killed and wounded has never been known, for the Indians were al- 
ways careful to conceal their losses. But it was doul)tless large. '^ 

Other fights followed this one, l)ut none in this immediate vicinity 
or sufljciently near to justify reference to them here. 

AMONG THE WHITES. 

The Government, when it came to deal with the Indians in this 
locality, recognized the title of the Sites and Foxes and of the lowas 
to the country, and treated with them accordingly. A part of the 
latter tribe continued to occupy a portion of the Platte below the Iowa 
line until about the time of the " Purchase," in 1837. Some 200 or 
more of the Sacs and Foxes (the Foxes) were also here, and continued 
here until they disposed of their interest in their country to the United 
Stales at the same time that the lowas disposed of theirs. After the 



1 Naw Smith's Fork. 

- D.ivis' History of Missouri, page 57. 

29 



536 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

Purchase they were removed to their reservation with the others of 
their tribe across in Kansas. 

POTTAWATOMIES . 

A band of several hundred Pottawatomies were also here for a 
time — kept here by the Government, for about eighteen months in 
1837-38. While here they were located on what is now called the 
Pottawatomie prairie, about fifteen miles north of Platte City, and on' 
the bottom and bluffs opposite Ft. Leavenworth. In 1838 another 
band of this tribe passed through from their former homes in Illinois. 
All of the Pottawatomies were removed to reservations provided for 
them on the Kansas river. 

KICKAPOOS. 

A band of the Kicka[»oos were the only other Indians known to 
have ever resided in what is now Platte county, and they -vvere here 
only temporarily. They were sent to this county by the Government 
in 1837, and remained here but a few months, pending arrangements 
for their settlement on a reservation west of the Missouri. The 
Kickapoos were stationed at the falls of the Platte, now the site of 
Platte City. They were a band of the Shawnees, and came originally 
from the Wabash country. Their progenitors, however, the Shawnees, 
were originally found in Ohio, where the whites first crossed the Alle- 
ghanies. , 

" THE ISSUE HOUSE. " 

To supply the Indians while here with provisions and other neces- 
saries, an agency or post-trader station was established, and a store or 
warehouse built called the " Issue House," which was located where 
Abner Whitney's dwelling house now stands. Thompson, Wallace & 
Co. had the contract to supply the post with beef, bacon, meal, corn 
and the like for the Indians; and others also had contracts with the 
post. Wilson Williams ' was the keeper of the Issue House. 

In an early day there was also a post-trader station at Smithville, 
just across the line in Clay county, for the subsistence principally of 
the Sacs and Foxes and the lowas. 

REMINISCENCES. 

Numerous interesting reminiscences of the Indians in Platte county 
are told by some of the older citizens of the county. A number of 



I Soon afterwards accUlently killed himself. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 537 

the young men of th;it day, early settlers here, are still living, and 
are far from being borne down by old age. 

Mr. Alfred Owens, now in his sixty-seventh year, remembers very 
distinctly when the Sacs and Foxes and the lowas lived in the Platte 
country. " The Indians," he says, "were generally very peaceably 
disposed toward the whites. The Sacs and Foxes,*' he thinks, 
" were a much more sober, industrious and worthy class than the 
lowas. 

" The latter were extremely drunken, dissolute and trifling. Their 
chief, Whiteclond, was a fit representative, in this respect, of his 
people — dissipated, treacherous and overbearing. Being an old man 
when he died, his son, Frank, had grown up and succeeded him as 
chief. He, Frank Whitecloud, married a daughter of Joseph Robi- 
doux, a French half-breed, and the first settler on the present site of 
the city of St. Joseph, jNIo. Robidoux's mother was an Iowa Indian. 
The chief village of the lowas was about three and a half miles north 
of Agency Ford, in Buchanan county. They had no village in this 
county, but frequently came down here on hunting expeditions. 

" The principal village of the Sacs and Foxes (or the Sacs) was at 
Old Sparta, in Buchanan county. Metellacup, a noted brave of this 
tribe, and a thoroughly honest man, was often in Platte county. The 
chief of the tribe, Sourkut, was a man of fine presence and strong natural 
intelligence. He was thoroughly high-minded, and had the respect 
and confidence of both the Indians and the whites." 

When Mr. Owens was a mere boy his father removed to the Indian 
Agency at Smithville, near the border of the State, now near the line 
between Clay and Platte counties, and there he, of course, had excel- 
lent opportunities to observe and study the character and habits of 
the Indians. 

Dr. Marion Todd, another old citizen of the county, also remembers 
the Indians very well. " Woul)unsee," he says, " was the war chief 
of the Pottawatomies, and Caldwell, a French half-breed, their couiu-il- 
chief. Woubunsee's wife was a white woman, Sally Slocum. Cald- 
well, whose father had been a British officer, was always a bitter 
enemy at heart to the United States. He had also served in the 
British army. He was present at the battle of the Thames, where 
Tecumseh was killed. During the Florida War he strongly svm- 
])athized with the Seminoles, and it was only the impossibility of 
reaching thf m that i)revented him from joining them. He was about 
sixty years of age (in 1837) and was a man of fine physique, anil 
well educated. The Pottawatomies wore here only a short time, and 
came from Illinois. 



CHAPTER 11. 

EXPLOKATIONS AND PIONEERS. 

French and Spanish — First American Visitors — Steamboat Expedition — Rialto — 
First White Settlement — The Natural Advantages of Platte County becomiDg Rec- 
ognized — Second Creeli Settlers — Expelled in 1S3G — Other Pioneers — The Lib- 
erty — Ft. Leavenworth Trail. 

FRENCH AND SPANISH. 

Prior to the cession of Louisiana to the United States, in 1803, but 
little progress was made in the settlement of the country along the 
Missouri, or anywhere west of the Mississippi. Up to that time, al- 
though the French and Spanish had had control of the countrj' for 
more than a hundred years, but two or three permanent settlements 
on the Missouri had been established. The only interest they seemed 
to take in the country was to explore it for mines of the precious 
metals or to trade with the Indians.^ 

The French, who were hei-e first, long labored under the delusion 
that there were valuable mines to be found, and as early as 1705 made 
an expedition up the Missouri, coming as far as tUe mouth of the 
Kansas. The Indians then here (the Missouris) they I'eported to be 
friendly and hospitable, and cheerfully disposed to engage in trade. 

FIRST AMERICAN VISITORS. 

But after the Louisiana Purchase a marked change began. The fol- 
lowing spring, in 1804, an expedition was fitted out at Government 
expense to explore the Missouri to its source and the far Northwest, 
and to report on the character of the country and the ]iracticability 
and probable value of trade with the Indians. This was headed by 
Capt. Werri wether Lewis and Lieut. Wm. Clark, each afterwards 
Governor of Missouri Territory. They ascended the Missouri to the 
mouth of the Yellowstone, and thence the Jefferson (as they called 
it) as far as it was practicable to go. From there they crossed over 
to the Columbia, which they descended to the Pacific. The expedi- 
tion returned to St. Louis after an absence of more -thai) two years. 
It consisted of 43 men. 



1 " History of the Mississippi Valley." — MoneUe. 
(538) 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 



539 



Their ascent of the Missouri was made partly in boats and partly 
by land. One body had charge of the boats and the other was 
divided into two parties, one traveling on each side of the river. 
This was done as a precaution against danger, and to report the pres- 
ence of Indians, and pass upon the character of the country, etc. 
The members of one of these parties were the first white men now 
known to have ever set foot on Platte county soil.^ Prior to that the 
nearest white settlement was at (Jote Sans Dessein, a small village ot 
French traders in Callaway county.'- The nearest Spanish were at 
Santa Fe, in New Mexico. 

1804-1819. 

From 1804 to 1819, inclusive, numerous settlements were made 
and military posts established up the river. The Indians were still 
here, and although there were never any important Indian wars in the 
country, the presence of the military and of Government agents were 
necessary to prevent possilile outbreaks and protect the early settlers 
and trade. Settlements were made along the river above Loutre 
Island as follows: At Old Franklin in 1807 ; ^ in Saline county in 
1810 ; at Old Chariton and in Cooper county in 1812 ; in Cole and 
Jackson in 1818 ; and in Clay in 1819. 

However, as early as 1808 a Government fort was established as far 
up as Jackson county, located at or near the site of the present town 
of Sibley, and called Ft. Osage. From there traders, hunters and 
others explored all the lower Platte country ; ■* and Mr. Valentine 
Bernard, a pioneer settler of this county, says that " squatters " had 
settled in what 'is now Platte county prior to 1819.^ 

THE STEAMBOAT EXPEDITION. 

In March, 1819, an exploring expedition was projected by the Gov- 
ernment for the Upper Missouri. The object of the expedition was 
to discover how far the Missouri was navigable for steamboats, and to 
explore generally the country along the river. The boats were the 
Johnston under Capt. Colfax, the Expedition under Capt. Craig, and 
the Jefferson under Capt. Offutt. A party of naturalists and scientists 
accompanied them — Profs Say, Jessup, Peale, Seymour, Biddle and 



1 Lewis aud Clark's Expedition of 1804-7. 

2 Ante, p. 25. But Davis' History of Missouri says that this place was not settled 
until about 1808. 

" History of Missouri. — Davis. 
' History of Missouri. — Davis. 
5 Landmark, March 23, 1883. 



540 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

Swift. ^ On the way up numerous traders, adventurers and others 
joined the expedition, and some who were looking for eligible loca- 
tions to settle. Among those of the latter class were Valentine 
Bernard, already referred to, and three companions of his, all after- 
wards early settlers of what is now Platte county.- Smith Calvert, 
also subsequently an early settler, was along — a mere boy then, and 
in the capacity of a cabin boy.' 

However, on the way up, and before Mr. Bernard and his com- 
panions joined the expedition, the Jefferson was wrecked by a snag 
opposite the site of the old town of Cote Sans Dessein. The Johnston 
and Expedition came on, the Johnston ascending nearly to the mouth 
of the Kansas rives and the Expedition to Carr island, opposite the 
site of the present town of latan in this county.* 

But Mr. Bernard and his companions disembarked at Rialto, then 
a small trading post for the whites and Indians, situated just below 
the present town of Weston, where they concluded to locate. 
♦'There," says Mr. Bernard, "we found some French and Ameri- 
cans, who treated us very kindly." ^ 

RIALTO FIRST WHITE SETTLEMENT. 

From the statement of Mr. Bernard, just quoted, it appears that 
Rialto was perhaps the first point at which a white settlement was 
made within what are now the limits of Platte county. The town of 
Rialto, however, was not regularly surveyed or platted until after 
Platte county was. organized.' 

Mr. Bernard's letter on "Reminiscences" presents an interesting 
view of pioneer life at that early day. 

"We lived near Water Springs," he says, " and each year a few 
more settlers were added to our number. Hunting deer, turkeys, 
ducks, geese, snipe, squirrels, etc., and fishing, principally for black 
bass, which abounded, were almost every-day employments. Our 
sugar we manufactured ourselves, making it from the sap of maple 
trees, which were abundant ; and wild honey could be found in almost 
every hollow tree. 

" Each neighbor had his own little crop of corn and other products) 



1 Missouri as It Is In 1867. — Parker. 

' Valentine Bernard in Landmark, March 23, 1883. 

' W. M. Paxton's " Historical Sketch of Platte County," in Landmark. 

' Missouri As It Is in 18G7. — Parker. 

'• Laiidmark, March 23, 1883. 

* For early and general history of Rialto, see Chapter on, "Weston Township." 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 541 

and every one had a mill. Our mills were of the 'Armstrong Patent,' 
and were run by ' elbow grease.' They were simply a piece of sheet- 
iron perforated with small boles and capped lengthwise over a board 
with the rough side out. Though simply constructed, they did fine 
grinding, when properly operated by a spirited, industrious maid, or a 
vigor, masculine arm. 

" Even now, when I think of the rich hot hoe-cakes we used to have, 
with venison and wild honey, and of the good times among the settlers, 
it makes me almost ready to start in search of the fountain of perpetual 
youth which De Soto failed to find, and of a land somewhere in the 
far-off, like the old Platte country was in the days long iigo. To be 
sure, we had to work some, and at pretty hard work, too — clearing, 
grubbing, making rails, plowing among the stumps, and all that; but 
we had many comforts and not a few pleasures, and life seemed to 
flow on as a gentle storm in perpetual sunshine. 

"Ah! those were happy days then, days that to me, alas, will 
never return again. Like the wild flowers that grew on the banks of the 
spring branch, near where I used to live, they have been blighted 
by the frosts of time. And I, too, have fallen into the seer and 
yellow leaf." 

1820-1836.1 

After the steamboat expedition of 1819, the great fertility of the 
Platte country and its many advantages for successful agriculture 
and the support of a prosperous community rapidly became known, 
and but for the fact that it was still the property of the Indians, 
upon which the Government would not knowingly permit white set- 
tlements to be made, it would unquestionably have been settled very 
fast, as it afterwards was — after the Indian title was extinguished. 
As an Indian reservation it was of course forbidden ground to white 
settlers ; and they knew very well what that meant, as the Oklahoma 
settlers do to-day. But, notwithstanding this, not a few adventurous 
spirits ventured in from time to time prior to 1837, to select homes in 
what they had come to regard as the " Land of Promise " — a land 
of wild honey, rich soil and abundant game. 

SECOND CREEK SETTLERS EXPELLED IN 1836. 

The principal, though not the earliest settlement in the county, prior 
to the Platte Purchase, was the one on Second creek in the vicinity of 
Barry. Since about 1823, according to Mr. Valentine Bernard, there 



' Not including the years 1819 and 1837. 



542 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

had beeu quite a settlement on the Chiy county side near Barry, and 
the latter place had become quite a trading post for the Indians in the 
Platte country on the one side and the white settlers on the other in 
Clay. Very naturall^s therefore, the whites occasionally ventured 
across the line and settled on the rich lands of the Indian reserve un- 
til quite a colony of them had collected on this side. 

But in 1836 they were subjected to a rude awakening from their 
dreams of security. The Government authorities issued a peremptory' 
order for them to move out — abandon their claims, farms, houses, 
every thing; and the troops at Ft. Leavenworth followed up the or- 
der by expelling those who were not prompt to go. At that time the 
following, with others, composed the settlement : ^ Nathaniel Boyd- 
ston, H. Vance, Benj. Cornelius, Eph Gillam, Marville Jones, Lean- 
der Jones, Joseph Porter, Jno.Rupe, David Rupe, Robt. Asher, Chas. 
Cook, Solomon Eades, William Asher, Felix Beaucamp, Joseph Todd,^ 
William Woods, William Brown, Robt. Chaner and Arnold Chaner. 
Thi"ee of the settler's houses were burned by the soldiers — those of 
Robt. Asher, Charles Cook and Solomon Eades. 

The treatment these pioneer settlers received was certainly a great 
hardship, not to say outrage, especially when it is considered that in 
less than a year afterwards the country was opened for settlement. 
A little less haste and less officiousness on the part of the authorities, 
under the circumstances, would have been much more becoming in 
them — having already waited as long as they had, and knowing, as 
they did, that negotiations were even then nearly completed for the 
extinguishment of the Indian title to the land. 

OTHER PIONEERS. 

In his letter of August 10, 1835, to the Secretary of the State, 
which is copied in full in the next chapter, Hon. L. F. Linn, then a 
United States Senator from this State, stated that there were between 
200 and 300 families (or from 1,000 to 1,500 people) in the Platte 
reserve, and as is well known, at least nine-tenths of them were in the 
lower part of it, in what are now Platte, Buchanan and Andrew coun- 
ties principally.' All, however, were expelled without favor or cere- 



' List taken in part from statement of Nathaniel Boydston to W. M. Paxton and iu 
part from article of W. M. Paxton in Landmark. 

■ Mr. Todd, however, was afterwards permitted to move down three miles west of 
Platte City where he improved a farm and subsequently resided. 

' This confirms the statement of Mr. Bernard that there was a large number of 
iettlers at that time in what is now Platte county. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 54o 

mony, except a few having contracts with post agents or others con- 
nected with the Government, and an occasional ferryman at ci'ossings 
of steamers on Government trails, who were permitted to remain. 

Of the few who remained under special permits, the names of only 
the following are now recalled: Zadoc Martin and family, at the 
falls of the Platte ; Joseph Todd, near the falls of the Platte ; Rob- 
ei't Cain and family, at or near the crossing of the Missouri, opposite 
Fort Leavenworth; Wilson Williams and family, at the Issue House, 
and William Brown, near the Issue House. 

Among those who were expelled, the names of but few are now ob- 
tainable, aside from those of the Second creek settlement already 
mentioned. Many of them moved away entirely — never returned ; 
and those who did come back after the Purchase was completed, came 
in with the general rush of immigrants, so that their identity has been 
lost — at least to all inquiries thus far made. The names of only Jno. 
Grooms, who lived in the south quarter of what is now the Rixby farm ; 
William Sharp, who came in as the partner of Zadoc Martin, but was 
not joined with Martin in the ferry permit; and Andrew Wilkerson, 
who had located on a piece of land near Rialto, have been obtained. 

THE LIBERTY-FT. LEAVENWORTH TRAIL. 

The trail or road from Liberty to Ft. Leavenworth was opened in 
1828, nearly nine years before the Platte purchase was made. It 
crossed the Platte at the falls, now the site of Platte City, and it was 
to keep the ferry at this crossing that Zadoc Martin was permitted to 
settle here and remain. After Ft. Leavenworth was established (in 
1827), and the trail opened from Liberty to that place by way of the 
Platte Falls, a profitable trade to the settlers of Clay county sprang up 
between them and the authorities at the Fort. The farmers of Clay 
county supplied the troops with nearly all their grain and other farm 
products, and the merchants at Liberty took contracts of the Fort for 
supplies of flour, groceries, provisions, etc., from which they generally 
made good profits. The Platte Falls, being at the crossing of the 
Platte river, where all this trade passed, early became a well known 
point throughout all this part of the country. 

THE APPROACHING CHAKGE. 

Platte county generally, however, was perhaps more of a wilderness 
than it had ever been before — since Lewis and Clark's Expedition 
found it in May, 1804, clothed in the green of its ancient forests, and 



544 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 



with the sileuce unbroken unless by the wild whoop of an Indian, 
the murmui-iug of its streams or the rustling of the leaves stirred by a 
frightened deer or fanned by a morning breeze. Thus the uew year 
1837 found it, a veritable wild, the home of the red man of the 
forest and the abiding place of the deer, the wolf, the panther, the bear. 
But before another year came it had entered upon n change, a 
change mighty in scope, the beginning of which we know but whose 
close no earthly prescience can reckon. 




CHAPTER III. 

THE PLATTE PURCHASE — INDIAN TITLE EXTINGUISHED — 1835- 

1836. 

Preliminary Steps — The Platte Country Correspondence in Reference Thereto — 

Meeting at Liberty, Mo. — Its Object — Memorial — Efforts of Benton and Linn — 

Treaty with the lowas, Sacs and Fox Indians. 

In January, 1835, the Hon. L. F. Linn, then a United States Senator 
from the State of Missouri, addressed H. Ellsworth, Esq., the follow- 
ing letter : — 

Washington, January 23, 1835. 

Sir : It has long been desired by the people of Missouri to have 
annexed to the State that portion of territory lying between her west- 
ern boundary and the great river, Missouri, for the purpose of pre- 
venting the location of an annoying Indian population, and for the 
purpose of having points on the river to receive their supplies and 
ship their productions, within a moderate distance from the homes of 
those inhal)itants residing along that line of the frontier. 

The location of the Pottawatomies, by the treaty of Chicago, on 
this territory, interposes a barrier to the attainment of these objects, 
so important to the welfare and tranquility of the inhabitants of the 
northeastern and western counties. Will you be so good as to furnish 
me your opinion as to the propriety of ratifying that treaty, and the 
danger of collision between the two races, from placing the Indians 
between the white population and the river Missouri. 

Very respectfully, 

L. F. Linn. 

H. Ellsworth, Esq. 

The following is the answer of Mr. Elteworth : — 

Washington, January 27, 1835. 

Sir: Yours of the 23d instant, requesting my opinion as to the 
propriety of ratifying the Chicago treaty, and the danger of collision 
that will probably arise from placing the Indians between the white 
population and the river Missouri, at the northwest section of the 
State, was received this morning. In reply, I hasten to observe that 
the small strip of land lying l)etween the Missouri river and the State 
of Missouri, is, compared with the country lying north of the State 
line, an unfavorable location for the Indian tribes. 

In the fall of 1833 I held a council with the lowas and the little 
band of Sacs and Foxes living on this strip, who complained of the 

(545) 



546 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

great difficulty attending their present situation, on account of the co. - 
tignity and encroachments of white men in the Stat j, and all the ch'cfs 
desired me to make a treaty for their removal to 'and lying north < f 
the State line. Not being authorized to make this treaty, I did not 
attempt it, but have recommended the subject to the favorable consid- 
eration of the Government. 

I have understood that the Pottawatomies are willing to receive other 
land, in equal amount, for that lying soutii of the north line of Mis- 
souri extended. If this can be done I have no doubt it would be 
advantageous to all the parties concerned. The Government would 
realize the value of land, but more especially the Pottawatomies would 
have an excellent location, one far less likely to be interrupted by 
the encroachments of white neighbors. The State of Missouri might 
hereafter be accommodated with a good natural boundarj', several 
excellent water privileges, and additional landings on the navigable 
waters of Missouri for 140 miles. The ratification of the Chic4igo 
treaty will prevent the future disposal of this narrow strip to Mis- 
souri. Hence I conceive it highly important that the Pottawatomies 
should make an exchange of part of the lands embraced within the 
original treaty. It may be pi'oper to state that, from the concurrent 
testimony of all persons residing on the Missouri, as well as from 
a personal view from the opposite side of the river, the location 
of the Pottawatomies north of the land in question will give them 
a rich and fertile tract, equal to that of any tribe already migrated. 

It ought to be noticed that the general expectation that the Chicago 
treat}' would be modified, has emboldened many squattei's to enter 
the lands in question, in hopes of fixing their future residence. I 
have, therefore, no hesitation in giving an opinion as to the expediency 
of altering the Chicago treaty, so as to confine the Pottawatomies 
north of the little strip now wanted by the State of Missouri. 

Having given this opinion, permit me to say that I believe it prac- 
ticable, with little expense or delay, to remove the Indians now on this 
strip of land, and to extinguish any remaining right in the red men for 
hunting or other privileges, and this removal and extinguishment I 
would respectfully recommend before the State jurisdiction is extended 
to the waters of the Missouri. 

• Yours most respectfully, 

Henry Ellsworth. 

Hon. L. F. Linn, Senator. 

At the saitie time the Hon. L. F. Linn wrote to Maj. John Dough- 
erty, Indian agent, for information concerning the geography and 
topography of the country embraced in the " Platte Purchase," and 
in three days thereafter received the following answer : — 

Washington, January 26, 1835. 
Sir: Your communication of the 23d instant, containing certain 
queries touching the slip of land lying between the western boundary 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 547 

line of the State of Missouri and the Missouri river has been I'e- 
ceived. 

I assure you it will afford mo great pleasure to furnish the answers 
called for, and in the order in which you have proposed the ques- 
tions : — 

1st. The length of the strip of land referred to is, on its east line, 
100 miles long ; the west line, following the meanders of the Missouri 
river, is about 150 miles in length, to a point on said river due west 
from the northwest corner of the State, the average breadth being 
al)out 15 miles. 

2d. I feel no hesitation in stating (and this without the fear of con- 
tradiction) that the location of Indians upon this territory would be 
attended with the most ruinous effects ; it would alike be injurious to 
tlie Indians and whites ; take, for example, the lowas, who now 
reside upon the upper end of this strip — they are a poor, drunken, 
mis,eral)le set of beings, dwindling away to nothing, quarreling among 
tliemselves, killing each other, and in constant broils with their white 
neighbors. Those evils would be greatly increased were the Indians 
located all the way down this strip of land, between the white settle- 
ments and the Missouri river to the mouth of the Kansas river, where 
it becomes narrow and the white population more dense. 

3d. The inconvenience of our citizens would be incalculable if those 
along the western line of the State were compelled to transport their 
productions to the mouth of the Kansas river for shipment ; some of 
them residing within eight or ten miles of steamboats passing every dav 
would be obliged to haul everything for market over a new country 
100 miles. 

4th. There is a great deficiency of water power and springs in the 
northern counties of the State of Missouri, whilst the strip of land 
you have reference to abounds with numerous flush running springs 
and creeks, with great falls, well calculated for mills or other water 
works, 

5th. The country north of the State of Missouri, reaching from the 
Mississippi to the Missouri river, and extending north between 400 
and 500 miles, is well timbered, interspersed with line, rich prairies, 
and abounds with numerous large, bold running streams, coming in 
from the highlands between these two great rivers ; in short, the whole 
country is well adapted to agricultural purposes, with a fine climate, 
and exceedingly healthy. 

In repl}' to your Gth question, I deem it snflBcient to refer to the 
answer under the second query. The peace and tranquility of both 
whites and Indians require that this long strip of land should be 
attached to the State of Missouri ; and I can not suppose that any 
gentleman, as well acquainted with its locality as I am, would enter- 
tain a different opinion, or dissent from the views herein expressed. 
With great respect, I haw the honor to be, 
Your obedient servant, 

Jno. Dougherty, 

Hon. L. F. Linn, Senate, U. S. Indian Agent. 



548 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

For some years before the removal of the Indians, the narrow strip 
of land between the western boundar}' of the State and the Missouri 
river began to be settled by white men. So numerous were these 
settlers that the United States Government sent a military force from 
Fort Leavenworth to remove them. What proportion of these daring 
frontiersmen had located in the territory of what is now Buchanan 
county we can not determine, but the number must have been consid- 
erable, as will be seen from the following letter from Hon. L. F. Linn' 
to Hon. John Forsyth, Secretary of State. 

Saint Genevieve, Augu^st 10, 1835. 

Sir : I take the liberty of enclosing you a copy ( perhaps imperfect, 
from having mislaid the original) of a letter dated May 14, to the Sec- 
retary of War, on a subject of much interest to the people of this State. 
To this communication no answer has been received. Mayltaxj'our 
kindness by asking that you will read the letter, and give the subject 
your friendly attention in any way you may deem advisable. I feel that 
there is a propriety in endeavoring to obtain your assistance, knowing 
the state you so long represented in Congress, with such distinguished 
credit, has been greatly annoyed by an Indian population. I hear an 
order has come from the War Department to remove the families who 
have settled on the Indian lands lying between our western boundary 
and the Missouri river, hy military force. 

You know the independent and daring character of our frontier 
population, and knowing, you will easily believe that this step is not 
to be accomplished without violence and much distress, as the families 
are two or three hundred in number. The accompanying diagram will 
at a glance show you wiuit we want, and at the same time the utter 
uselessness of this portion of country for Inditm purposes. 

The long absence of Governor Cass, and multiplicity of business 
since his return, nia^' have caused him to lose sight of my letter. His 
order has caused much sensation in tiie northern part of the State, and 
for the present ought to be suspended. 

Yours truly, 

L. F. Linn. 

Hon. John Forsyth, Secretary of State. 

In the summer of 1835 there was held a regimental militia muster 
at Dale's farm, three miles from the town of Liberty, in Clay county. 
After the morning parade, and duriug the recess for dinner, a mass 
meeting of the citizens present was addressed, among others, by Gen. 
Andrew S. Hughes, who came to Clay from Montgomery county. 
Ivy., in 1828, and who soon afterward was appointed Indian agent 
by President John Quincy Adam's. At this meeting he proposed the 
acquisition of the Platte country, and the measure met with such hearty 
approval that a committee was at once appointed to make an eflbrt to 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 54 !> 

accomplish it. The committee was composed of William T. Wood, 
now judge of the Lexington circuit ; David R. Atchison, ex-United 
States Senator; A. W. Doniphan, a distinguished lawyer and hero of 
the Mexican War ; Peter H. Burnett, afterward one of the Supreme 
Judges of California, and Edward M. Samuel, afterward President of 
the Commercial Bank in St. Louis — all of them at that time residents 
of Clay county. Subsequently an able memorial to Congress was 
drafted by Judge Wood, embracing the facts and considerations in be- 
half of the measure, which, after being signed by the committee, was 
forwarded to the Senators and Representatives at Washington from 
Missouri. 

Following the prayer of this memorial, in 1836, a bill was intro- 
duced in Congress by Thomas H. Benton, and zealously supported by 
his colleague. Senator Linn, whicli provided for the extension of the 
then existing boundary of the State, so as to include the triangle be- 
tween the existing line and the Missouri river, then a part of the 
Indian Territory, now comprising the counties of Atchison, Andrew, 
Buchanan, Holt, Nodaway and Platte. The difficulties to encounter 
were three fold : 1. To make still larggr a State which was already 
one of the largest in the Union. 2. To remove Indians from a posses- 
sion which had just been assigned to them in perpetuity. 3. To alter 
the Missouri Compromise line in relation to slave territory, and thereby 
convert free soil into slave soil. Notwithstanding these difficulties, 
the two first mentioned serious and the last formidable, the act was 
})asscd and the treaties negotiated, and in 1837 the Indians removed 
west of the Missouri river, thus adding to the State a large body of 
the richest land in the world. 

During the fall of 1835, after the meeting held at the regimental 
muster above referred to. Gen. Andrew S. Hughes wrote to Hon. L. 
F. Linn in reference to a treaty with the loways and Sacs of his 
agency. His letter is as follows : — 

lowAY Sub-Agenxy, September 3, 1835. 

Sir: I have written a hasty scrawl to you. It might be well to 
l)ulilish your letter to show to the people what you were doina:. I 
send this to Ste. Genevieve, not exactly knowing where to find you. 
I give you liberty to do just as you may think proper with my letter. 

All letters addressed to me, I wisli directed to the "Elm Grove 
Post-office, Clay County, Missouri." This is most convenient tome. 
When I hear from you I will write again. I desire to see you before 
you go on East. 

A treaty can l)e made with the lowa^'s of my agency and Sacs, with- 
out expense to the Government, or any other unnecessary pomp and 



550 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

parade, as has heretofore been the case. Colonel Dodge could make 
treaty with the Indians as a part of his official duty. They ai-e near 
his post, and I should have no objections to render any assistance that 
might be asked of me. 

Believe me, your sincere friend, 

And. S. Hughes. 
To Hon. Lewis F. Linn. 

THE TREATY. 

The treaty which was negotiated with the Sac and Fox Indians, 
whereby Missouri extended her western boundary line, is as follows : 

Articles of a treaty made and concluded at Fort Leavenworth, on 
the Missouri river, between William Clark, Superintendent of Indian 
Affairs, on the part of the United States, of the one part, and the 
undersigned chiefs, warriors and counselors of the loway tribe, and 
the band of Sacs and Foxes of the Missouri (residing west of the 
State of Missouri) in l)elialf of their respective tribes, of the other 
part. 

Article 1. By the first article of the treaty of Prairie du Chien, 
held the 15th of July, 1830, with the confederated tribes of the Sacs 
and Foxes, loways, Omahaws, Missouris, Ottoes and Sioux, the 
country ceded to the United States by that treaty is to be " assigned 
and allotted, under the President of the United States, to the tribes 
living thereon, or to such other tribes as the President may locate 
thereon for hunting and other purposes." And whereas, it is further 
represented to us, the chiefs, warriors and counselors of the loways 
and Sacs and Fox band aforesaid, to be desiral)Ie that the lands lying 
between the State of Missouri and the Missouri river should be at- 
tached to and become !i part of the said State, and the Indian title 
thereto should be extinguished ; but that, notwithstanding, as these 
lands compose a part of tiiecountiy embraced 1)}' the provision of said 
first article of the treaty aforesaid, the stipulations thereof will be 
sti-ictly observed, until the assent of the Indians interested is given to 
the proposed measure. 

Now we, the chiefs, warriors and counselors of the loways and Mis- 
souri band of Sacs and Foxes, fulh' understanding the subject, and 
well satisfied from the local position of the lands in question that 
the}"^ can never be made availai)le for Indian purjioses, and that an at- 
tempt to place an Indian population on them must inevitably lead to 
collision with the citizens of the United States, and further believing 
that tiie extension of tlie State line in the direction indicated would 
have a happy effect, by presenting a natural l)oundary between the 
whites and the Indians ; -and willing, moreover, to give the United 
States a renewed evidence of our attadiment and friendship, do here- 
by, for ourselves and on behalf of our respective tribes (having 
full power and authority to this effect), forever cede, relinquish and 
quit claim to the United States, all our right, title and interest, of 
whatever nature, in and to the land Iving between the State of Mis- 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 551 

souri !iik1 the Missouri river, and do freely and fully exonerate the 
United States from any guarantee, condition or limitation, expressed 
or implied, under the treaty of Prairie du Chieu aforesaid or other- 
wise, as to tlie entire and ai)solute disposition of the said lands ; fully 
authorizing the United States to do with the same whatever shall seem 
expedient ov necessary. 

As a proof of the continued friendship and liberality of the United 
States towards the lowaj^s and hand of Sacs and Foxes of the Mis- 
souris, and as an evidence of the same entertained for the good will 
manifested by said tribes to the citizens and Government of the 
United States, as evinced in the preceding cession or relinquishment, 
the undersigned, AVilliam Clark, agiees on behalf of the United 
States, to pay as a present to the said loways and band of Sacs and 
Foxes, $7,500 in nione3% the receipt of which they hereby acknowl- 
edge. 

Article 2. As the said tribes of loways and Sacs and Foxes have 
applied for a small piece of land south of the Missouri for a permanent 
home, on which they can settle, and request the assistance of the Gov- 
ernment of the United States to jilace them on the land, in a situation 
at least equal to that they now enjoy on the lands ceded by them ; 
therefore, I, William Clark, Superintendent of the Indian Affairs, do 
further agree on behalf of the United States, to assign to the loway 
tribes and Missouri band of Sacs and Foxes, the small strip of land 
on the south side of the Missouri river, lying l)etween the Kickapoo 
northern boundary line and the Grand Nemaha river, and expending 
from the Missoui'i back and westwardly with the said Kickapoo line 
and the Grand Nemaha, making four hundred sections, to be divided 
between the said loways and Missouri band of Sacs and Foxes, the 
lower half to l)e the Sacs and Foxes, and the up})er half to the loways. 
Article 3. The loways and Missouri band of Sacs and Foxes fur- 
ther agree that they will move and settle on the lands assigned them 
in the above article as soon as arrangements can be made, and the 
undersigned William Clark, in behalf of the United States, agrees 
that, as soon as the above tribes have selected a site for their villages, 
and places for their fields, and moved to them, to erect for the loways 
five comfortable houses ; to enclose and break up for them 200 acres of 
ground; to furnish them with a farmer, blacksmith, schoolmaster and 
interpreter, as long as the President of the United States deems 
proper; to furnish them with such agricultural implements as may be 
necessary, for five years ; to furnish them with rations for one year, 
commencing at the time of their arrival at their new home; to furnish 
them with one ferryboat; to furnish them with 100 cows and calves, 
and five bulls, and 100 stock hogs, when they require them ; to furnish 
them with a mill, and assist in removing them to the extent of 
$500. 

And to erect for the Sacs and Foxes three comfortable houses ; to 
enclose and lireak up for them 200 acres of land; to furnish them with 
a farmer, blacksmith, schoolmaster and interpreter, as long as the 
President of the United States shall deem proper ; to furnish them with 

30 



552 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 



such agricultural implements as may be necessary, for five years ; to fur- 
nisli them with rations for one year, commencing at the time of their ar- 
rival at their new home ; to furnish them with one ferryboat ; to 
furnish them with 100 cows and calves, and five bulls ; 100 stock hogs, 
when they require them ; to furnish them with a mill, and to assist in 
removing them to the extent of $400. 

Article 4. This treaty shall be obligatory on the tribes, parties 
hereto, from and after the date hereof, and on the United States, from 
and after its ratification by the Government thei-eof. 

Done, and signed and sealed at Fort Leavenworth, on the Missouri, 
this 17th day of September, 1836, and of the Independence of the 
United States the sixty-first. 

William Clark, 
Superintendent of Indian Affairs. 



Mo-Hos-CA (or White Cloud), 
Nau-che-ning (or No Heart), 
Wa-che-mo-ne (or the Orator), 
Ne-o-mo-ne (or Raining Cloud), 
Man-o-mo-ne (or Pumpkin), 
CoN-GU (or Plumb), 
Wau-thaw-ca-be-ciiu (one that 
eats rats). 



Ne-wan-thaw-chu (Hair Shed- 

der), 
Man-haw-ka (Bunch of Arrows), 
Cha-tau-the-ne (Big Bull), 
Cha-tea-thau (Buflalo Bull, 
Cha-ta-ha-ra-wa-ke (Foreign 

Bull). 



SACS AND FOXES. 



Ca-ha-qda (Red Fox), 
Pe-shaw-ca (Bear), 
Pe-cau-ma (Deer), 
Ne-bosh-ca-na (Wolf), 
Ne-squi-in-a (Deer), 
Ne-8AAV-au-qua ( Bear ) , 
QuA-co-ousr-si (Wolf), 
SuQuiL-LA (Deer), 



As-ke-pa-ke-ka-as-a (Green Lake), 



Wa-pa-se (Swan), 
No-cha-tau-wa-ta-sa (Star), 
Can-ca-car-mack (Rock Bass), 
Sea-sa-ho (Sturgeon), 
Pe-a-chim-a-car-mack (Bald Headed 

Eagle), 
Pe-a-chim-a-car-mack, Jr., (Bald 

Headed Eagle). 



S. W. Kearny, 
Jno. Dougherty, 
A. S. Hughes, 
Geo. R. H. Clark, 
William Duncan, 
Jos. V. Hamilton, 



witnesses. 

H. RoBiDoux, Jr., 
William Bowman, 
Jeffry Dorion, 
Peter Constine, 
Jacques Mette, 
Louis M. Davidson. 



CHAPTER IV. 

EAELIER PERMANENT SETTLEMENTS AND IMPROVEMENTS — 

1837-1840. 

The Rush of Immigrauts — Causes, Etc. — Appearance and Condition of the Country — 
The Work of the Early Settlers — Their Diversions — House-Kaisiugs — Tlie Class 
of People — Early Private Surveys — The Pre-emption_Law — Pioneer Mills — Early 
Tovens — Rialto, Platte City, Newmarket, Weston, Eidgely, Farley, Barry, latan — 
List of Early Settlers. 

THE RUSH OF IMMIGRANTS. 

In the entire history of the settlement of Missouri there has never 
been anything compared to the rapidity with wiiich Platte county was 
settled immediately following the ratification in February, 1837, of 
the treaty known as the Platte Purchase.' When the previous year 
closed there were perhaps not a dozen white men in the territory now 
included in this county, for the few who had previously come in had 
either moved out or been expelled by the authorities. But before the 
close of the year there was a settler in nearly every available quarter 
section of land in the county, and on some there were two or more. 
Each settler was almost invariably the head of a family, so that each 
one represented an average of about five persons. At that time the 
entire State had at the rate of only about four and a half inhabi- 
tants to the square mile, whereas tliis county had more than 20, or 
within less than a third of as many per square mile as there are in the 
State to-day. 

Various causes contributed to bring about this remarkable result. 
Among the chief of these was unquestional)ly'the great fertility of the 
soil. It is well known to those qualified to judge and who have given 
the subject any attention that Platte county is situated in the finest 
agricultural section of the State.' Nor is this county surpassed, if in- 



1 Platte was settled ranch faster even than Buclianau, or any of the counties of the 
Platte Purchase. 

- Prof. G. C. Broadhead, the State geolof;ist of Missouri, gives the following as the 
boundary of the best fanning lands in the State : " The lands west of a line entering 
the State in the northwest part of Vernon county, and passing thence north and east 
through the western parts of Bates, thence eastwardly through the southern part of 
Cass, thence northeasterly to the central part of Johnson, northeasterly again to the 
southeastern part of Lafayette, thence through the southern portion of Saline, thence 

(553) 



554 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

deed it is equaled, by any of the others in this fertile region. Statis- 
tics have repeatedly shown that it exceeds all of them in fertility. 
Hemp lands are generally conceded to be the best lands we have for 
arming purposes. At one time Platte county produced more hemp 
than any other equal area of country on the globe. It was by fiir the 
largest hemp producing county in the United States.^ 

Another cause that contributed to the rapid settlement of the county 
was its situation on the western border of the State, and on the river. 
Thus it had all the advantages for trade with the Indians throughout 
the almost illimitable territory beyond and with New Mexico and Salt 
Lake, and as a base of supplies for the troops and the Indian agencies 
of the West. Many of the new comers here grew rich or well-to-do 
in this trade in a few years. 

Again, the county had been an Indian reserve for along time — ever 
since the commencement of American settlements on the Missouri, in 
fact ; and already population had pushed up to its very border, and 
had long been impatient to enter. Lands off of the rivers were not 
considered of much value for want of transportation facilities ; and 
nearly all the choice river lands already open had been taken. Clay 
had become one of the most populous counties in the State, and, as 
population pushed on West, and not being able to cross the "dead 
line" of the Indian reserve, immigration was very naturally deflected 
northward up into Clinton and even into DeKalb counties, although off 
of the river. 

But to the farmers up there it seemed a great hardship to have to 
haul all their market products, and drive their stock down to Clay 
county to reach the river for shipment, 75 or 100 miles, when, but 
for the Indian reserve, they could take them directly across to the 
river, not less than one-third the distance by the other route ; or what 
was immeasurably better, and what they really wanted to do, move 
across into the river lands themselves. 

It is, therefore, not surprising that when, in February, 1837, the 
news came to the settlers along the border of the reserve that the Pur- 
ciiase had been appi'oved by all concerned, and duly ratified, and 
that the gates were open wide for all to enter who chose — it is not sur- 
prising that the news of this was received with the most unbounded 
manifestations of delight. Bonfires were lighted, speeches made and 



westwardly to the vicinity of Salisbury, in Chariton county, tlience a little west of 
nortli to the northern boundary of the State in Mercer county. — Geological Surveys 
of Missouri, 1873-74, pp. 40-1-2. 

1 United States Census of 1860. , 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 555 

general jubilees held. For the time, at least, it seemed that the year 
of jubilee had conie sure enough.' 

Even within a day or two after the receipt of the news immigrants 
began to move into the new country by hundreds. They came both 
from east of the west line of the reserve and in along the river front; 
but most of them were from Clay county. Great rivalry was shown 
among them, each trying to get in before the others, in order to locate 
on the best lands. But in this respect those from Clay county had 
decidedly the advantage. Many of the Clay immigrants had lived near 
the Purchase for years, and not a few had already selected sites on 
which to settle. 

Within two years from the time the reserve was declared open, prob- 
ably not less than 4,500 immigrants settled within the present limits 
of Platte county ; this large number, notwithstanding no survey had 
been made, and no other means provided, until 1838, of securing them 
in the possession of, or right to their lands. Indeed, the assessment 
list for personal property, made in the spring of 1839 — the names 
in which are given at the close of this chapter as a matter of interest 
to their families and descendants — indicates that there were even 
more here then than the number at which we have placed thera. 

APPEARANCE AND CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY. 

The first settlers after the purchase found the country a verital)le 
wild, although civilization had been on its eastern border for years. 
The woods (and four-fiTths of the county were timbered lands, were 



' Mr. Arnold Chance, an old and respected citizen of the county, says that he, with 
others, was at Barry when the uews came. Peter Burnett, then a lawyer of Liberty, 
but afterwards Governor of California, brought the news from Liberty. " The first 
intimation we had of it," says Mr. Chance, " was the appearance of Peter Burnett 
galloping into town from Liberty, swinging his hat and yelling like a wild Indian. We 
barely let him stop to tell us what was the matter when we all repaired to the ' gro- 
cery ' and knocked a spigot out without taking time to count the cost. Merrily the 
flowing bowl (only it was a gourd) went round. I tell you, if ever there was a happy 
crowd in the world, ours was one. Just then, as it so happened, a good honest- 
hearted old minister of the Gospel hove in sight, trotting leisurely down the road 
on a one-eyed clay-bank mare, and under an ancient and clerical-looking stove- 
pipe hat, one that his grandfather had worn on the mountain circuit of East Tennessee, 
in 1788. In a minute or two more he was in reach of us, and then — poor lad! Our 
good brother never wore that hat again. (We were young then, and bad boys.) In 
our hilariousness we took him and brought him into the grocery and set him across a 
barrel. • * * He was a good-natured old soul, and was as glad of the news as 
we were, — and, to tell the truth, he rather seemed to enjoy the gourd. Preachers 
were not as ' finicy' then as they are now, any way. * * * More than one hat went 
up, like the Hebrew children, on that occasion, I tell you." 



556 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

covered with nettles and wild pea vines, and quaint looking paraquets, 
in their green and yellow plumage, flitted about the boughs of trees 
everywhere. By day and by night the melancholy bark of the wolf, 
joined at night by the lonely hoot of the owl, afforded only an addi- 
tional proof, if any were necessary, that this was, indeed, a primitive 
wilderness. Deer, turkeys, game of all kinds, abounded, including 
a few bears ; ' and it had been near civilized man sufficiently long for 
the busy bee, too, to have improved his shining hours. It was 
not an uncommon thing for a good bee hunter to find from 
five to ten bee trees in a single day.- Squirrels had also begun 
to ari'ive, and there was mast for stock in abundance, and to spare. 
Hogs fatted themselves, and stock of all kinds were generally 
in good condition when winter began ; snakes,' particularly the timber 
rattlesnake and the silent, deadly copperhead, were numerous, and 
«< varments " * frequented every barnyard. 

THE CHANGE WORK AND EXPERIENCES OF THE EARLIEST SETTLERS. 

But after the gates were opened to settlers the condition and appear- 
ance of the country were soon changed. Houses were built, forests 
cleared away, fields opened, roads established, church buildings 
erected, towns located, mills constructed, and all the busy machinery 
of civilized life put in motion.^ The deer, the Indian, the wolf — 
each before a decade had passed, disappeared to be seen no more. 

The work of the early settlei'S was of course hard, and their com- 
forts, according to what we would perhaps regard as comforts, were 
few. But those hardy, courageous frontiersmen were doubtless as 
well satisfied with life as we are, and possibly much happier ; certainly 
so, if the pleasure with which the few of them who are still left to be 
with us, dwell upon the scenes and experiences of their early years 
be taken as evidence of the fact. 



1 Joseph Todd, already referred to, is said to have liilled as many as eight bears. 

' Arnold Chance. 

' Some remarkable snake stories are told by the descendants of the early settlers 
from whom, they allege, they received them ; but we can not repeat them here, not that 
they would not do to read or are not perhaps true, but that it is sometimes better for 
one's reputation for veracity not to tell even the whole truth when it is so remarkable 
as to be unreasonable, and there is no necessity for telling it : ttim silentium sapientia 
est. 

♦Though tabooed as vulgar, it is a better expression than "small predatory wild 
animals." 

*The first houses were almost without exception built of logs. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 557 



THEIR DIVERSIONS. 

But they were not without some sources of genuine sport. Here 
were their opportunities for hunting — the country full of game of 
the finest kinds; and then the " alectoniverous" but sly and watchful 
fox was here, too. Many a fine chase these old pioneers of the county 
had when they were young. With hunting, fishing, bee-coursing, fox- 
chasing, attending the elections and Fourth-of-July celebrations, going 
to church on Sundays (at a neighl)or's house or in a groTe) and to 
house-raisings on " week days," visiting each other, and sometimes 
some of the younger ones, without the fear of the Lord properly 
before their eyes, attending dances and even horse-races over at the 
nearest town or store — with all these diversions to occupy their leisure, 
life was by no means a monotonous routine of hard work and rest or 
recreation. 

HOUSE-RAISINGS. 

Then their house-raisings were a source of almost as much pleasure 
and pasttime as of neighborly kindness and help. On occasions of 
that kind they met — neighbors for miles around — and were not long 
in putting up a fellow-neighbor's house. Then followed a big dinner, 
an abundance of good, toothsome substantial, and, if the whole truth 
must be told, sometimes a little " dthrop o'th'cradthur" to help along 
digestion and stimulate a generous flow of soul ; then they talked over 
their' experiences since they last met, discussed their farm affairs, 
parried jokes with each other and spun " yarns" almost without limit. 
Many a laugh waked the echos at some capital story of a hunting 
expedition and angling experience or sometiiing of the kind. It is not 
those who live in the greatest ease and luxury that enjoy life the best 
or are the happiest. 

HOSPITALITY OF THEIR HOMES. 

Tiien, too, there was the hospitality of tlieir homes — a source of 
the greatest pleasure. Friends visited each other much more then 
than tliey do now — lived less apparently for self, and were less lost to 
others, less absorbed with the pursuit of the almighty dollar, regard- 
less of anything else. It was a common thing for neighbors and entire 
families to visit each other, spending the day in social, pleasant con- 
versation and always enjoying an excellent, alnindant meal prepared 
especially for the occasion. To be inhospitable, or what was called 
"mean," was to be considered little less than a criminal. At every 



558 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

man's door, to use a trite but expressive figure, it was expected that 
the latch string was alwajs on the outside, so that all who chose could 
enter and welcome. And even for entertaining strangers, traveling 
through the country, no one thought any more of chai'ging them than 
he thought of robbing them. Such was the old time hospitality of 
near half a century ago.^ No more generous, great-hearted people 
lived in those days — kind, friendly and neighborly — than the early 
settlers of Platte county. 

THE CLASS OF PEOPLE THEY WERE. 

Moreover, as a class, they were a people of intelligence and sterl- 
ing character, thoroughly honest and honoral)le, and distinctively 
brave and unselfish. Many of them were the descendants and repre- 
sentatives of some of the oldest and best families of Kentucky and 
Virginia, and the other Southern States ; and not a few were men of 
education and information. Conservative, substantial and of sober 
worth, the early settlers of this county founded a community that has 
ever compared with credit in intelligence and character with those of 
the best counties in the State. 

EARLY PRIVATE 80RVEYS THE PRE-EMPTION LAW. 

Among the early settlers here, before the Government surveys were 
made, it was a sort of common law that each was to have the right to 
160 acres when he settled, and that no subsequent claim should be 
permitted to interfere with a farmer once duly located. In this way 
conflicts of claims and consequent ill-feeling were almost entirely pre- 
vented. Some, however, anxious to know where their lines would 
run when the regular survey should be made, secured private survey- 
ors to run them. In cases of this kind established points on the Clay 
county line were taken as a base, and the true lines were determined 
with reasonable accuracy. The principal surveyors who did the work, 
if indeed not the only ones, were Maj. James Brasfield and Judge 
Solomon Leonard, both thorough practical surveyors. They did it, 
however, not as a nnitter of business or profit, but simply for the 
accommodation of their neighbors. Nothing was ever charged or ac- 



1 Says Colton: A not fully advauced state of society, equally removed from the ex- 
tremes of barbarity and of retluement, seems to be that particular meridian under 
which all the reciprocities and gratuities of hospitality do most readily flourish and 
abound. For it so happens that the ease, the luxury and the abundance of the highest 
state of civilization are as productive of selfishness as the difficulties, the privations 
and the sterilities of the lowest. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 559 

ceptecl bv them for their services. This fact also remiuds us that 
those were early days. But in 1838 the pre-emption law enabled set- 
tlers to make regular pre-emptions on their claims, and the following 
year Government surve3's were begun. The land oiBce, however, at 
which they were permitted to make their proofs and complete their 
entries, was not established until 1844. It was located at Plattsburg, 
in Clinton county. Prior to that but little controversy occurred 
among claimants. 

PIONEER MILLS. 

The white pioneer, wherever he penetrates, soon sees to it that 
mills are provided for making breadstuffs and manufacturing lumber. 

Zadoc Martin built the first mill in the county in 1836-37. It was 
at the falls of the Platte, and was a water mill. When first built it 
was provided with only buhrs for grinding corn, but buhrs for flour 
were put in soon afterwards. Numerous anecdotes are told of Martin 
and his mill, but recitals of them belong more properly to town and 
personal history. 

The next grist mill, after Martin's, was Hughes' mill, built in about 
1839. It was on Bee creek, some five miles north of Platte City, and 
was also a water mill. Judge Hughes, the builder and owner, was 
from Virginia, and was afterwards judge of the county court and a 
worthy citizen of the county. 

Then in about 1840, some three miles below Ft. Leavenworth, in 
the river bottom, Sutton's mill was built. It was an old-fashioned 
horse mill. 

About the same time the Parkville mill was put up, and at once 
secured a large patronage from the settlers throughout the south- 
eastern part of the county. 

After this came John Britz's mill, a water power mill, built on the 
Platte, near the Buchanan county line. 

The last of the earlier grain mills erected in the county was the 
Estell mill, sixteen miles northeast of Platte City, though this one 
hardly comes within the period of time allotted to the present chapter. 
It was built early in the " Forties," and was one ofthe leading mills, 
if indeed not the most important one in Western Missouri in that 
early day. 

With all these, and Smith's mill at the mouth of Second creek, just 
over the line in Clay county, the early settlers were not illy provided 
with milling facilities. 

The first saw mill in the county was put up by Nelson P. Owens. 
It was at Weston, and was also the first steam mill in the county. It 



560 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

was built as early as 1838. Other saw mills (circular saw) followed 
this one, but not for several years, and one of the difficulties the early 
settlers had to contend against was the scarcity of lumber. However, 
one or two of the grain mills mentioned above were fitted up with 
sash-saws. But these were by no means adequate to the needs of the 
country.^ 

EARLY TOWNS. 

For a time the nearest trading points for the early settlers, except 
at a few small stores, were Liberty and Leavenworth, which had eveu 
then grown to considerable importance, especially Liberty. But in a 
few years respectable towns were built in the county; and Weston, 
particularly, grew with wonderful rapidity. 

The following were the earlier towns of the county : ^ 

Rialto. — Formerly situated on the Missouri river just below Wes- 
ton, Rialto was once known as Penseno's Landing and is believed to 
have been the site of the first white settlempnt on the Missouri above 
the old French fort, Ft. New Orleans. It was not platted as a town 
until 1840 when Henry Underhole had it regularly divided into town 
lots and registered. Weston soon eclipsed it, however, and it failed 
to reach even a neighborhood importance as a trading point. There 
is no post-office there now and there has been none for years. 

Platte City. — Formerly known as Martinsville, Platte City was 
first settled in 1828, or rather at that time Zadoc Martin became the 
first white settler on the site of Martinsville, now a part of Platte 
City. Before even Martinsville had a name the site of the place was 
known as the Platte Falls and Martin was licensed to keep the ferry 
on the river at this point, by the authorities at Ft. Leavenworth or 
Liberty. By the Legislature Platte Falls was named in the act 
providing for the organization of the county as " the temporary seat 
of justice of Platte county/' and afterwards it was selected as the 
permanent county seat. Platte City was platted and registered by the 
county authorities in 1839, and was at that time given its present 
name. At first it had a rai)id growth, but later along its progress was 
and has continued more gradual and at the same time more substan- 
tial. 

Neio Market. — This place is situated in section 11, township 54, 
and range 35, about nine miles nearly due north of Platte City and in 
the northwestern part of Green township. It was one of the first 



1 For more complete sketches of these towns and the mills of the county, see the 
different township chaptert, further along. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 561 

towns established iu the county and was formerly known as Jackson- 
ville. John Adamson settled on the site of the place in 1830 and sub- 
divided it into town lots about the same time. On account of there 
being another place in the State by the name of Jacksonville, its name 
was changed to New Market by which it was registered in 1839. 

Weston. — The business metropolis of the county, Weston was also 
at one time the commercial metropolis of all Western Missouri and 
West to the Rocky mountains. The land on which it stands was first 
selected for a town site in the tall of 1837 by Joseph Moore, an ex- 
soldier from Ft. Leavenworth. The first house erected was Ijy 
Sashel Fugett. It is situated on the Misso\iri river in the contiguous 
corners of sections 11, 12, 13 and 14, of township 53, range 36, in 
AVeston township. The plat of the town was registered and recorded 
in 1839. 

Ridgdy. — The first settlers on the site of the present town of 
Eidgely were Christopher Black, Preston Akers, Samuel Phillips and 
Theoderick Fitzgerald. They filed the plat of the town in 1839, and 
it soon became a center of business in the mercantile line for the sur- 
rounding country. It is still a prosperous village. It is situated in 
the contiguous corners of sections 29, 30, 31 and 32, of township 54, 
range 33, in the municipal township of Preston, about 12 miles north 
east of Platte City. 

ParhviUe. — The site of this place was pre-empted by David and 
Stephen English in 1837. Afterwards they sold to Geo. S. Park, 
who founded the town of Parkville and became one of the most pub- 
lic-spirited citizens of the county. 

Farley. — This place, located in the southeastern part of the 
county, was settled as early as 1838. Joseph Farley pre-empted and 
entered the land, which included the present site of the town, and 
afterwards Farley was laid off as a town and platted. It has never 
attained to any importance, however, as a trade center, its principal 
business being confined to the neighborhood surrounding it. It is 
located on the line between sections 28 and 29, in township 52, range 
35. It is in the municipal townsiiip of Lee, about a mile northeast 
of the Kansas City, St. Joe and Council Bluffs Railway, and a little 
more than iialf a mile west of the Platte river. 

Barry. — Situated on the line between Platte and Clay counties, 
Barry, as soon as this county was opened for settlement, became vir- 
tually a Platte county town, and, in fact, the same year houses were 
built on this side of the county line. It was settled long prior to the 
Platte Purchase, and, as we have noted on a former page, was a 



562 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

trading post for the whites and Indians on either side of the line 
respectively. It is one of the oldest towns in this part of the State* 

latan. — John Dougherty located the town of latan about the time 
of the first white settlements in the county. J. O. Abbott and others 
settled there and in that vicinity soon afterwards, in 1837. latan is 
still a local trading point for the extreme northwestern part of the 
county. 

John Dougherty, the founder of the place, was a man of a romantic 
career. He left home at the age of 15 and made his home among the 
Indians, with whom he lived for many years. Strange as it may ap- 
pear, he became a man of fair education, and served for a long time 
as Indian agent for the Government. He was always popular with 
the Indians, who looked upon him as their real friend, which he un- 
questionably was. The artist, Catlin, made an oil portrait of Maj. 
Dougherty to accompany the former's fine gallery of oil paintings 
(300 life-size portraits) of noted and representative Indians. 

LIST OF EARLY SETTLERS. 

The following is a copy of the assessment roll of personal property 
already referred to : — 

James A. Anthony, Cromwell Ashby, Samuel Ausbin, David Allen, 
Solomon Allen, Isaac Allen, Jeremiah Atkins, Samuel Adamson, 
Thos. Adams, Levi Adamson, Joseph Alfry, Thomas Attei'bury, James 
Atterbury, Larken Adamson, R. Allen, Allen Ashley, Reuben Arnold, 
Thomas M. Aull, Isaac Archer, Jesse R. Allen, Robert Anderson, 
Samuel Allen, Thomas Allen, Jacob Anderson, William Anderson, 
Joel Albright, William B. Allnian, Starling Ashworth, David D. 
Ashvvorth, Bethel Allen, Moses Allen, James Arter, Joseph Atkins, 
David Anderson, James Anderson, John Artman, .lolin Allen, Will- 
iam Asher, Williamson Atteri)urv, Jacob Adamson, George AV. 
Anderson, W. B. Aldman, Manasseh Beth, James Bird, Bane Baldon, 
William Bane, Milton Brown, John Bryant, D. G. Beauchamp, Isaac 
Blanton, Martin Baldwin, M. Bryam, Henry Bradley, John B. 
Bounds, Joseph Baker, Henry Butts, William Bell, Edward Bedford, 
Martin T. Berry, Jackson Butts, Henry F. Burk, Joseph Britian, 
Lewis W. Bell, William Baley, Caleb Baley, Philip Bolwar, Wesley 
Baker, C^yrus Barnes, Sidno}' Brooks, Perry Bales, Sampson Butler, 
Lossen Baker, David Bell, Thomas Beagle, James Beagle, William 
Beagle, Henry Brail, Green H. Barnes, R. P. Beauchamp, Randal 
Baber, David Biown, John Baber, Ishani Baber, David Bruton, 
Sr., John Belieur, Micajah Belieur, J. Barnes, Heiu'y Boilston, John 
Burge, Nathaniel Boydston, Thos. Boydston, John Bywaters, J. Blak- 
ley, James Brown, HughBrown, Nancy Baits, Jackson Baits, Antlrow 
Baker, John R. Buchanan, John Brown, Calvin Brown, Harrison 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 563 

Brown, G. W. Buniett, James Brooks, Gotham Brown, John Bigham, 
James W. Bigham, Elisha Barnes, Wm. Best, D. Best, M. Barnes, 
FeUxG. Bush, Eliam Brown, Abner Bayarth, J. Bane, C. Bennett, D. 
Bohuul, Benj. Boland, Ezekial Bhmton, H. Barker, William D. Bullard, 
W. Bennett, L. Burnes, E. Barker, J. Barker, Wm. Bennett, Micajah 
Brown, John Brink, Martin Butt', Carr Baley, Michael Bird, Samuel 
Brown, John E. Brown, Jordan Baber, AVilliam Bird, Andrew Brown, 
Stephen Bedwell, Richard Bickerstaff, Thomas Blakenship, William 
Banta, Sylvester Blakenship, James Butler, William Butler, Isaac 
Burnes, Abram Burton, James Brasfield, Willis Bledsoe, James H. 
Berry, Moses Boydston, Addison Bruton, L. F. Brown, William 
Brown, Sr., AVilliam Brown, Jr., Archibald Brown, Sarchel C. Bawn, 
Adam Brown, Gray B. Brown, B. C. Brown, Stephen Beauchamp, 
Squire Babcock, Joel Blanton, John Bowlwar, William Borden, David 
Borden, Adam Christison, Andrew Campbell, Daniel Clarey, Daniel 
Carey, Berry Garwood, James Canter, James Colemau, Gabriel Clark, 
Eli Casey, John B. Collier, Beaufort Carpenter, Matthias Cline, Abra- 
haui Cline, Joseph Cox, William Chance, L. B. Church, Allen Crook, 
John P. Kincaid, Archibald Campbell, Jacob Cox, James Cox, Will- 
iam Cox, William Clay, Abraham Collett, Johnson Clay, Beery Creek, 
George W. Cannon, Joseph T. Cannon, W. M. Carter, Lacy Carter, 
AVilev Cooper, Henry Cooper, Eobert Cain, David Carson, Joseph 
W. Cox, Rev. James, W. Cox, Waketield Cox, Washington Camp- 
bell, Willis Cartwright, Jas. Cartwright, Isaac Cartwright, Sam. Can- 
non, Jonathan Carpenter, Jas. Collins, Alex. Cannon,:Patrick Cooper, 
Jno. Cooper, Robt. Cooper, Jno. H. Downing, Elias Davis, William- 
son Donalson, Truman Day, Thos. Dye, FlemmondsDrummons, Bart- 
lett Dean, Abner Dean, Francis Dean, Ed. P. Duncan, Fred. Dean, 
Wm. A. Dunn, L. L. Draper, Daurbin Donell, Jas. Dyer, Jno. Dyer, 
Williamson Duncan, Davis Duncan, Thos. Duncan, Xury Duncan, Jas. 
Dcrland, Wade Davis, Madison Draicc, Jackson Draice, Jno. S. Davis, 
John Deacon, G. P. Dorriss, William Dutl, Washington Dyer, Joseph 
Davis, James M. Davis, James Dougherty, James Duncan, John Dun- 
igan, George Dylo, Preston Dunlap, Allen Davis, Benjamin Davis, 
Lott Drummons, Robert Davis, Archibald Elliott, Thomas Edwards, 
Elisha J. Edwards, Isaac M. C. Ellis, Thomas F. Ellis, John Elliott, 
Thomas J. Easbonn, Benj;imin F. English, Robert T. Evans, Thomas 
11. Evans, John H. Evans, John Eldridge, John Eaton, Joseph Elder, 
Doctor Ellis, William Ellington, Isaac Eads, Jesse Eads, Solomon 
Kads, Moses Eads, Charles Early, W. M. English, James Flannery, 
Sr., William Fox, John F. Fry, James Fulkerson, Mathias 
Frickle, Jacob Foreman, George Funderlmrk, Washington Funder- 
burk, George W. Ford, Levi Fowler, Elisha Francis, George Fergu- 
son, Nceley Frame, Sashel Fugett, John M. Foris, Ezekiel Fugett, 
John W. Faris, William Fulton, James Fox, William A. Fox, Samuel 
Finlc3% Allen Furgerson, Andrew Foster, Beniamin Fields, Levi 
Fields, Thomas Fields, Hiram Ferrel, Thomas Farmer, Ansom Far- 
mer, M. D. Faylor, Ambrose Foster, Absalom Fickle,. John Fleming, 
David Fleming, Samuel Ford, William M. Fox, Jesse Fleming, James 



564 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUXTT. 

Flannery, Jr., Abner Fickle, Jesse Gibson, James Gibson, William 
•Gibson, Alve}' Graves, Philip E. Gill, Jesse Gillum, Riley Gregg, 
Jacob Guycr, John Greene, John Gillam, Robert P. GilUun, David 
Gladden, Harmon Glasscock, John K. Gvle, A. Gordon, lasac 
W. Gibson, Stephen Gibbs, Daniel Grober, Elisha Green, Jack- 
son Gann, Caswell R. Gra}', David Gregg, James H. Grib- 
ble, Benjamin Green, George W. Gason, Charles Gray, 
James Gray, Silas Glenn, Gregg Jefferson, James Gregg, 
Henry Gunn, David Giiun, Thornton Gunn, John Grooms, James' 
Griffith, Rebecca Gunn, Andrew Henson, William M. Hayes, John 
Hendricks, John Henderson, Daniel Hunsaker, Isaac Hunsaker, 
Joseph Hunsaker, Atison Hill, Gideon Harson, John Hognight, John 
Herron, Robert Haston, William B. Henson, B. ^I. Hughes, Oruni 
Hulett, Jefferson Harris, Charles Huusi'erford, Anna Hungerford, 
Ben. Holland, Thomas L. Holland, Roliert W. Holland, Nathaniel 
Holland, Derman Henderson, John Henderson, W. B. Hungerford, 
Thomas Harrison, James S. Holeman, Joseph Henderson, Giles Hen- 
derson, Miles Harrington, James Hull, Lyvcster Hunt, William HuU- 
nian, Jacob Hayes, S. C. Hayes, D. R. Hayes, David R. Holt, James 
Hall, Alfred W'. Hughes, David Hunt, Enoch Howard, James Halford, 
John Harris, John Howard, Elisha Hartley, Solomon Hater, Thomas 
Henderson', John Higgins, Jonathan Hiucher, Archibald Hill, George 
Hunter, Adam Hornback, James Hamlin, Henry Hamlin, Peter Hen- 
dricks, David Hamilton, Mathias M. Hughes, Samuel Hoy, Philomen 
Higgins, Jacob Higgins, Josiah Higgins, Jackson Higgins, Jacob 
Hoover, Josiah Harris, William Hardey, James Henshaw, Henry Her, 
Richard Her, William Endicott, Richard B. Endicott, Jacob Her, Will- 
iam Ish, William Jack, Sr., William Jack, Jr., Stephen Johnston, 
Alfred Jack, David Johnston, Jelierson Jones, Lewis Johnson, Benj. 
Johnston, Edward Johnson, Boremore Johnson. David James, Stejihcn 
Jones Thomas E. Jordan, James Jackson, Henry Jones, Barbara 
Johnson Henry James, James C. Jordan, John S. Jordan, L. C. 
Jack, John E. Jackson, William S. Jones, F. B. Jones, John H. 
Johnson, David Jackson, Wallis Jackson, James Jackson, Jr. 
James Johnson, Lewis Jones, Uptiam Jenkins, Moses Jennings, 
Broking JeflVri, Leander Jones, William Kavinaugh, Benj. Kuykendall, 
M. W. Kyle, William Kincaid, Johnson Kimse}', Harvey Kincaid, 
James Kincaid, John F. Kimsey, James Kimsey, Thomas A. Key, 
James C. Kejs James Kave, Benjamin Kimsey, Daniel King, 
Miles Kenton, George P. Kave, John Kimsey, Alois Kimsey, Will- 
iam Little, Caleb P. Lowns, John Lewis, William Lovelady, 
James Lovelady, Sr., Thomas Lovelady, L. L. Leonard, Levi Law- 
ler, James Lynch, Isaac Lynch, Isaac F. Lewis, Richard Linville, 
Adam J. Lucas, Moses Lovelady, Robert F. Logan, Marcus Lips- 
comb, James Lindsay, William Lewis, Sr., Bryan IamvIs, John Lewis, 
Abraham Linville, Jackson W. Lee, John Larker, ^\'illiam Lockhart 
Jesse Lively, John Long, Willis Long, 'J'homas Langley, Isaac Lebo, 
John Lewis, Jesse Lewis, Sloan Lewis, Isaac Lewis, .John Liggett, 
Joseph Lynch, John Lynch, John Linville, Granville Linville, Har- 

y 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 565 

risoii Linvillc, Simon AY. Lcvendy, Joseph Mooiieybam, Irviii 
Moonoyham, William Moouoyliiim, James Mohley, John S. Malott, 
Patton Miir[)hey, Charles Miilliiis, Anthony Mahan, Jesse McCall, 
Jonatiiau Mosiire, Nimrod MeCracken, Isaac Moody, Greenfield 
Matthews, Jesse Moore, Thomas Marchael, Lewis Medlin, Anderson 
McFall, Matthias Maston, Felix G. Mulligan, L. W. McManus, Jon- 
athan Mitchell, John Morin, Charles Mucey, David McColliim, George 
McAfee, John Marsh, John McCarty, W. 8. May, Jesse Morin, Silas 
May, George Martin, Isaac Miller, William McBride, Jacob McKis- 
sick, John Martin, Robert McCracken, Henry Matheney, David McGee, 
James Miller, Jacob Millihaii, \Villiam ^loore, Samuel McGown, 
Anson McCracken, John McConl, Albert W. Mason, William Mc- 
Guire, William Malotte, Abraham Miller, Joseph Martin, Den Med- 
dlin, Thomas McClair, George McClair, James McClair, William 
McClair, Samuel T. Masou, Richard McMahon, James C. McMahon, 
Samuel McAdow, George B. McAdow, Robert B. Mitchell, William 
Manian, John McClair, Woodson Manian, George Mai'tin, John Mil- 
ler, James C. Means, Wesley McCollom, Jackson McCollom, David 
S. McWilliams, Jesse Moras, David M. William, Houston McFarland, 
Joseph Moore, Wm. S. Murphy, John F. McWhitcr, A. J. Markwell, 
J. M. Marchael, Elisha Morgan, Sandy II. Moreland, Alexander Mc- 
Donald, Daniel Moreland, John H. Meador, John McClarey, Thomas 
Malott, Nathaniel Mann, Hugh McCallerty, Samuel McCafferty, Ed- 
waril McFerson, Nicholas McFerson, Benjamin Moncus, William Mar- 
tin, Franklin Martin, Harden Martin, Zadoc Martin, Joseph Martin, 
William McCray, Bright Martin, Frederick Marshall, J. D. Mulligan, 
Jesse Masse, William Masse, Joshua Noland, Hosea Norris, Gal)riel 
Nilson, William Nave, Daniel Night. Abner Norris, James Nichles, C. 
C. Nichles, Isaac Norman, Thomas H. Noble, Nicholas Noland, Obed 
Noland, John Noland, William Newman, Joel Noland, Jonathan 
Owen, Aaron Owen, Timothy O'Keot', E. C. Owen, N. P. Owen, 
John R. Owens, M.N. Owen, J. H. Owen, William O'Vanion, Isham 
Owen, Henry D. Oden, John Packwood, \\'illiam Packwood, W. Pear- 
son, John Pearson, William Praiter, David Poor, William Portice, 
Wm. Peters, Ervin Parrott, Jas. Pennington, Henderson Pinkston, Hai;- 
rison Pinkston, Hezekiah Porter, Enoch Patrick, John Pace, Thomas 
M. Page, Levi Pilkinton, Robert Patton, Daniel K. Parker, James 
Parker, L. M. Pittman, Reuben Pigg, Berry Pitcher, Hiram Pitcher, 
Henry F. Powers, William Pearson, Robert Pearson, Jacob Pitts, 
Foniley Price, Samuel Philips, Wilson Potter, Bentley Potter, Amos 
Riley, Benj. Robertson, R. M. Robertson, Thomas Ring, Henry Ren- 
ick, Riley Ramsey, Daniel Reed, John Ramsey, Abraham Risk, Rob- 
ert Renick, George W. Renick, Mahlon Renick, J. C. Roberson, John 
Ronth, Jeremiah Rose, James Riitledge, David Rutledge, John P. 
Rogers, Charles Robertson, James B. Riggs, William Roberson, James 
Roup, William Roup, Robert Ross, Garrison Reed, John Rummons, 
Alexander Russell, Samuel Ross, John Roup, David Roup, Russell 
Rogers, Sidney Ray, John Rogers, James M. Rogers, Anderson Rog- 
ers, F. M. Randolph, William Rolston, Elijah Shepherd, William 



566 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

Slawu, Benj. Stanton, Bluford Stanton, Jonathan Smith, Jonathan 
Scaggs, Joseph Shannon, William Sharp, Nicholas Sharp, Alfred 
Sanders, George W. Smith, William Shafer, Isaac Stobaugh, James 
Smith, Johir Stilhvell, John Seerr>, John M. Savage, Jonathan Shaw, 
Peter Salor, Joseph Still, William M. Sutton, George Stallcup, James 
Sanders, John C. Statt, Isaac Stoats, Samuel Suruey, Wavmau 
St. Clair, Eli Shepherd, Metcalf Smith, William St. John, 
Job St. John, Zephaniah St. John, John Smith, Abner Smith, 
Jeremiah Stanford, John Sipes, Jeremiah Spratt, James Spratt,- 
George Southard, Reuben Shackleford, Henry Sharp, Dan- 
iel Sharp, George Sharp, John P. Smith, Mrs. Nancy 
Smith, Doctor Smith, James Simpson, Richard Smith, William Simp- 
son, Robert Stone, Thomas K. Simpson, William G. Smith, D. A. 
Sutton, James Simpson, Jonatlian Shepard, James R. Shepard, Bird 
Speerlock, Lewis Scott, Benjamin Smith, Joseph Swanson, Jacob 
Swops, James B. Smith, Gishum Springer, George Springer, P. B. 
Solomon, Samuel Stitt, Absalom Smith, Josiah Thorp, William Tate, 
Joseph Todd, Jr., Nathan Thorn, John B. Terry, Isaac Thomas, 
David Thomas, Joseph Thomas, AVilliam Turnhill, S. B. Taylor, 
John Thornburg, Silas Tribblc, Joseph Todd, Sr., Reuben B. Tilley, 
John Tincher, Daniel Thomas, John Trapp, John M. Tate, Robert 
Todd, William Todd, " Sr." J. Todd, Andrew Tribble, W. Todd, Jr., 
Thomas Turner, Andrew Thompson, John Timberlick, Thomas Taw- 
son, John W. Taylor, Boston Temple, James Thorpe, Terry Trapp, 
Mrs. Lydia Tebbs, Squire B. Thorp, Albert Tipton, John Tipton, 
Jonathan Todd, Dudley Tribble, William Usry, Henry Underbill, 
Wesley Vaughn, Barrel Vaughn, John W. Vineyard, Jesse VineA'ard, 
Joseph Vilatt, David Vauijlin, Benjamin Vanmeter, Thomas M. 
Ward, Charles Wills, W. J.~ Wainwright, Edward Wilcox, Ellis Will- 
iams, J. W. B. Winn, James White, James Wood, Stephen Wills, 
James Wilson, Dalin Williams, David Woody, R. P. Wood, AVilliam 
Walker, James Wills, Martin Warren, William Warren, Elijah Whit- 
ton, J. B. Wilson, James Walters, N. C. Wilson, Harvey White, 
William Wilson, Nathaniel AYice, Joseph Williams, Joseph B. WoUs, 
Dudle}' AVells, Richard AValker, Andrew Welch, Zachariah Warner, 
^iram Waller, Hall L. Wilkerson, Samuel Walker, Jeremiah Wil- 
son, John H. Winston, Joseph Winston, Jacob Yount, Washington 
Yates, John Young, Solomon Yates, Jesse Yocum, William Young, 
Rufus Young, John E. Young, Benjamin Yocum, Joshua Yates, 
Leroy Yates, Abel Yates, Thompson H. Yates, William Yates. 




CHAPTEE V. 

OEGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY, EARLY OFFICIALS, COURTS, 
PROCEEDINGS AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS— 1837-1840 

Platte a Part of Clay — Officials of the Annexed Territory — Election of 1838 — Platte 
County Orgauized — Act of Organization — ^The New County — First County Court — 
Municipal Townships Established — Regular and Adjourned Terms — County 
Boundary Report — First Term of the Circuit Court — First Grand Jury — First 
Attorneys — First Instruments Recorded — Early Marriages. 

PLATTE A PART OF CLAY. 

By act of the Missouri Legislature, approved December. 16, 1836, 
it was provided that in case the General Government approved and 
ratified the treaty, commonly called the Platte Purchase, entered into 
September 17, 1836, by and between the United States and the Sac 
and Fox tribes of Indians, all the territory described in said treaty 
and ceded by said Indians to the United States, lying south of an ex- 
tension of the northern bound;iry line of Clay county due west to the 
Mississippi river, should be attached to said Clay county for all civil 
and militar}' purposes, and become an integral part of the same.' 
This treaty was formally ratified by the General Government Febru- 
ary 17, 1837; and thereupon the lower part of said territory, as 
above descrilicd, at once by operation of law became a part of Clay 
county. 

OFFICIALS OF THE ANNEXED TERRITORY. 

After the annexation of what is now Platte county (or most of it)^ 
to Clay, the county court of that county, as soon as population had 
accumulated in the new territory sufficiently to require it, proceeded 
to appoint justices of the peace and constables for the new portion 
of the county, the following mimed persons I'eceiving the appoint- 
ments : Michael Byrd, Matthias Maston, Peter S. Benton, Jno. B. Col- 
lier, Jas. H. Hord, Hugh McCafferty, Robt. Patton, Peter Crockett, 



1 By the same act all the balance of the Purchase was attached to Clinton county. 

2 When Platte county was surveyed and its boundary lines established in 1839 by 
Matthew M. Hughes, appointed by the Government for that purpose, he found that 
to include not less than the constitutional minimum area of a territory in the county 
it was necessary to place tlie northern boundary line about five miles [north of the 
former exten.slon line of Clay county. 

31 ^567) 



568 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

Charles Wells (Carroll Tp.), Juo. B. Bownds (Marshall Tp.), Robt. 
Stone (Pettis Tp.), Jas. Flaniiery (Carroll Tp.), H. Brooks (Green 
Tp.),I. W. Gibson (Carroll Tp.), William Banta (Preston Tp.), 
'Squire B. Thorp (Pettis Tp.), Henry D. Oden (Preston Tp.), Ar- 
chibald Hill (Preston Tp.), Jno. Stokes (Pettis Tp.), James Feath- 
erston (Preston Tp.), Jacob Smelser (Pettis Tp.), Jno. B.Rogers 
(Green Tp.), William A. Fox (Carroll Tp.), and Daniel Clary (Car- 
roll Tp.). 

These were the first resident civil officers who ever exercised author- 
ity and jurisdiction in the country now comprising Platte county — the 
pioneers of civilized government on the soil of this county, so to speak. 
They continued in office, to grace the ermine and wield the baton of 
the law, until the organization of the county and the election of their 
successors, when those who were not retained by the vote of the peo- 
ple stepped down and out. 

This is the state of man ; To-day he puts forth 
The tender leaves of hope ; to-morrow blossoms, 
And bears his blushing honors thick upon him; 
The third day comes a killing frost; 
And, when he thinks, good easy man, full surely 
His greatness is ripening, — nips his root. 
And then he falls. 

ELECTION OF 1838. 

The rapid settlement of the country after the extinguishment of 
the Indian title, particularly of the lower part of the Purchase, soon 
rendered the organization of one or more counties along the Platte 
a necessity. At the general State election of 1838 this new territory 
for the first time had a voice in the decision of public questions, 
and on the question of pre-eminent importance to the people of the 
Purchase — the organization of county governments — the voters 
were a unit. The candidates for the Legislature on the Democratic 
ticket were elected, namely, James T. V. Thompson and Cornelius 
Gilman for the Senate, and David R. Atchison,' James M. Hughes and 
Jesse Morin for the House, all pledged to support a measure for the 
organization of one or more counties in the Platte Purchase. Col. 
Morin was a resident of what is now Platte county at the time, and 
Gen. Atchison located here — at Platte City — soon afterwards. 



'For whom Atchison, Kansas, was named. Afterwards United States Senator and 
Vice-President; still living, ripe in honors and in years, and a resident of Plattsburg, 
in Clinton county, Mo. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 569 



PLATTE COUNTY ORGANIZED. 

The Legislatiu-e convened November 19, 1838, and promptly a bill 
was bronght forward — as soon as the two houses were oi-ganized 
and ready for work — for the formation of the present counties of 
Platte and Buchanan. With such vigilance and ability was the pas- 
sage of the measure attended to that within six weeks from the first 
day of the session it had become a law, receiving the Governor's 
signature December 31, 1838. 

ACT OF ORGANIZATION. 

Following is the substance of the act, so far as its provisions relate 
to Platte county in any important particular: — 

1. Boundaries. — On the east by the Clay county line, on the south- 
west bv the Missouri river, and on the north l)y a straight line to be 
surve3'ed from the Clay county line to the Missouri river, far enough 
up to include an area in the triangle thus forming the county equal to 
exactly 400 square miles. 

2. Survey. — The Governor authorized and required to appoint 
without d&lay a competent surveyor to run and establish the boundary 
lilies of the county according to the requirements of the act. 

3. S^irveyor. — To begin work within 30 days, and when it is com- 
pleted to report to the Governor and to the county court. 

4. County Court and Sheriff. — The Governor authorized and re- 
quired to ai)i)oint three suitable persons, residents of the county, as 
justices of the county court; and another person of like qualifications 
as sheriff. 

5. Terms of County Court. — Regular terms of the county court to 
be held on the first Mondays of Feliruary, May, August and Decem- 
ber ; but the first term not to be held until the second Monday in 
March next. 

6. County Clerk and Assessor. — The connt\' court to appoint a 
county clerk and county assessor at the first (March) term. 

7. Judicial and Senatorial Districts. — The boundaries of the first 
judicial and twelfth senatorial districts extended so as to include this 
county. 

8. Circuit Clerk. — Judge of tiie circuit court to appoint circuit 
clerk and to hold regular terms of court on tirst Mondays in April, 
August and December. 

9. Tenure of Appointees. — All count}' officers appointed to hold 
until the next general election. 

10. County Seat. — The Platte Falls was made the temporary seat 
of justice for the county, and Samuel Hadloy, of Cla}^ Samuel D. 
Lucas, of Jackson, and John H. Morehead, of Ray counties, ai)pointed 
as commissioners to select a site for the permanent county seat. 



570 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

11. One Representative. — The county was allotted one member of 
the House of Representatives of the State Legislature. 

THE NEW COUNTY. 

On the territory and people of Platte county, as Platte county, the 
sun rose for the first time on the 1st of January, 1839. The county 
had now been established, and only the work of getting the machinery 
of county government, provided by the Legislature, in order and to 
running remained to be done. 

Gov. Boggs promptly complied with the requirements of the act of 
organization, so far as concerned the duties which it devolved upon 
him, and three justices of the county court, a sheriff and a special 
surve3'or to locate and establish the county boundaries were appointed. 
Messrs. John B. Collier, Michael Byrd and Hugh McCafferty were 
appointed the members of the county court, Jones H. Owens was 
appointed the sheriff, and Matthew M. Hughes to survey and estab- 
lish the county boundaries. In due time, after receiving notice of 
their appointments, all qualified as required by law. 

FIRST COUNTY COURT FIRST TERM. 

Under the law the first term of the county court was begun at the 
Falls of the Platte (now Platte City) on the 11th of March, 1839. 
The term lasted for three days, and was held in one of the rooms of 
John B. Fayler's tavern, rented for the purpose, a one and a half 
story double-hewed log house, in the part of Platte City then included 
in the old town of Martinsville. The house, at that time, by all odds, 
the most considerable building of the eight or ten here, had but two 
complete rooms and a hall between, besides the kitchen in the rear 
and two half story rooms above. Nevertheless it was made to serve 
the double purpose of a hotel and court-house. By the records of 
the court we find that by the close of the 8th of May following, Mr. 
Faylcr had received the sum of $15.50, in two payments of $6 and 
$9.50 each, for the use of his room by the court, or had drawn war- 
rants for those amounts. This was not a mean rental, we may go on 
to say, considering the assessments made upon licenses. The first 
license granted was to Jonathan and Nicholas Owen, to keep a grocery, 
on which the State levy was $5. The county court assessed them 
$1. 

However, immediately after assembling, all the judges and the 
sheriff being present, the court proceeded to organize by the election 
of Judge Collier as presiding justice, and the appointment of Hall L. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 571 

Wilkerson as clerk. Some miuor business was transacted and Harri- 
son Liuville was appointed county assessor. At the same time Ira 
M. Norris was appointed treasurer. 

MUNICIPAL TOWNSHIPS ESTABLISHED. 

The county was apportioned by the county coui-t into sixtownships, 
as follows : — ' 

Preston — Beginning in the middle of the main channel of Platte 
river opposite the mouth of Smith's fork, thence up the middle 
of said channel to the count}' line, thence east along the same to the 
northeast corner of the county, thence south along the east line of 
Platte county to the middle of the main channel of Smith's fork, 
thence down and following the course of said channel in the middle 
thereof to the point of beginning. 

C«?'ro/Z— Beginning in the middle of the main channel of Platte 
river opposite the mouth of Smith's fork, thence down along the mid- 
dle of said channel to a point opposite the mouth of Prairie creek, 
thence up said creek to a point where the same is crossed by the me- 
ridian which passes through the middle of John M. Bryant's black- 
smith shop, thence due east to the Garrison road, thence along and 
following the course of said road to the line separating Clay and Platte 
counties, thence north along said line to the middle of the main chan- 
nel of Smith's fork, thence down said channel to tiie point of be- 
ginning. 

Pettis. — Beginning in the middle of the main channel of Platte 
river opposite Prairie creek, thence down the same to the middle of the 
main channel of the Missouri river, thence down and following the 
course of said channel last aforesaid to the southeast corner of Platte 
county, thence north along the line of said county to the Garrison 
road, thence along said road to the place where the same is inter- 
sected by a line running east from a point in Prairie creek, crossed by 
the meridian which passes through the middle of John M. Byrant's 
blacksmith's shop, thence east along said line to said point in Prairie 
creek, thence down the corner to the point of beginning. 

Lee} — Beginning in the main channel of Platte river at Anderson's 
ferry, thence down said channel in the middle thereof to the middle of 
the main channel of the Missouri river, thence up the same to a point 
where the line which separated the attached ]5arts of Clay and Clinton 
counties (when the Platte country was attached to those counties for 
civil and military purposes) terminated, thence east along said line to 
Bee creek, thence down Bee creek to the ford, where the road running 



• All the six townships substantially as the six of the same names now are (Pres- 
ton exactly) except Pettis and Lee. The latter included all of its present territory, 
all of the present township of May and all of Waldron east of the Platte. Lee in- 
cluded all of its present territory, all of Weston and substantially all of Fair. 



572 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

from Moore's antl Thompson's mills to Anderson's ferry crosses the 
same, thence along said road to the point of beginning.' 

Green. — Beginning at the middle of the main channel of Platte 
river at Anderson's ferry, thence np and following the course of said 
channel to the county line, thence west with said line to the road run- 
ning from Penuick's store by Linville's store to Weston, thence down 
said road to the line which separated the attached part of Clay and 
Clinton counties (when the Platte countr}' was attached to these coun- 
ties for civil and military purposes), thence east along said line to 
Bee creek, thence down the same to the ford where the I'oad running 
from Moore's and Thompson's mills to Anderson's ferry crosses the 
same, thence along said road to the point of beginning. 

MarsliaU. — Beginning at a point on the road which runs fi'om 
Pennick's store by Linville's store to Weston, where said road is 
crossed by the county line, thence down said road to the line which 
separated the attached parts of Clay and Clinton counties (when the 
Platte country was attached to said counties for civil and military pur- 
poses), thence west along said line to the middle of the main channel 
of the Missouri river, thence up and following the course of said chan- 
nel to the northwest corner of Phitte county, thence east along the 
line of said county to the point of beginning. 

OTHER PROCEEDINGS AT THE FIRST TERM. 

Peter Crockett, of Preston ; Matthias Maston, of Carroll ; James 
Heard, of Pettis ; Robert Patton, of Lee; William M. Kincaid, of 
Green ; and Samuel S. Mason, of Marshall townships, were appointed 
"distributing justices to lay off" their respective townships into 
convenient road districts. 

Francis Dean, Robert Patton and Isaac Ai'cher were appointed com- 
missioners to view and lay out a county road from Platte Falls 
(Platte City) to New Market. John Pace, William Arsary and Jacob 
Adamson were appointed to lay out a road from New Market to 
Weston. 

Isaac McEUis was granted a license to keep a ferry across the Mis- 
souri river between the Platte county side and Kickapoo village, on the 
opposite side, and the rates of toll were fixed. 

Letters of administration were granted to Jeremiah Spratt on the 



' Weston tovvnship was established May 16, 1840, of territory taken from Lee, as 
follows : — 

Beginniufi in the middle of the main channel of the Missouri river opposite the 
mouth of Bee creek, thence north to the mouth of said creek, thence up and following 
the course of said creek to the point where the line separating the attached parts of 
Clay and Clinton counties (when the Platte country was attached to these counties for 
civil and military purposes) crossed the same, thence due west to the middle of the 
main channel of the Missouri river, thence down the same to the point of beginning. 
This was substantially as it now is. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 573 

estate of John Hensley, aud Bethel Allen was appointed guardian of 
the persons and estates of Telitha and Polly Allen, minor children of 
Samson Allen, deceased. 

Edward Wilcox was appointed constable of Carroll township, and 
after granting several merchants' and grocers' (dramshop-keepers') 
licenses court adjourned for the term on the 13th of March, 1839, to 
meet again April 1st following. 

ADJOURNED APRIL AND REGULAR MAY TERMS. 

The " adjourned " April term lasted but one day and no business of 
general interest was transacted. Its work was confined principally to 
probate business, granting merchants', grocers' and ferrymen's li- 
censes, appointing a commission or two of viewers to lay out roads 
and receiving a few reports of minor importance. 

But at the regular May term the work of setting the entire machin- 
ery of county government in motion, so far as tliat duty devolved upon 
the county court, was well nigh completed. 

County Boundavi/ Report. — The special commissioner, Matthew 
M. Hughes, appointed by the Governor to survey and establish the 
county boundaries, made his report to the court, which was received 
and approved and entered of record. As before remarked, it located 
the northern boundary of the county a small fraction more than five 
miles north of the old line which separated the attached parts of 
Clay and Chariton counties,^ under the act of the Legislature, 
approved December 16, 1835.' This report established the bound- 
aries as they now are and have been ever since. 

Road Overseers and Roads. — At the same term of court the allot- 
ting justices to apportion the county into road districts, appointed at 
the first (March) term, made their report which was received and ap- 
proved.' It divided the county into 31 road districts, for each of 
which an overseer was appointed by the court, as follows : — 

Lee township — Road district No. 1, Paton Murphy; No. 2, Bcnj. 
Smith. Preston township — Road district No. 1, Henry Netherton ; No. 
2, Axiom Farmer; No. 3, David Hunt ; No. 4, Chesley Burnett. Car- 
roll township — Road district No. 1, Jno. Linch ; No. 2, Daniel Con- 
roy. Of the Garrison road on the line of Carroll and Pettis — Road 



' Therefore nearly all of the northern line of Congressional townships in this county 
wasfor a time apart of Clinton county. 

- But which did not go into effect until December IG, 183G — ante p. 6. 

' Jno. B. Collins in the meantime had been substituted on the commission in place 
of Harry Kincaid, who refused to serve 



574 HISTORY OF PLATTE GOUNTT. 

district No. 1, Adiun C. Wood ; No. 2, Jacob Higgins ; No. 3, Fantley 
P.Rice. Pettis (new road) — Road district No. 1, H. T. Barker ; 
No. 2, James Coleman ; No. 3, Wakefield Cox ; No. 4, Geo. B. Mc- 
Adow. Marshall township — Road district No. 1, Lewis Burnes ; No. 
2, Jno. Todd ; No. 3, Andrew Tribble; No. 4, Jno. Boulware ; No. 5, 
Jackson Bates; No. 6, Robt. Cooper; No. 7, Wra. Massey ; No. 8, 
Jacob Cox; No. 9, James Means. Green township — Road district. 
No. 1, Jno. Fry ; No. 2, Jno. Forbes ; No. 3, London Barker ; No. 4, 
Madison Drace ; No. 5, Lewis Bell; No. 6, I. T. Lewis; No. 7, I. 
Huntsaker; No. 8, Harvey Kincaid ; No. 9, Wesley Barker; No. 10, 
Isaac Grasscock. 

A number of roads were ordered to bo " laid out " and several road 
reports were received and approved. In a short time good wagon 
roads were established in every direction throughout the county and 
ferries were licensed at the various crossings of non-fordable streams. 
Early in the " Forties " there were probably not less than fifty roads 
open in tlie county, besides several State roads. 

Township Justices — Under the law at that time ( 1839), each town- 
ship was entitled to four justices of the peace. By the organization 
of the new county of Platte, the terms of the justices who held under 
Clay county commissions expired by operation of law. It was there- 
fore necessary to provide for the election of their successors. For this 
purpose a special election was ordered by the county court at its May 
term, to be held on the fourth Saturda}'^ in June. John P. Smith, 
Jas. Cox and Solomon Leonard ^ were appointed judges of election in 
Marshall township; Jas. B. Wells, Demetrius A.Sutton and Jno. 
Hendricks were appointed for Lee township ; Matthias Cline, Francis 
Dean and Harry Kincaid for Green township ; James Butler, Sr., Pa- 
ton Murphy and AVilliam Masterson for Preston ; John Young, David 
Hunt and Wm. Bowlin for Pettis, and Joseph Higgins, Wm. Brown 
and David King for Carroll township. Here we may be permitted to 
digress slightly to give the names of the successful candidates : In 
Preston township the}' were Peter Crockett, Archibald Hill, Wm. 
Bauta and H. D.Odin; Carroll — Matthias Maston, Daniel Clary, 
Isaac W^ Gibson and James Flannery ; Pettis — S. B. Thorp, Andrew 
Campbell, William Fox and Robert Stone ;Lee — Jeremiah H. Spratt, 
Robert Patton, Charles Wells and Thomas E. Jordan; Marshall — 
Milton Byrum, Thos. J. Lovelady, Jno. R. Bounds and John P. 



1 Afterwards circuit judge and later still a judge of the Supreme Court; see Cliap- 
ter on Carroll Township. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 575 

Smith; and in Green — Henry Brooks, John C. Bywaters, Jackson 
Adamson and J. M. Fulkerson.' 

PKOCEEUING8 OF OTHER EARLY TERMS. 

County Seat Established. — November 15, 1839, a minute was made 
of record that the members of the commission appointed by the 
Governor to select a permanent seat of jnstice for Platte county bo 
notified that the court was ready to receive their report. They had 
selected the site on the east'side of the Platte river adjoiningthe falls — 
the southwest quarter of section 24, and the west half of section 
36, in township 35, and range 53 — as the permanent seat of justice 
for the county, and on the 3d of December, their report, as already 
confirmed by Judge King, of the circuit court, was i-eceived and 
approved by the county court. Samuel D. Lucas and Samuel Hadley, 
of the commission, made the report, and the new county seat was 
referred to at the Platte Falls. 

The next day Stephen Johnson was appointed commissioner of the 
seat of justice, and ordered to lay out the site of the place (or at least 
a i)art of it) into lots of convenient size, and locate the necessary 
streets and alleys, causing a plat thereof to be made and to be filed and 
recorded in the recorder's office, as the law required. He was also 
directed (February 3, 1880), to sell every alternate lot ofthe place, ex- 
cepting lots 10, 11 and 12 of block 25, which were reserved for public 
buildings, and to report the result to the county court. His bond 
was fixed at $20,000. Judge Leonard was the assistant of the com- 
mission in the work of laying out and platting the town. February 3, 
1840, it was given its present name, Platte City, by the county court. 
Several public sales of lots were held, and the last one was advertised 
in the St. Louis Argus and the Liberty Far West. Twenty thousand 
dollars were realized. 

(Jourt-house and Jail. — At the May term of the county coui't, in 
1840, D. A. Sutton, Jesse Morin and Elijah Moore were appointed 
commissioners to prepare a plan and make a contract, or contracts, 
for the construction of a court-house, on the lots above mentioned 
as excepted for public buildings. The plan submitted at the same 
time by D. A. Sutton was approved — the one upon which the court- 
house was built — and he was awarded the contract for its construc- 
tion. It was when completed a square, substantial brick structure, 
two stories high, with an inclined quadrilateral roof surmounted by a 



' In 1840, when Westen township was formed, Jas. C. Means and Geo. H. Keller 
were elected Its first justices. 



576 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

cupola — a tastily constructed, " well appearing and substantial pub- 
lic building." ^ 

At the next January term $3,000 were appropriated by the county 
court for the construction of a jail on lots 7 and 8 of block 23, and a 
substantial log structure, with iron-barred windows and sheet-iron- 
lined cells, was built. It probably did well enough for those days, but 
now it would be simply a pleasant pastime for the average " crook " 
to pass quietly and gracefully out without consulting either court 
or jailor. 

Jesse Morin who was appointed the first circuit clerk of the county, 
while he was a member of the Legislature, was also ajjpointed superin- 
tendent of public buildings by the county court, and served in the 
latter ofBee as well as in that of circuit clerk for a number of years. 

FIRST TERM OF THE CIRCUIT COURT. 

It would have been apparent to even a stranger at the Platte Falls 
on the morning of Monday, the 25th of March, 1839, that some event 
of more than ordinary importance was at hand. 

A small frontier village of ten or a dozen houses nestled down 
among the hills in the midst of a great forest, and without a street — 
for none had been established then — and barely with a single road 
leading to a fort on the east and to another across the Missouri river, 
it nevertheless presented a busy and animated scene ; and although 
everything seemed to be in confusion, each settler was busy putting 
things in order for the coming event. 

Zadoc Martin was here. He had been at worii for a week or more 
arranging about his house and putting things in shape to make it a 
hospitable village hostelry, a welcome travelers' rest. It was a new 
business to him, and he was not sure that he would like it ; but cir- 
cumstances had changed now, and he must adjust himself to the new 
order of things. For years as ferryman for the Government at the 
Falls, away back in the days of the forts and tlie Indian reserve, he 
had been the grand provincial sheikh of all this region of country, 
with none to dispute his authority. His word was law, and he needed 
no one to tell him what his prerogatives were or how to use them. 
But now the government had yielded its control over the Platte coun- 
try to the State, and the Indians were all gone or were leaving, whilst 
settlers were pouring in by thousands. Poor old friend Martin saw 
that the days of his rule were numbered — that they were even already 



' It was burned down during the war. See chapter on Carroll township. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNT V. .^7 7 

passed .'iwuy, and now he must become one among many citizens, all 
equal before the law, and do as others did. Thus it happened that on 
the morning referred to he was found just completing arrangements 
about his house — a hewed log house of two rooms and with a kitclien 
in the rear — to make it a village tavern. 

And John Fayler was here, too — a good-natured, generous soul, 
energetic and industrious, but not thrifty ; poor when he came but 
with plenty to eat and wear, and poor but not hungry or out of humor 
when he left. He of course had a tavern, too; he was too agreeable 
an host, and too generous not to have one. His wife put their house 
in order, and he had seen to it that ample provisions were on hand for 
the table. 

There tlien were others here, the storekeepers and the like, and the 
village was not without its " groceries " — bad villagers. Ample sup- 
plies in this line had been laid in also. 

All was in readiness for the coming event. 

The morning of the 25th was at hand. The smoke from the chim- 
neys of all the village houses curled gracefully above the forest and 
floated off in the distance. The murmur of the waters of the Platte, 
as they coursed on to the Missouri, was borne gently on the breeze. 
By and by settlers began to arrive from all the country round about, 
some horseback and not a few afoot. Soon horses were hitched to 
almost every tree and crowds began to gather at the stores and 
groceries. Now and then a stranger, generally on horseback, but 
once in awhile afoot, put in an appearance; and with each new arrival 
of these the inquiry went quickly around, " Who is he? " 

Finally, a man of marked jDresence was seen approaching, coming 
up the road on horseback, and at a brisk trot. A minute or two later 
and he had hitched his horse and was among the crowd shaking hands 
warmly with most of the strangers and a few of the villagers and other 
settlers whom he knew. "Who is he?" was asked by many with 
almost a single voice. He was Judge Austin A. King, judge of the 
circuit court of this judicial cii'cuit, and afterwards Governor of the 
State, and he had come to the village of the Falls of the Platte to hold 
the first term of circuit court ever held in Platte county. 

It was for this event, the holding of the first term of court of general 
jurisdiction in the county, that all these preparations had been made, 
and to take part in, or witness, for which these settlers and stivingers 
had come. The residents of the county were here as witnesses, jurors 
(grand or petit), litigants or spectators. The strangers who came 
were almost without exception attorneys, and some of them had come 



578 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

many miles over difficult roads and across swollen streams, before the 
days of railroads, and even on foot. 

Those were the days of pioneer, dauntless lawyers, as well as of 
fearless, hardy frontiersmen. A prominent citizen^ of the county 
has given an interesting sketch of the early experiences of the bar in 
this part of the State. 

•' In those early days," he says, " the lawyers followed the judge, - 
afoot or on horseback, according to their circumstances, on his circuit 
around through the district ; or, sometimes, on their long and weary 
journeys from county to county, through a sparsely settled country, 
they rode in tic — that is, the one who had been riding for awhile 
would dismount and let his pedestrian companion ride, whilst he, the 
previous rider, would walk along beside and relate or listen to amus- 
ing anecdotes that raised such peals of laughter as to wake the echoes 
of silent forests and drive away hunger and the tedium of travel. 

" But they rarely, if ever, suffered from hunger. When ready to 
start from one county to that of another, they managed to store away 
in their saddlebags or coat pockets enough good honest corn-bread 
and strength-giving spare-ribs or fried bacon to last them until the 
next county town was reached ; and many a merry picnic those jour- 
neying hemi-peripatetic attorneys had with their luncheons spread 
upon a log or friendly stone by the wayside. 

" It was often amusing to see them arriving at the county seat. At 
the spring terms of court the infantr}' line would usually reach town 
with their shoes and pants and other wearing apparel sorely bespat- 
tered with mud, and sometimes they would even be dripping wet to a 
point above their knees, caused, doubtless, by misplaced confidence 
in trusting well but not wisely to the thickness and strength of the ice 
for a bridge across some ill-starred, treacherous stream. 

" But, after all, they were a good-natured, humorous 'guild,' and 
as soon as one brave footman was safely arrived and dry, he was 
ready to laugh heartily at the others who came trudging in. Fre- 
quently the greeting was heard from those already in, to their more 
tardy and, perhaps, less fortunate brothers: 'How is walking?' 
' How did your phial hold out ?' ' Where is vour bedding? ' and the 
like." 

But to return to the scene of the first circuit court of the county : — 

Judge King and the lawyers who came found the little village and 
the officials ready to receive them. It was a red-letter day for tlie 



' Judge W. H. Roney. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 5 7 'J 

Falls, and all were disposed to do due honor to the occasion. Zadoc 
Martin's hotel of two rooms, and John Fayler's, which contained four 
besides the kitchen, were thrown open for guests. The Judge and 
the attorneys were comfortably provided for. 

COURT OPENED. 

The room in Fayler's tavern in which the county court had held its 
first term was secured by the sheriff', Mr. Owen, for the circuit court ; 
and promptly at 10 o'clock a. m. Judge King took his seat (a hickory 
Ijark split-bottomed chair in one corner of the room), and directed 
the sheriff to open court. Court was called, and the Hon. Jesse 
Morin came forward and was sworn in as circuit clerk, having been 
appointed to that office by Judge King. Thereupon the names of the 
grand jurors summoned for the term were called, and they came for- 
ward and were qualified by being sworn and charged as the law di- 
rected. 

FIRST GRAND JURY. 

The following is a list of names of the first grand jury of the 
county : Jesse Lewis, foreman ; Joshua Yates, James Beagle, Will- 
iam McLain, Peyton Murphy, ^ Robert Cain, Isaac Norman, Patrick 
Cooper, John McCarty, Daniel Dearborn, Solomon Tetherow, John 
Brown, James Flannery, Joseph Todd, Sr., Henry Matheny, Samuel 
A. Brown, James Brown, John S. Malott, Isaac Blanton and Isaac 
Glascock. 

WORK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT — INDICTMENTS . 

Court continued in session but three days, but during that time dis- 
patched a large amount of business. On the first day the grand jury 
returned sixteen indictments, nearly all for gaming and none of any 
general interest. Reporting that they were through with their busi- 
ness, they were therefore discharged by the court. Wm. T. Wood, now 
Judge of the Jackson (county) circuit court, was at the time circuit 
attorney for the circuit and appeared for the State as prosecutor in the 
cases reported by the grand jury. All or nearly all of the defendants, 
however, pleaded guilty and were each assessed a small fine and costs. 
Gaming at that time was hardly considered as much of an offense 
against morals as it came to be in later years. It was quite a com- 
iiKin pastime then and often those who stood high in public esteem 
were addicted to it. Hence the number of indictments of this class 
found on the day of court and the apparent leniency with which the 
defendants were treated. 



' rteferrcd to elsewhere as Paton Miirpliy. 



580 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 



CIVIL CASES. 



There were 11 civil cases on the docket at the^ first term, under the 
following titles : Harve}' Kiucaid v. John Pearson — appeal for debt ; 
Anna Gunn v. John Guun — divorce for drunkenness ; John S. Malott 
V. William Sloan — certiorari; McGuuegle & Way v. Furgerson & 
Mullekin — assumpsit; George Frazier t;. Joseph Mullekin — petition, 
in debt; Thomas M. Page v. John C. Staats — attachment for debt; 
Felix G. Mullikin v. John D. Mullikin — attachment for debt; Suy- 
dam, Sage & Co. ■;;. John C. Staats — attachment for debt; John 
Smith V. Asher & Davidson — appeal for debt ; N. & J. T. White v. 
John C Statts — petition in debt. 

Most of these were disposed of at that term, and in the Gunn di- 
vorce case, Mrs.' Gunn was granted a divorce on the ground pleaded 
in her petition, the drunkenness of her husband. He was proved to 
be entirely worthless as well as dissipated, and Judge King set an ex- 
cellent example of the humanity of the law bj' relieving a worthy 
woman of a worthless husband. 

FIRST ATTORNEYS. 

The members of the bar who appeared and enrolled at the first 
term of court were the following: David R. Atchison, Amos Eees, 
Alexander W. Doniphan, Russell Hicks, John A. Goi'don, Peter H. 
Burnett, James S. Thomas, A. E. Cannon, William D. Almond, Theo- 
dore D. Wheaton, William T. Wood and the venerable Gen. Andrew 
S. Hughes, most all of whom have passed from this earth. Nearly 
all of these were then, or afterwards came to be, prominent at the 
bar and in public life. New county and new countiy, as Platte 
county then was, there has probably not been such an array of legal 
talent assembled at any one term of circuit court in this part of the 
State for many a year as met at the Platte Falls on the occasion of 
o[)ening the first term of circuit court in this county in March, 1839.' 

recorder's OFFICE. 

Under the law the circuit clerk of the county was (and is yet) ex 
officio recorder of deeds, and other instruments of writing required to 
be recorded, and hence the duties of that oflicc also devolved upon 
the ever busy, energetic, polyarchial Col. Morin, then circuit clerk.' 



I For sketches of the lives of tlie leading lawyers of the county, see chapter ou Bench 
and Bar further along. 

= During the year 1839 Col. Morin held the offlces of member of the Legislature, cir- 
cuit clerk, recorder of deeds and superintendent of pnblic buildings. 



HISTOKY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 581 



FIRST INSTRUMENTS RECORDED. 

Bill of Sale for a Slave. — The records iii tlie recorder's ofSceshow 
that the first instrument of writing recorded therein was a bill of sale 
for a slave, from Felix G. Mullikin to Zadoc Martin, the money con- 
sideration being $200, and the slave, a negro man, Willis, aged about 
thirty-three years. It was dated May 11, 1839, and was filed for 
record two days afterwards. 

Deed for Real Estate. — The first deed for the conveyance of real 
estate executed in this county, at least so far as the records show, was 
made on the 2d of March, 1839. It conveyed oue-eighth of lots number 
382 and 383 in the town of Weston, with covenants of warranty, from 
Soya B. Church to Bela M. Hughes, the consideration being $12.50. 
It was witnessed by John T. Gregory and acknowledged before 
Charles Wells, justice of the peace in Lee township. 

Chattel Mortgage. — Poor Mike Fayler, always liked and good 
natured, and always poor, needed a little extra cash, probably to fix 
up at his tavern with, and of course had to borrow it. Times were 
hard then in the new settlement, and money scarce, and it mattered 
nothing how much one was known in the community, or how manj' 
friends he had, good security and a high rate of interest were the only 
terms upon which he could hope to oi)taiu a loan. Anyhow, friend- 
ships and good opinions, and all that, are well enough in their way, 
as a sort of every-day, polite hypocrisy, — necessary, perhaps to the 
social state — but when one is out of monev, and needs a little, he 
finds how very like the substance of a dream the}' are — gone, upon the 
slightest test. Mr. Fayler had not yet obtained title to his hotel 
property, and therefore a loan on that was not considered good. His 
only other property were his household effects, and a couple of milk 
cows. On them he was compelled to give a chattel mortgage to 
secure a loan of $80. The mortgagee was Alexander Graham. He 
was given a lion in six feather Ijeds six blankets, six bed spreads, 12 
sheets and two cows and their calves, as the record shows. This was 
the first chattel mortgage recorded in the county, dated December 27, 
1838. Afterwards, we are glad to say on account of so good a man 
as Mr. Fayler, the debt and interest were paid, and the mortgage 
entered " satisfied." 

Certificate of Marriage. — Very naturally and vei-y properly, one of 
the first instruments recorded in this then new and promising country 
was a certificate of marriage, a paper cexlitying to one of a class of 



582 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

events the very mention of which makes us all feel young again — our 
eyes brighten and sparkle and our dry, cold lips feel warm and moist. 

" Here love his golden shaft employs; here lights 
His constant lamp, and moves his purple wings, 
Reigns here and revels." 

According to the record the certificate went on to say after the 
caption, that " John A. Ewell and Eliza Haunshelt were united in the, 
bonds of matrimony, in Platte county, on the 31st of May, 1839, by 
James Lovelady, a minister of the Gospel, authorized by law to 
solemnize marriages," or words to that effect. Thus, by this formal 
yet happy act of the minister, these two lives, all in the glow of 
youth, ^ and love and hope, were made as one — joined in a union of 
hearts and interests and happiness, to accompany each other down 
the long journey of the coming years. 

"Each for each coming and each self unheard, 
Bringing life's discord into perfect tune." 

But the first marriage in the county, according to the records, or 
rather in the territory now included within its borders — for the 
county was not then organized — was that of George W. Smith and 
Sallie Gentry, which occurred March 27, 1838, and was solemnized 
by George B. Collier,justiceof the peace, commissioned by the county 
court of Clay county. This part of the country at that early day was 
of course a wilderness ; but love and marriage are not confined to old 
and advanced communities — wherever youth and maid, aye, men and 
women of any ages go, there will the tenderest of all the passions 
abide and the reunion of hearts and hands occur. So in the midst of 
the great forests of the Platte country young Smith was made the happy 
husband of a loving, trusting bride. 

" To the nuptial bower 
He led her, blushing like the morn all Heaven 
And happy constellations, in that hour. 
Seem to shed their selectcst influence." 



1 Aged 18 and 17 years respectively. 




CHAPTEE VI. 

MATERIAL PROGRESS OF TWENTY YEARS i.— 1841-1860. 

Goverament Surveys — Work and Improvements — Laud Entries — Hard Times Among 
the Settlers^ Great Flood of ISli, Followed by Much Sickness — Hemp Growing — 
Other Leading Products — Emigration to Oregon — Effect of the Mexican War 
upon the People — California Gold Excitement — Argonauts from Platte County — 
Salt Lake and Indian Trade — The Four Years Preceding the Kansas Troubles, and 
Drawbacks During that Period — Drought of 1S31 — Four Years Preoediug 1801 — 
Population and Property Valuation from 1810 to 1800 — State Roads, Bridges, Rail. 
roads, Etc. 

Unlike the novel, histor}' does not close amid the ringing of marri- 
age bells and the joyful congratulations of friends. Its province 
extends further and requires a recital of all the more noteworthy 
events in the progress of the community with which it assumes to deal. 

Proceeding, therefore, from the close of the last chapter — which 
shows that the first and most important institution of society was 
inaugurated here during the period considered, as well as the institu- 
tion of county government, we now enter upon an era fraught with 
great changes in both the condition of the people and the face of the 
country, an era marked by hard work, sober, homely economy, 
sterling energy and enterprise, and, nowithstanding some severe draw- 
backs, with wonderful progress in the development of the resources of 
the county and the advancement of every important interest of the 
people, individually and as a communit}'. 

The Government surveys, commenced in 1839, were finished in 
1840, and before the beginning of the following year all who were 
here had laid their pre-emption claims, and with positive knowledge 
of what they were to get and what to expect in regard to tiieir titles. 
This greatly encouraged immigration and made all feel safe to go for- 
ward with their work and improvements. 

AVORK AND IMPROVEMENTS. 

Throughout the winter of 1841-42 the ring of the woodman's ax 
was hetird in every direction, new houses shot up as if by magic and 



' Education, church affairs, newspapers, societies, politics, courts, war matters, 
etc., etc.,' are cousidered under separate chiipters, further along. 

32 '^ (583) 



584 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

at night, whenever oue would look, the sk}' was bright with the 
reflected light of burning logs and brush on the clearings of the settlers. 
The towns were not less full of life and energy than the country 
around them. Lots were laid off and were sold readily, commanding 
good prices ; houses both for business and for dwellings were built, 
stoi'es, shops and other business establishments opened, and an air 
of thrift and enterprise pervaded all classes. It was a new country, 
a remarkably fertile and promising one, and all seemed anxious to 
avail themselves of every advantage it afforded. 

GOOD CROPS TOBACCO GROWING. 

The soil, the seasons and the industry of the husbandman united to 
bring full abundant crops. The yield of the land was unprecedented 
even in the experience of those from the most favored regions of Ken- 
tucky. Every one who succeeded in getting a field opened and planted 
in time for the cropping season raised an ample supply of the ordi- 
nary products for at least home use. 

But there was one difficulty against which they had to contend and 
that proved to be a very serious one. The people were generally 
poor — some of them very poor — and there was little here to do to 
bring in ready money. Especially was this the case with the farming 
class. With rare exceptions they had brought with them barely enough 
to bear their ordinary expenses until a crop could be raised, and pos- 
sibly to enter their lands with when the proper time should come. Gen- 
erally settling in the timber, the work of opening farms large enough 
to produce sufficient crops so as to have an overplus for the markets 
was necessarily slow — the work not of a single season but of years. 
Besides, there was no demand for anything grown in this part of the 
country except tobacco. The country had not been settled long 
enough to develop any appreciable stock interests. 

Tobacco raising, therefore, became the chief reliance of the farm- 
ing community as a source of cash income. But it never proved a 
marked success here and never attained to much popularity or im- 
portance. The soil was too rich and loamy to produce a superior 
quality of tobacco, and as a rule it was grown only as a matter of ne- 
cessity. 

In 1840 the yield of the county was about 200 hogsheads, valued at 
about $100 per hogshead. In 1841 it rose to some 250 hogsheads and 
sold at substantially the same price per hojjshead as that at which the 
crop of the previous year was sold. The next year there was a fur- 
ther increase of production. But in 1843 the amount was much less 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 585 

than the protluct of either of the other years since 1840. This was 
caused by a nunil)er of farmers snbstitnting hemp growing ou their 
farms in phice of tobacco raising. 

But at best the growth of tobacco never afforded the people any- 
thing like a satisfactory income. Little money, therefore, was brought 
into the county, and as they had to have wearing apparel, groceries, 
etc., they were compelled to pay out much of the small means they 
had brought with them.' 

LAND ENTRIES. HARD TIMES AMONG THE SETTLERS. 

The spring of 1843 brought with it the necessity to the settlers of 
proving their rights to their pre-emption claims and making entries 
of their lands. The land office had just been established at Platts- 
burg, in Clinton county." To enter the land pre-empted in this 
county required no less than $340,000 in gold, no small amount of 
money to be raised from a frontier county of a few thousand inliabi- 
tants. 

To raise this Uu-ge sum produced the greatest stringency in money 
matters, the hardest times, in fact, ever known in the county. The 
people were already poor ; they came to the county poor, and were 
now poorer than when they came. They had, almost without excep- 
tion, spent the last dollar they could raise to defray their ordinary 
living expenses and in making improvements on the lands. How now 
to pay for their lands was a mystery. 

Money was the cry in every direction; money, money. All wanted 
money, and there was little or none to be had. Hundreds in' every 
part of the county were in the greatest distress through fear that 
they would be compelled to lose their places, their houses, their all — 
upon which they had spent years of hard work, and for which they had 
endured the most trying hardships and privations — by not being able 



1 luforraatiou in regard to the early tobacco interests of the county furnished by 
Mr. T. F. Warner. The leading tobacco dealers were T. F. Warner and Thornburg & 
Lucas, at Weston, and Fielding Burnes at Parkville. 

^ The following is taken from the FhUte Eagle and Weston Commercial Gazette (ex- 
tra) of February 23, 1813: — 

OPENING OF THE LAND OFFICE. 

We are all waiting anxiously for some definite information as to the opening of the 
Land Ollice. The law creating the Platte District takes effect on the first of March. 
It is thought that the nominations are now before the Senate. The earliest informa- 
tion of au authentic character which reaches us upon the subject shall be laid befor(> 
our readers. 

The office was opened in April. Ed. M. Samuel was receiver, and James H. Birch, 
register. 



586 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

to get the small ainounts of means necessary to make their entries. 
Wherever a dollar coiilJ be had and securit}' could be given it was 
borrowed, with hardly a question asked as to what rate of interest 
would be charged. Many sold their stock at a sacrifice, and not a few 
disposed of a part of their household eflects whenever a purchaser 
could be found, and even the necessaries of life. " In all my life," 
sa^'s Mr. W. M. Paxtou, who was here at the time, "I have never 
seen so poor a people as these were." 

Nevertheless, they kept heart, worked hard, and the seasons were 
favorable. Denying themselves of everything they could live without, 
they devoted ever}' cent the}' could get to making payments on 
their lands. Many used the proceeds from the sale of their tobacco 
crops in this way. Some were enabled to make the necessary pay- 
ments by the sale of their hemp crops in 1843. Others, as has 
been remarked, sold off their stock in order to save their homes. 
A few men also came into the county with money to loan, and this, 
with what was here iu the hands of a few others who could spare it, 
was borrowed to make entries with. 

Thus, at last, what seemed impossii)le in the spring of 1843 was 
nearly accomplished by the beginning of the following year — the 
people of Platte county, poor as they were, had, with few exceptions, 
completed their entries and paid for their lands. To be sure a few 
lost their places, many were in debt, and as a rule all were without 
means to go upon. But the worst of the crisis had been passed, 
and successfully passed by most of them. 

Now, only hard work, self-denial and good seasons were necessary 
to bring about a brighter and more prosperous state of affairs than 
that from which the people were just emerging, and these, or at least 
the first two of the three, were assured, whilst the other was hardly 
less than certain. 

THE GREAT FLOOD OF 1844 MUCH SICKNESS. 

In the spring of 1844, farmers entered upon the work of the crop- 
ping season with renewed hope and energy. A greatly increased acre- 
age of all the leading products except tobacco was planted, and hemp 
was substituted in place of tobacco. 

But an event now occurred which subjected the people of all classes 
to the grossest apprehensions — the great flood of 1844. This occur- 
red in the month of June. All the water courses reached unprece- 
dented heights. The water fall here was greater than it had ever been 
before and further up the Missouri and its aliluents, including the 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 587 

Pl;ittc, it was even greater than hei"e. Besides this, vast volumes of 
water from the melting snow on the mountains were precipitated into 
the Missouri, and it became a inighty surging sea of mad waters. 
Its shores and all the low bottoms were overflowed, and in places it 
was from three to seven miles wide, navigable for steamboats of the 
heaviest draught over the entire width. Farms were submerged and 
houses, barns and fences were swept away. Crops in all the bottoms 
were of course lost. The damage was disastrous to many farmers. 
The water rose several feet higher in the Missouri than it has ever 
been known to be at any time previous or since. 

The Platte, and all the other streams in this county, were but repe- 
titions of the Missouri, only on smaller scales. Steamboats ran up 
to Platte City, and could have gone further l)iit for the obstruction 
offered by the dam at this place. All the site of the present town of 
Tracy was under water, and the current of the river swept by, a per- 
fect torrent, roaring and surging so that it could be heard for nearly 
a mile away. 

The damage done in the county -was very large, but was principally 
confined to those whose farms were in the bottoms. 

Much sickness followed the flood, principally malarial and typhoid 
fevers, which proved unusually severe and difficult to control, and in 
many cases resulted fatally. The fall of 1844 was by far the sickliest 
season ever known in the county. There was also considerable sick- 
ness the following year, due no doubt to the miasma still thrown ofi" 
by decaying matter in the former overflowed districts. 

HEMP-OUOWING PROSPEROUS TIMES. 

Upon the whole, however, the year 1844 was another one of good 
crops. The increased acreage and the abundant yield in the up-lands 
more than made up for the losses in the bottoms caused by the flood. 
An abundance of corn and other general products were raised ; more, 
in fact, than was needed for home use.' 

But the most profitable crop that year was hem[). This was des- 
tined to become the leading staple product of the county and to prove 
a great blessing to the people. Its culture was introduced in the very 
nick ol' time, when they were in the midst of the hard times, brought 
on by having to pay out every dollar they could raise, either by their 
own means or by borrowing, for payment upon their lands. They 
were poor, often denied the necessaries of life, and were generally in 
debt. Verily, their situation was by no means a desirable one. 



1 Wheat raising had not yet become general. 



588 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

But within the next seven years after the culture of herap was intro- 
duced a marked change in their circumstances had occurred. 

The people were now out of debt. Lands had increased in value 
three, five, and often tenfold. The population of the county had about 
doubled. Its taxable wealth had nearly trebled. The acreage of 
lands under cultivation was more than three times as great as it had 
been before.^ The business centers of the county where hemp was 
marketed had grown to be thriving, important towns. Weston had- 
become the leading business point west of St. Louis. Throughout 
the whole period mentioned a perfect stream of money poured into 
the county. In 1848 the receipts from hemp alone were not less than 
$200,000. Platte county became the second county in the State in 
both wealth and population.^ 

As has been remarked heretofore, hemp growing was introduced 
into this county in 1843.' During that year some Kentuckians from 
Mason and other hemp growing counties who had settled here began 
to grow hemp. They were satisfied, from the character of the soil and 
other physical conditions, that it would prove a success. Several of them 
planted quite large crops. As the result proved, they were not mistaken. 
Indeed, their most sanguine expectations were surpassed. The soil of 
Platte county proved better adapted to the growth of hemp than even 
the most favorable soil of Kentucky. Their first crops aggregated 
over 100 tons of a superior quality of hemp fiber. This was marketed 
at $60 per ton. The average yield was about 1,000 pounds per 
acre. 

The success of this experiment attracted the attention of farmers 
all over the county. The next year tobacco raising was nearly or 
quite abandoned in favor of the more profitable crop, hemp. A large 
acreage was planted, and the yield was again large. The price also 
advanced. The crop of 1844 brought $80,000 into the county. 

In 1847 the crop amounted to 1,500 tons; and sold for $150,000. 
The following year 2,000 tons were raised, which brought about 
$200,000. 

From this, until after the war (except for a time during the war) 
there %vas a general, though not consecutive increase of the annual 



' See tables further along in this chapter. 

2 It is not claimed that the prosperity and rapid advance of the county were due 
alone to hemp culture. Other causes, referred to further along, contributed very 
materially to this result. But hemp culture was one of the principal, if not the lead- 
ing, cause. 

' There were probably several small experimental crops grown before, but none, 
so far as known, worthy of special mention. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 589 

amounts raised, and of the prices paid. In 18(32 the price raised to 
$220 per ton. 

The following in regard to the hemp interest of Platte county is 
taken from the work of Mr. Pai'ker : ^ " The return for hemp in this 
county in 1850, as shown by the census, was 4,355 tons. In 1859 
3,000 tons were shipped from Weston alone. About 20,000 bales or 
5,000 tons are (18(57) annually i-aised and exported from this 
county." 

Hemp continued to l)e a leading product of the country until about 
1870, after which its production fell off rapidly until 1875 when it had 
nearly or quite ceased. The difBculty of the almost impossibility of 
getting labor capable and xoiUing to harvest it, and care for it after- 
wards, brought about this result. Before the war and since, as long 
as hemp was raised here, it was mostly worked by negroes. But 
after a while even the negroes refused to work with it. 

While it was generally raised in this county it was a source of great 
profit to the county, as the above facts show — a genei-ous fountain 
of prosperity, particularly to the farming and business classes. 
Hundreds of farmers amassed comfortable fortunes by its culture, and 
not a few business men found the hemp trade a most profitable 
pursuit. The principal townships in which it was raised were Green, 
Weston and Marshall, though it was raised to considerable extent all 
over the county. May township probably came next to Marshall in the 
amounts annually produced. The leading points of shipment were 
Weston, Parkville and latan, and the principal houses engaged in the 
trade were those of T. F. Warner, E. Cody, Perrys & Young, A. 
Baker and McDonald Bros., at Weston ; R. G. Stephens and Fielding 
Burnes, at Parkville ; M. J. Alexander, at latan, and a dealer opposite 
Leavenworth, who also did a large business, but whose name is not 
now recollected. T. F. Warner also had a large branch house at St. 
Joseph. 

OTHER LEADING PRODUCTS. 

But not alone in the production of hemp did Platte county take a 
leading position as an agricultural county. The lands of this county 
are peculiarly and remarkably well adapted to the production of most 
the cereal products and of the grasses. As early as 1847 the farmers 
of the county began to give a large share of their attention to wheat 
raising, and in a few years wheat also became a leading product, 
second in importance only to hemp. The yield per acre was generally 



1 Missouri As It Is in 18C7, pp. 367, 358. 



590 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

very l:irge, and in 1850 the average was about 7,500. The product of 
that year, according to the census returns, was 129,067 bushels, a 
remarkable crop for those times — equaled liy that of no other county 
in the State. Wheat has continued to be a leading article of produc- 
tion. 

Corn was also and still is one of the staple products of the county. 
In 1850 the crop amounted to 1,814,287 bushels, which was more than 
the crop of any of the other counties except Buchanan. 

Other products — oats, the grasses rhizas and all the standard crops 
grown in this part of the country were raised in abundance ; and the 
county became noted for its fine fruits, particularly apples. 

STOCK-RAISING EMIGRATION TO OREGON. 

With the doom of prosperous times following the general production 
of hemp by the farmers of the county they also began to raise stock. 
Though prior to the outbreak of the Mexican War there was but little 
to encourage them in this, there were soon large numbers of stock in 
the county ; in fact, a heavy surplus. 

Prices were so low, except for mules (and even for these they were 
insignificant, compared to what they are now), that little or nothing 
could be made by shipping^to distant markets, and therefore stock 
accumulated rapidly. True, there was some demand for freight cattle 
and beef and pork at Ft. Leavenworth for the military there and 
further West : and in this respect the people of this county were 
much more fortunately situated than those of neighboring counties on 
the east. But the demand at Ft. Leavenworth at that time was by no 
means sufficient to I'equire all the surplus raised here, or to make 
stock-raising a profitable industry. 

As early as 1839 there was considerable emigration from different 
parts of the country to the new territory of Oregon,' and in 1845 and 
1846 a great many went from Missouri. Oregon was given an enviable 



' There had previously been considerable emigration from this county to Oregon, 
as early as 1843, as appears from the following, copied from the Platte Eagle and 

Weston Commercial Gazette (Extra) of February 25, 1843. 

/ 

"WESTWARD HO I 

Numbers of our citizens are preparing to take up their march for Oregon this 
spring. The people are getting tired of the terrapin policy of our rulers, and are 
going to make a home for themselves on the shores of the distant Paciflc. Could a 
few of the prudent members of the American Senate be induced to make a trip out 
here and take a peep at the material which asks a grant of land, they might probably 
acquire sufficient nerve to dare seize on their own territory, instead of prating about 
the rights of England. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 591 

name by those who had visited it, and both the soil and climate were 
thought by many to be all that could be desired. Catching the gen- 
eral contagion of westward immigration then almost universal in the 
Middle and Western States, early in 1846 a number of citizens of this 
county emigrated to the then farthest Northwest territory of the 
Union, probably exceeding a hundred. A considerable percentage of 
them returned, however, within a few years afterwards, satisfied that 
it is not a wise man's errand to leave Platte county in search of a 
better country. 

TIMES GREATLY IMPROVED BY THE MEXICAN WAR. 

The same spring of the Oregon immigration the Mexican War broke 
out, and soon afterwards Fort Leavenworth was made the fitting-out 
headquarters of the " Army of the West." ' There the troops were 
to center for the purpose of organization — drilling, forming into 
companies, getting supplies of provisions (beef, pork, etc.), of 
cavalry and other horses, freight stock (principally oxen), and every- 
thing needed for their expedition to Santa Fe and Mexico. 

It need not be said that this was a most fortunate circumstance for 
the people of Platte county. Kansas was still ah Indian country, and, 
of course, unsettled. This county, therefore, became the unques- 
tioned and almost sole commissariat of the army. There were no 
railroads then, and no Kansas Cities, no St. Josephs, Atchisons or 
even Leavenworths (as a town or city ) to draw the trade of the 
military away from here or divide the profits of supplying the army 
among themselves. From here most of the horses for the troops, most 
of the freight cattle, of the beef, the pork, the corn, and a larse part 
of the wheat went ; and prices were soon such, in comparison with 
what they had l)een, as to make farmers and all concerned feel as if 
life was worth living. 

This could hardly have occurred at a more fortunate, opportune time 
for the farmers of Platte county. A little earlier they would not 
have had the stock and grain to dispose of; a little later, they had the 
California expeditions, in large part, to supply, so that they did not 
need the trade of the army so much as when they received it. But 
now, all their granaries were full to overflowing, there was an abun- 
dance of cattle and horses in the county, and the woods were fairly 
alive with ho2S. 



' For an account of the part citizens of Platte county took in tlie Mexican War, see 
cliap. VIII., p. 6U-C22. 



592 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

The demand of the army for supplies quickened and stimulated 
every industrial and business interest of the county. Money, already 
not scai'ce, now became plentiful. Farmers were encouraged to go to 
work with renewed energy and resolution, more lands were cleared, 
and farms were enlarged. Good houses and barns were built. Larger 
areas of grain were sowed and planted, and stock-raising received new 
life. Stock commanded good prices, and were in great demand. 
Business in the towns also improved. Weston became almost a bee-" 
hive of busy, thriving merchants and tradesmen. It was virtually the 
supply depot of the army. Platte City, too, shared in the general 
prosperity, as well as Parkville and the other business points in the 
county. " Indeed, " to quote the language of an old and prominent 
citizen, " those were prosperous, busy times in Platte county. " 

TIMES DURING THE EXPEDITIONS TO THE GOLD FIELDS OF CALIFORNIA. 

In less than three years from the time the last body of troops 
departed from Ft. Leavenworth for the Mexican War the California 
gold excitement had burst upon the countr}', and Platte county was 
again the scene of busy preparations for expeditions across the plains. 
Being at that time on the western border of civilization, many from 
other counties than this one an<l even from other States than Mis- 
souri made final preparations here for their long journeys to the Pacific 
coast. 

Three places on the Missouri became the principal fitting-out and 
starting points for these expeditions — Independence ( near the river ) , 
Weston and St. Joseph. The latter was virtually made by the l)usi- 
ness drawn to it from this source. Weston and Independence, already 
prosperous business centers — the former the leading place of the 
two — each did an immense business as frontier supply stations for the 
emigrants. At each were kept wagons, teams, provisions — supplies 
of all kinds needed for overland travel to California. Even those from 
other States who fitted out their trains before reaching these points 
generally laid in their supplies of provisions atone of them. The 
difference in price not being too great, it was much better to buy them 
here, as far on the way as possible, than to buy them further East and 
haul them 100, 300 or more miles before reaching these points. 
Furthermore, additional teams and wagons were often needed, even 
by those who had thought their trains complete. 

All this of course made a home market at good prices for every- 
thing the farmer, the mechanic and the business man had to sell. 
Wagonmakors, blacksmiths, saddlers, artizans of almost every trade 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 593 

profited not less by the great exodus than the merchant and agricul- 
turist. All classes prospered. Plowing for gold in the rich soils of 
Missouri proved more profitable, as a rule, than digging for it in 
the mountains and valleys of California. 

Weston, as the business center of Platte county, drew practi- 
cally all of its supplies, in the way of farm productions, from the county. 
Farmers had had two good cropping seasons since they stripped them- 
selves of everything to supply the army, and their granaries were again 
full. Their stock, young then, two and three-year old cattle and horses, 
were now full grown and ready for the market. Their supply of 
pork was hardly less than inexhaustible. All these were needed by 
the emigrants, and they found ready sale. The era of prosperity 
which began a half-decade before was still growing brighter, and the 
future seemed glad with promise. For several years all that could be 
produced in the county was required to supply expeditions for Cali- 
fornia. 

ARGONAUTS FROM PLATTE COUNTY. 

A number of trains for the gold regions were organized in this 
county during the years 1849 and 1850. Probably not less than three 
hundred persons left the county the first year, and that number and 
lialf as many more the following year. The principal trains fitted 
out in 1849, so far as the writer has been able to learn, were those of 
Geo. P. Dorris, Jas. H. Johnson' and Perry Kuth, W. R. Bain, R. 
Matt. Johnson, and R. D. Johnson, ail from Platte City or vicinity. 

Ben. Holladay^ and T. F. Warner,' Capt. Richard Murphy and 

Basey, and G. P. Post were the leading train proprietors of the 
county in 1849 from Weston. From other parts of the county there 
were numerous prominent organizers of trains that year. 

In 1850 Jas. H. Johnson fitted out a large train at Platte City and 
this time went, himself, to California, taking with him his family also. 
The others of his party, so far as remembered now, were W. C. Hat- 
ton, Jas. J. Hatton, E. Bain, Jackson Ripley. 

N. M. Owen also took a train from Platte City in 1855. His train 
and J. H. Johnson's united and crossed the plains together. Mr. 
Owen was elected captain of the train men, who formed a company 
for defense against the Indians. One of the other trains that year 
was one headed by the Adkins brothers (James,* Bluford and 

' Jas. H. Johnson, himself, didn't go until the next year. 

' The noted Ben. Holladay of Pony Express fanne. 

' Mr. Warner, himself, didn't go. 

• Late member of the Legislature from this county but now deceased. 



594 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

Granville). Nearly all who went from the vicinity of Platte 
City in 1849 united in one large train for mutual protection and assist- 
ance. 

In 1851 the company of the Adkins brothers returned by sea on a 
sail vessel, or rather attempted to return that way. The vessel, how- 
ever, was caught by a gale on the Pacific and driven far out of its 
course to seaward. A dead calm then set in and continued for many 
days, leaving them in the great solitude of the ocean. They were out 
70 days without ever sighting even a sign of a human being. Finally 
their food gave out and for several days they were without a mouthful 
to eat. In this condition they were still helpless on the sea and must 
have starved had not a friendly ship come in sight, by the merest ac- 
cident, and rescued them. They were then taken to the west coast of 
Mexico, from which they made their way by land, and through many 
hardships and privations, to their old, old homes in Platte county. 
How nearly the lines written, alas ! too trul}', of the ship " President," 
with poor Power, the great tragedian, on board and more than 100 
others, came of being equally true of the ship and all on board on 
which the Adkins brothers sailed, they fully realized : — 

" There is no ray 
By which her doom we may explore; 

We only know she sailed away, 
Was seen, but never heard of more." 

SALT LAKE AND INDIAN TRADE. 

During the first year of the California exodus an important busi- 
ness venture was made by a couple of enterprising merchants, then of 
Weston, which proved a great success and resulted in establishing a 
trade that continued for a number of years and contributed very 
materially to the prosperity and general interests of the people of 
the county. We refer to the Salt Lake trade. 

The Mormons had been driven from the States some years before 
and had gone to Salt Lake, where they liad made a settlement and built 
a city. Up to this time they had established no trade relations worthy 
of mention with any outside community, and as there were several 
thousand of them their trade was well worth securing. 

At that time Benjamin HoHaday, a man then unknown to fame and 
a small tradesman at AVeston, but possessed ot great enterprise and 
large, liberal ideas in regard to business and other affairs, conceived the 
idea of securing the trade of the Mormons, believing that if he could 
obtam it, it would prove the beginning, if not the establishment, of his 
fortune. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 595 

But he was without means. He went to Mr. Theo. F. Warner, 
now county clerk of Platte county, but then a leading merchant of 
Weston — one of the leading business men in f\ict of all Western Mis- 
souri — and laid his plan before him. Mr. Warner was, and is a man of 
large business experience and good judgment, and with courage and 
lieart to act upon any measure which his judgment approves or where 
a friend can be served. The enterprise suggested by Mr. Holladay 
met his approval, and he promptly advanced the means necessary to 
put it on foot. 

The firm of Warner & Holladay was formed early in 1849, and in a 
few months a train loaded with merchandise valued at $70,000 was on 
its way across the plains and over the mountains, bound for Salt Lake ; 
Holladay was in charge ; and after months of travel through the great 
solitudes of a trackless wild, where only the appearance of a band of 
Indians now and then or an occasional herd of grazing buffalo relieved 
the monotony of the journey, he at last espied, from a mountain slope, 
far down in the "Valley of the Jordan," the glittering spire of a 
Mormon temple piercing the sky and reflecting back uudimmed the 
brilliant rays of a summer's sun. 

Holladay is a born courtier and diplomat. Of fine presence, prepos- 
sessing manners, suave, musical, fascinating conversation, what good 
address, tact and talent can bring about he can accomplish. Only a 
little Ijefore, the Mormons had been driven out of Missouri, their 
houses burned, their homes and pvojierty all destroyed or taken and 
confiscated, and their fathers and brothers, in many instances, killed — 
shot down in their own doors, or on the public way or in jail. 
Now, a Missourian completely in their power with $70,000 worth of 
merchandise — the first one perhaps whom they had seen for many 
years ; a Missourian, Holladay, burdened with rich merchandise, had 
come to solicit their good offices, their friendship, their trade. Did 
vengeance suggest itself to them, vengeance profitable if not just, when 
this rich caravan came moving down their streets, reminding them by 
the extreme of contrast of their own sad flight from Missouri — from 
tiieir desolated, ruined homes? 

It is not in the human heart to harm another who is pleasant, suave, 
pleasing. Holladay was all these and more. Bearing himself as if he 
was of course among his friends — gen.tlemanly, courteous, unaffected 
and agreeable — they met him, talked with him, Jiked him. Young 
invited him to the temple. Bread was broken with the prophet. 
Dining and wining with others followed. Holladay was now safe, and 
the first stone of the foundation of his fortune laid. 



596 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

In a few days all his business was transacted, and all were satisfied. 
Everything was sold, — merchandise, wagons, teams, — all but Holla- 
day and his men, not excepting the prophets and the saints. Thus 
commenced the Salt Lake trade of thirty years and more ago. 

The venture of Messrs. Warner & Holladay proved a gratifying suc- 
cess. The following 3^ear they sent out another train, this one valued 
at $150,000. It was also successful. Others at Weston and else- 
where in Missouri, and some even of other States, now engaged in the 
trade. During the " Fifties " the Salt Lake trade was one of the great 
business interests on this side of the Missouri. The business of this 
kind done by citizens of Platte county in the year 1852 has been esti- 
mated to have been over $500,000. It was an interest of great value 
to the county — one of the principal causes which united to phice this 
county in advance of all others in the State during that period, ex- 
cepting only St. Louis. Warner & Holladay, Livingston & Kincaid 
and Garrish & Co. were among the leading houses of this county en- 
gaged in the trade. All were at Weston. 

INDIAN TRADE. 

About this time the Indian trade also developed into importance. 
It had always been of some value to the business men of the county 
and the community generally, lint now it was of more importance 
than it had ever been before and has probably ever been since. 

Most of the Indian tribes formerly north and west of the Ohio to 
the Lakes and to the Kansas-Nebraska line were now settled in Kansas, 
either near to or within trade distance of this county ; and as there 
were no towns on the west side of the Missouri, the business points 
on this side very naturally and of necessity received most of the Indian 
trade. The Indians generally drew annuities from the Govern- 
ment, and other stipends, so that this trade was safe and almost with- 
out exception on a cash basis. They usually required a flashy and 
cheap class of goods — goods, though, which sold at satisfactory 
profits. Besides, a large share of the pi'ovisions — breadstuffs, beef, 
pork, etc., — furnished the Indians were obtained in the county, which 
gave farmers a good market at their doors for the products of their 
farms. Afterwards, in the opening of Kansas and Nebraska for settle- 
ment, this trade gradually withdrew and centered further west. 

THE FOUR YEARS PRECEDING THE KANSAS TROUBLE. 

During the four years preceding 1854, nothing of importance 
occurred to interrupt the steady and rapid development of the country 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 597 

and the prosperity of the people.^ It wus a period of perfect calm, 
in which all were intensely, yet qnietly and peaceably, occupied with 
the work of improving their circumstances: accumulating property, 
providing better homes than they had previously had, improving and 
enlarging their farms, in originating and carrying forward public im- 
provements, establishing schools and colleges, building additional 
church accommodations and supplanting old church buildings with 
new and better ones ; in fact, improving and building up the country 
in every particular. In the opinion of Mr. L. L. Fleshraan, an old 
and well informed business man of the county, more buildings and 
better ones were erected during this time than were or have been during 
any equal time before or since. It was a period of peace, of progress 
and prosperity. 

But notwithstanding all this and the apparent propitiousness of the 
time, events were transpiring in national affairs which must have 
caused every one of foresight and concern for the welfare of the 
country to look forward with the gravest apprehension. Before the 
fair, prosperous cities of Campania — Herculaneum, Pompeii and 
Stabise — were buried forever under sands of the mighty Vesuvius, 
slow, deep-toned rumblings were heard, and strange, unnatural tremors 
felt from the depths of the earth. So now, hardly less ominous 
signs than those of the fatal eruption of Vesuvius were given out 
from time to time of an approaching catastro])he in this country ; but 
a catastrophe as much greater and more terril)le in its effects, in the 
ruin and desolation, the sadness and sorrow it was to cause — as the 
continent which it befell is greater than the burning mountain of the 
Philagean plains. 

The stormy question which had come up again and again in former 
years, and each time was disposed of differently and permanently, 
as it was hoped by many, came to the surface again in 1853-54, this 
time to remain the great question of government — of life and death, 
until settled by the conflict of arms and with the desolation of. one- 
third of the Union, and the greatest sacrifice of blood and treasure 
known in modern times. 

DRAWBACKS DURING THE KANSAS TROUBLES DROUGHT OF 1854. 

The Kansas troubles, in whicii tlie first blood of the " irrepressible 
conflict" was spilled, a fitting forerunner of the mighty catastrophe 



' In 1850 the cholera appeared iu the comity and caused widespread alarm. Some 
eight or ten cases occurred in the vicinity of Platte City and probably tweuty-flve or 
thirty in the county. There were ten or twelve deaths in the county. 



598 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

that was to follow, was precipitated upon the people along the Mis- 
souri-Kansas border, in 1854, by the passage of the Kansas and 
Nebraska bill, early in that year, which left the question of negro 
slavery and manumission an open one for the people of the territory 
themselves to decide when they should come to adopt a State constitu- 
tion and apply for admission into the Union. 

Strenuous efforts were made by those on both sides to colonize the 
territory and hold it, with a view to ultimately bringing it into the 
Union as a slave or free-soil state, according to their preferences and 
interests. Colonists flocked in, both from the slave and free-soil 
States, and particularly from Missouri and New England. Bitter 
personal antagonisms inevitably followed. At first the contest was 
carried on only with words and ballots. But blows and bullets soon 
succeeded less harmful weapons, and the people of the whole border 
on both sides were thrown into the most intense excitement. This 
was as early as 1854.^ Excitement continued with little or no 
abatement for over three years, and most of the time a semi-state of 
civil war prevailed. Indeed, entire peace was not restored when the 
clash of arms in the South announced that the Kansas War had be- 
come National. 

From the beginning the people of Platte county were profoundly 
stirred by the events transpiring across the river. Many went there 
from this county to make their permanent homes, and others intended 
to go. All here, as a pro-slavery community, were intensely interested 
that Kansas should become a slave State. Such, indeed, was the 
magnitude of the exodus from this county to the territory, and such 
the al)sorbing interest most of those who removed took in the excited 
condition of affairs at the time, that all branches of business and in- 
dustry were seriously affected. Trade was almost paralyzed, and 
farming for the first time in the history of the county seemed to be at 
a standstill, or worse. 

In. 1854 the condition of affairs was made even worse than it other- 
wise would have been by an excess of rain in the early part of the 
cropping season and a complete absence of it afterwai'ds, until crops 
were almost ruined. After the beginning of July no rain fell until it 
was too late for the crops to be benefited by it. This was the first 
serious drought from which the farmers of the county ever sulfered, 
and later experience has proved it to have been the severest of the 
only three ever known in the county. 



' For an account of the part the people of this county took in the Kansas War, see 
the chapter in the war record of the county further along. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 599 

Diiriug the summer the price of corn rose to a dolhir per bushel, aud 
before the year was out it had risen to y. dollar and fifty cents. 

Wells and springs generally failed, and water to drink was extremely 
scarce. The waters of the principal mill streams fell so low that the 
mills could not run, and often stock off from the main streams died of 
thirst. 

As it has heretofore been intimated, there was a large immigration 
into Kansas early in 1854, and there the drought was more severe than 
it was here. Many of the immigrants were extremely poor, and their 
condition became truly pitiable. Large numbers of them came over 
into Missouri soliciting aid for themselves and friends in Kansas, and 
notwithstanding the bitter feeling of the times, much was done for 
them. For a time the roads in Platte county were fairly lined with 
them. 

The people of the county lost much by the failure of crops ; but 
there was cousiderable grain in the country from the yield of the pre- 
vious year, so that there was no danger of destitution in the household . 
They struggled through the year as best they could, and in 1855 were 
blessed with good crops again. 

But this year and the following one (1855-56) the Kansas excite- 
ment increased in intensity and was the absorbing subject of conversa- 
tion and thought. The number of participants from this county 
increased, and for a time it seemed that the county itself would become 
tlie scene of violence through the indiscretion and ill-advised conduct 
of a few extreme free-soilers. People who would hang a man for 
stealing a sixty dollar horse were not disposed to endure with patience 
one in their own midst who openly proclaimed it to be a duty aud vir- 
tue to run otf iiis neighbor's negroes, valued at perhaps $1,000 apiece. 

FOUR YEARS PRECEDING 1861. 

After the I'all election of 1856 a truce followed in the Kansas 
troubles, not by any agreement between the parties, but as often hap- 
pens between two antagonists who, both being exhausted by their strug- 
gle, mutually stop for a moment to recover breath in order to renew 
the fight with greater energy and resolution. This state of " armed 
peace," with only occasional disturbances of small importance, con- 
tinued until the beginning of the final straggle in 1861. 

During this period the people of Platte county spent their time to 
good advantage in their several occupations. Upon the whole the 
seasons were good, and times more prosperous. The year 1857 was 
one of great productiveness, as was also that of 1859 ; and although 

o3 



600 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 



there were unusually heavy rains early in 1858, the crops were little 
below a general average, compared with those of other years. The 
waters, however, were higher than they had been since 1844, and much 
damage was done by the floods. 

In 1859 there was considerable emigration from this county to Pike's 
Peak ; but, as usual, most of the emigrants returned. 

POPULATION AND PROPERTY VALUATION FROM 1840 TO 1860. 

The following tables, prepared from the assessor's returns, whennot 
otherwise noted (except population, which is taken from the United 
States census returns), will exhibit very clearly the material progress 
of the county, expressed by dollars and cents, during the 20 years 
comprehended in this chapter: — 

1840.1 



WHAT RETURNED. 



No. 



Valuation. 



Population 

Slaves .... 
Moneys, Bonds, Notes, Etc. 
Other Personal Property 
Lands and Town Lots^ 



Total 



,913 

858 



$223,620 
21,642 
123,814 



$369,076 = 



1850. 



WHAT RETURNED. 



Population 

Slaves .... 
Moneys, Bonds, Notes, Etc. 
Other Personal Property 
Lands and Town Lots* 



Total 



16,929 
2,045 





82,819,193 



' " After the organization of the county and the first meeting of the courts, in the 
spring of 1839, an assessment of the personal property of the county (the lands not 
being taxable) was made, which amounted in round numbers to 8256,000. — Atlas Map 
of the County. We failed to tind that assessment list, but certainly it did not include 
the slave property of the county. 

2 Lands not then entered. 

'Valuations estimated; there was no assessment list in the county clerk's office 
for that year, and no abstract. 

* The assessors' return of valuation of real estate in 1849 was $1,091,155. That is 
the earliest return of real estate we could find. For 1843 the total v.aluatiou of the 
county has been estimated to have been $412,000, not includiug real estate. For 1844, 
the flrst year the lands were assessed, their valuation has been estimated at $576,000. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 



601 



1853. 



WHAT RETURNED. 



Population 

Slave8 .... 
Moueys, Bouds, Notes, etc. 
Other Personal Property 
Lands and Town Lots . 



Total 




$4,280,463 



1854. 



WHAT RETURNED. 


No. 


Valuation. 


Population 

Slaves 

Moneys, Boud.s, Notes, etc 

Other Personal Property 

Lands and Town Lots 


1 


$1,323,300 

592,550 

449,976 

3,278,550 


Total 




$5,656,559 



1855. 



WHAT RETURNED. 



Population 

Slaves .... 
Moneys, Bonds, Notes, etc. 
Other Personal Property 
Lands and Town Lots. 



Total 




$1,264,860 

695,962 

429,104 

2,813,240 

$5,167,166 



1860. 



WHAT RETURNED. 



Population 

Slaves .... 
Moneys, Bonds, Notes, etc. 
Other Personal Property 
Lands and Town Lots 



Total 




,272,834 



' No census year; not known. 
' Not given. 



602 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

From the tables of 1840 and 1860 it appears that there was an in- 
crease during the decade in the valuation of the property of the county 
of over 300 per cent ; ' and by the tables of 1850 and 1860 a further 
increase is shown of $4,454,641, or nearly 200 per cent during the 
decade preceding the last named year. The number of white male 
inhabitants in the county above the age of 21 in 1860 was about 3,084 ; 
the valuation of property was $7,272,834. These figures show that 
tliere were about $2,323 worth of property to every white male inhab-; 
itant at or above the age of majority. A similar computation shows 
that in 1840 there were but $436 to each white male person of suffrage 
age. 

The tables for the years 1853, 1854 and 1855 are given that the 
means of forming some idea of the effect of the Kansas troubles on 
the prosperity of the county may be at hand. It will be seen that the 
year before the troubles began in 1853, the valuation of the county was 
$4,280,463 ; the next year, or the 3'ear the troubles commenced in 1854, 
it was $5,656,559, showing an increase just preceding the troubles of 
$1,376,096. If the same rate of increase had lieeu kept up, notwith- 
standing the excitement, the valuation of 1855 would have been 
$7,032,655. But instead of that it was only $5,167,166, showingaloss 
from what it ought to have been of $1,875,489, and an actual falling 
off from that of the previousyear of $489,393. So in the " polls " of 
the county, or those liable to a poll tax for the support of the roads, 
there was an actual falling off and a failure to reach the number there 
ought to have been of nearly 600. Verily the Kansas troubles were 
no blessing to the people of Platte county. 

True, the drought of 1854 had something to do with the retrogres- 
sion shown by the above figures, but that was only temporary, whilst 
the progress of the county was crippled for several years. From 
1850 to 1854 the increase of valuation was$ 2,836,446 ; but from 1854 
to 1860, two years longer than the period just mentioned, it was only 
$1,626,275. These figures point out unmistakabl}^ the true cause of 
the slackening noted. 

Furthermore, the opening of Kansas for settlement presented an in- 
viting field to emigrants beyond this county, and hundreds who would 
otherwise have settled here went across the river. A large number 
of residents of the county also went. 

The only wonder is that, notwithstanding all these drawbacks, the 



' The valuation of 1840 is placed at $709,076, that being the sum of the personal 
property given in the tabic and the estimated value of real estate in 1844, when the first 
land assessment was made. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 003 

people in the county succeeded in making the wonderful progress they 
did during the decade preceding 1860. A net addition to the taxable 
wealth of the county within a period of ten years equal to $1,52.5 to 
each voter, is an achievement that may well be pointed to with pride. 
Such a result, it is needless to say, could not be accomplished in any 
strictly agricultural community, as this is, where farming is carried 
on as it is here in the usual, general way, unless the soil were of a su- 
perior quality and the seasons almost invariably f a voraijle. 

STATE ROADS, BRIDGES, RAILROADS, FAIR, ETC. 

During the period included in the present chapter, the 20 years 
preceding 18(51, the people of Platte county kept themselves fully 
abreast of the times in matters of jjuldic improvements as in all 
others. 

State Roads. — No less than 15 State roads radiating from this 
county were established by special acts of the Legislature. The fol- 
lowing were the principal ones : From Platte City to Nodaway river, 
established in 1840-41; from Platte City to Liberty, 1840-41 ;i from 
Weston to Plattsburg, 1842-43 y from Weston to St. Joseph,' 1844-45 ; 
from Parksville to Plattsburg,* 1846-47 ; from Platte City to Smith- 
ville, 1854-55 ;' from Weston to St. Joseph, via Linnville, 1848-49 ; 
from Parkville to Weston, 1848-49 ; from Platte City to Harrisonville, 
1848-49 f from Platte City to Woodvilie, 1848-49 ; from Parkville to 
Liberty, 1850-51 ; from Weston to Kickapoo Ferry, 1854-55 ; from 
Weston to Atchison, 1854-55; from Platte City to Ridgely, 1859-60; 
and from New Market to Sparta, 1860-61.' 

Tuminhes. — Between Weston and Platte City a turnpike, or a 
graded and macadamized road was built. Toll gates were established 
and tolls collected until after the late war when the road was made 
free to all. 

A turnpike was also made between Weston and Plattsburg upon 
which toll gates were kept for a number of years. This too was 
afterwards made free. 



I Also Acts of 1850-51. 

» Also Acts of 185-4-55 and 1862-63, 1856-57. 

' Also Acts of 184-4-15 (330), 1848-49, 1848-49 (again). 

* Also Acts of 1848-49. 

5 Also Acts of 1854-55. 

« Also Acts of 1850-51 and 1852-53. 

' Under the present law all the roads of each county are under the control of the 
local authorities of the different counties respectively. In this county ample provis- 
ion is made for the proper maintaiuance of the roads, and as a result the public roads 
here are far in advance of the general average of the roads. 



604 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

Turnpikes on macadamized roads, however, were never received 
with much favor here and were not very successful. The soil dries so 
rapidly that the roads soon become suitable for travel after wet 
weather, and the people always prefer the dirt roads to the macad- 
amized ones, when the former are in a condition to be used. 

Bridges. — Early in the "Forties" bridges were built across the 
Platte at Platte City and across Bee creek at the crossing of the old 
" bluff road " leading from Platte City to Weston. But both have 
long since passed away. The Platte City bridge was replaced with the 
present iron bridge. The old bridge on Bee creek fell into disuse and 
decay, the road having been changed. Another one was built across 
the creek on the then new (the present) road to Weston. This was 
also made of wood ; it was constructed in 1848.^ 

Early Railroad Enterprise. — That the people of this county were 
early alive to the importance of adequate railway facilities is well 
attested by the public prints of these times, the liberality with which 
subscriptions, both public and private, were made, and the numerous 
acts of the Legislature chartering railroad companies in this county. 

Nor was their enterprise devoid of practical results. The V7eston 
and Atchison Railway, forming a junction with the Hannibal and St. 
Joseph at Atchison, was completed prior to the Civil War, and cars 
were running regularly into Weston. Furthermore, the Platte 
County Railroad, intended to connect Parkville with Burlington, la., 
by forming a junction with the proposed Burlington and Missouri River 
Railway at or near Decatur, la., was surveyed, the right of way se- 
cured, and tie read-bed graded all the way to Plattsburg, in Clinton 
county, prior to 1861. This road, however, has never been com- 
pleted. 

Then the Platte City and Fort Des Moines Railway, near the south- 
west branch of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific, was chartered 
in 1859-60, but its construction was retarded soon afterwards by the 
outbreak of hostilities.' 

The following other proposed railroads in this county were chartered 
by the Legislature : The Weston Railway Co. in 1850-51 ; The Wes- 
ton and Phitte City in 1850-51 ; Parkville and Ridgely in 1854-55 ; 
Weston and Clinton County in 1854-55 ; Weston and Randolph in 
1854-55 ; Weston and Canton in 1856-57 ; Parkville and Grand 



1 For a more particular aecoimt of the bridges, see the proper townsliip chap- 
ters. 

- A more detailed account of the railroads of the county will be giTen in a subse- 
quent chapter. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. G05 

Eiver in 1856-57 and the Weston and St. Joseph in 1859-60. 

The Fair Established. — Among the many enterprises established 
duringthe hitter part of this period, and one of ranch value to the county 
and that proved an unqualified success, one that of the Platte County 
Agricultural and Mechanical Association, one of the few fairs of the 
State which have survived the war and are still prosperous. This was 
organized in 1858, and its first annual fair was held during the fall of 
that year. Its history will be given later along, as most of its career 
belongs to the period commencing after the war. 

Other Enterprises. — Subsequent chapters on the post-war period 
will also more properly include accounts of a number of other enter- 
prises established prior to 1861, notably among them, the gas works 
at Weston, ^ which were completed in 1860, and in honor of the com- 
pletion of which an enthusiastic public demonstration was made at 
that place in July of the same year. 

Close of the Chapter. — Thus the period included in the present 
chapter, a period during which the progress of the county, notwith- 
standing the drawbacks experienced, was scarcely equaled by that of 
the most favored counties in the State, and was probably surpassed 
by but few, if any, agricultural communities in the Union — this 
period of hard work, enterprise and economy, which opened amidst 
the glow of the fires in the clearings of the early settlers, and among 
a people who were poor and struggling hard to improve a new 
country, found a fitting close, when 20 years had come and gone, 
in the gas-light of a busy, prosperous city, and among a people the 
same with those at the beginning, who had made the •'ounty one of 
the first in the State in wealth and prosperity, and in every condition 
valued in an enlightened and progressive community. 



^ See Westou, in chapter ou Westou township. 



CHAPTER Vir. 

EARLY INIILITIA ORGANIZATIONS — THE MORMON WAR. 

Two Regiments — Officers — Drills — Martial Spirit — Social Features — The Mormon 
War — Militia Called Out and War Begun — Platte County Battalion of "Gen- 
tiles" — Surrender of the Mormons — Return of the Troops. 

Ahistoiy of no couiitiy or community old enough to have a history 
can continue an uninterrupted account of tranquil times. Until 
humanity shall become wiser and better than it has ever been, the 
tragedies and desolations of war will as surely follow the repose and 
accumulations of peace, as any succession of events, inevitable by the 
laws of nature, is certain to occur. Thus it has ever been the world 
over, and it ever will be. 

Since the early settlement of Platte count}', in 1837, two great wars 
have occurred in which volunteers from this county bore honorable 
parts. The county was also represented in the Mormon and Kansas 
troubles, and in an early day an effective militia organization was kept 
up. Before passing on, therefore, too far with other matters, we wiU 
submit on the pages following brief accounts of the services performed 
in each of these. 

I. 

EARLY MILITIA ORGANIZATIONS. 

Prior to the Mexican War there was hardly a county in the State 
without an efficient militia organization, and this county was no excep- 
tion to the rule. The laws provided fully for their enlistment, equip- 
ment and government, and required regular encampments and drills 
to be held at stated intervals in each year. 

TWO REGIMENTS OFFICERS. 

Two regiments were organized in this county in the fall of 1837, 
though they were of course not full regiments as a regiment is now 
understood. They were commanded respectively by Col. Fielding 
Burnes and Col. Oden. The county was divided into two military dis- 
tricts, separated by the Platte river. 

Col. Burnes' district was the one on the west side of the river. His 
(606) 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 607 

regiment was the Seventy-seventh Missouri State militia, and was com- 
posed of four companies ; Capt. White commanded one, and Capt. 
Daniel Burnes another. Col. Lewis Burncs held the rank of adju- 
tant, and Maj. Hall L. Wilkerson that of major. The drum-major 
was the gallant Maj. Bradley. As a musician he was all and more to 
the knightly soldiers of the Lower Platte than the enchanting Orpheus 
was to the venturous and romantic Argonauts. 

Col. Oden's regiment, on the east side, also consisted of four com- 
panies. Col. Mulligan was lieutenant-colonel and John Bowler was 
major. Capt. James Lillard commanded one of the companies. 

Gen. Solomon L. Leonard, of this county, hekl the rank of major- 
general of the Platte military district, and Gen. Alman, who was suc- 
ceeded by Gen. Rogers, was brigadier-general. 



Regimental, battalion and company drills were held on separate oc- 
casions, and usually one or the other occurred at least once a month. 
All were provided witli arms, accoutrements, camping utensils, etc., 
and on the occasion of each drill they went into regular camp. These 
drills lasted from one to two days, and were sources of much amuse- 
ment and enjoyment. A militia oi'ganization was kept up in this 
county and musters were held with more or less regularity until the 
outbreak of the Mexican War. Then companies were formed for the 
war, and many in the old militia service enlisted. 

During the last year of the war with Mexico the remainder of the 
militia prepared to go, in expectation of orders to that efl'ect, but 
the war closed just before they were ordered out. After that but 
little was done to revive or keep alive the old militia organization. 

MARTIAL SPIRIT SOCIAL FEATURES. 

In the early days of the musters the people took a lively interest in 
them. The militia spirit is always greater in the early years of 
a community than it is afterwards. Besides, the close proximity of 
the country to the Indians, together with frequent rumors of Indian 
outl)reaks, did much to keep alive this feeling.' 

The social features of the muster gatherings also added not a little 
to the popularity of the militia system. They offered neighbors and 



1 In 183!) Indian troubles were threatened further up the country, and orders came 
for the organization of a company of volunteers at Martinsville. A company of about 
20 men was organized, but was never called into active service. — W. M. Paxton. 



908 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

frieuds opportunities to meet and talk over all their varied affairs of 
interest or amusement. 

After drill was over, anecdotes, foot races, wrestling matches and 
innumerable other diversions followed. Moot courts-martial were 
frequently organized, and merry times were had trying some luckless 
sentinel who had been taken unawares, or some officer who had, per- 
haps, slightly tripped a little as a disciplinarian. 

With all the pleasure of soldiering and none of the dangers and 
hardships of war, the old muster days were occasions of rare enjoy- 
ment to the generation now nearly passed way.^ 

II. 

THE MOKMON WAR. 

What is known in Missouri as the Mormon War, although the 
troubles with the Mormons hardly rose to the importance of " war," 
occurred principally in Caldwell county. The connection of this 
county with it, however, was so slight that nothing more than a brief 
reference to it is required. 

The Mormons, a pretended religious sect, original in this country, and 
founded by Joseph Smith in 1829, settled at Independence, in Jack- 
son county, this State, in 1832, and on account of their offensive 
doctrines and practices, and of their defiance of the laws and of de- 
cency, they were driven out within about 18 months afterwards by the 
respectable, law-abiding citizens of the country .'- 

They then settled in Clay, Clinton, Carroll, Caldwell, Livingston 
and Daviess counties, but principally in Caldwell, beginning a city 
there, to which they gave the name " Far West." The same causes 
that made them disagreeable neighbors in Jackson county made them 
equally so on this side of the river, and while they were here trouble 
was constantly occurring between them and the citizens of the coun- 
ties in which they were stopping. 

These difficulties soon developed into open hostilities, and the Mor- 
mons were driven out of Carroll county, and from several other lo- 
calities. They now concentrated near Far West, about 1,000 
strong, of armed men, and defied both public sentiment and public 



> Facts furnished by Col. Fielding Burnes and Bradley Cox. 

2 Smith claimed to have received bis book, the " Book of Mormon," which con- 
tains the peculiar doctrines of his sect, through a revelation from Heaven. His " re- 
velation " authoriziag the revolting practice of polygamy was not received (?) until 
1843. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 609 

authority. Numerous depredations wei'e committed by their adhe- 
rents, and to all offenders they afforded full protection. 

To this condition of affairs the attention of the Governor was called, 
and the demand became universal for the expulsion of the Mormons 
from the State. 

THE MILITIA CALLED OUT WAR BEGINS. 

In 1838 Gov. Boggs issued a proclamation commanding Maj.-Gen. 
D. R. Atchison to call out the militia of his division for the purpose 
of putting down the insurgents and enforcing the laws. He called 
out a portion of the First Brigade of the Missouri State militia, un- 
der Gen. Doniphan. The militia were placed under command of Gen. 
John B. Block, Sr., and proceeded at once to the scene of war. The 
Mormons were under command of "Destroying-Angel" George 
Washington Hinkle, seconded by that gifted military genius " High 
Saint-of-the-Danite-Band-of-Brothers-of-Gideon " David Patten, other- 
wise " Capt. Fearnot," as he delighted to call himself. 

Two engagements followed, one at Crooked river and the other at 
Haughn's Mill, in both of which the sinners, as contradistinguished 
from the " Saints," were victorious. In the first battle " High-Saint- 
of-the-Danite-Band-of-Brothers-of-Gideon " David Patten, otherwise 
" Capt. Fearnot," was killed. In the second eighteen Mormons were 
killed, and one of the militia. 

An engagement or two had previously taken place between the citi- 
zens and Mormons, in which Joseph Smith's powers as a prophet 
proved singularly inefficient in military service. 

After the battle at Haughn's Mill the Mormons fell back to Far 
West to make a last stand against the " Gentiles," as they called the 
militia. 

Meanwhile much excitement was caused throughout the State, and 
volunteers enlisted and companies were organized in different counties. 

PLATTE COUNTY BATTALION OF "GENTILES." 

In September, 1838, orders came for the Platte county militia to 
furnish a battalion for service against the Mormons. 

Accordingly, Maj. Bowler, or Col. Bowler as he was called, was 
directed to form three companies for the militia and proceed with all 
possible speed to the scene of war. His force consisted of 258 men, 
besides officers, and was made up principally from the two regiments 
previously mentioned. They marched to the vicinity of Far West 
early in October, where they joined the forces of Col. Doniphan. 



610 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 



SURRENDER OF THE MORMONS — RETURN OF THE TROOPS. 

The militia now moved upon the Mormons, fortified at Far West, 
for the capture of the place. But "Prophet" Smith, after the de- 
feat of his forces already referred to, and seeing that he would be 
protracting a hopeless struggle by offering further resistance, surren- 
dered on the terms offered by Gen. Doniphan — that he and the other 
leaders should be tried by the courts for their insurrection and depre- 
dations, and that all the others should leave the State. 

The Platte countians returned home a few days afterwards. 

Smith and half a dozen others were indicted for treason, murder, 
robbery and other crimes. But he himself afterwards made his escape 
from the jail where he was confined. He went to Illinois, where he 
was also indicted and lodged in jail, and there he was mobbed and 
killed by a party of incensed citizens. He was on trial for treason at 
the time. 



C H A P T E E VIII. 

THE MEXICAN WAR. 

Army of the West — Platte and Cole Infantry Battalion — Departure of the Expedi- 
tion — Arrival of Kearney in Santa Fe — Col. Sterling Price — Capt. Morin's Platte 
County Company — Names of Members — The Ortiz Insurrection — Murder of Gov. 
Bent and Others — Battle of La Canada — Ambuscade at El Embudo — Storming 
and Capture of Fort Pueblo de Taos — Other Battles — Massacre and Subsequent 
Battle at Moro — Engagement at Cienega — The Return Home — Capt. Denver's 
Company — Names of Volunteers From This County — Society of Veterans of the 
Mexican War. 

Ill 1821 Mexico, including Texas, declared herself independent of 
Spain, and in a few years afterwards a republic, with a constitution 
fashioned after that of the United States, was established. A liberal 
immigration policy was adopted and a heavy tide of emigration poured 
into Texas. 

After a succession of revolutions, Santa Anna became President of 
Mexico, and in 1835 he abolished the liberal constitution of the 
country. The Texans refused to submit and he attempted to subdue 
them. A series of bloody engagements followed, in nearly all of 
which the Texans were successful, and in April, 1836, Santa Anna 
was taken prisoner. Soon afterwards, to ol)taiu his release, and see- 
ing that further eflbrts to subdue the Texans would be fruitless, he 
acknowledged the independence of Texas and ordered the remainder 
of the Mexican army in the field to evacuate the country. But Mexico 
refused to recognize the acknowledgment of Santa Anna, and still 
claimed Texas as a part of that country. Making no further efforts, 
however, to subdue it, affairs between the two countries remained in 
a state of armed peace until the outbreak of the Mexican War. 

In the meantime, Texas had framed a constitution and set up an 
indeiDeudent republic, and in a short time she applied for admission 
into the Union. On account of the slavery question, it being con- 
ceded that Texas would continue slavery if admitted, the free soil 
element, in and out of Congress, strongly opposed her admission, and 
it was not accomplished until after the Democratic success in the 
election of Polk in 1844. ' 



1 Inaugurated March 4, 1845. 



(611) 



612 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

At the time of the admission, Texas had been au independent repub- 
lic for nine years, and had been recognized as such by several European 
powers. Still, Mexico claimed sovereignty over her and notified the 
Government at Washington that she would regard the admission of 
Texas into the Union as a declaration of war on the part of the United 
States. Furthermore, Mexico held that the territory between the 
Nueces and Rio Grande, claimed by Texas, had never belonged to the 
latter, and was in no sense a part of it. 

Immediately after the admission of Texas Gen. Taylor was ordered 
into the new State to protect it against invasion. The war then 
began.' 

The Government at Washington determined upon a comprehensive 
plan of operations. One squadron of the navy was ordered to join 
the fleet already on the Pacific, in an attack upon the Mexican ports 
of California; and another to operate in the Gulf of Mexico. An 
Army of the West was ordered to assemble at Ft. Leavenworth under 
Gen. Kearney and invade Mexico, proceeding thence still further west 
and co-operate with the Pacific fleet. Gen. Wool was to collect at San 
Antonio another force, which was to constitute the Army of the Cen- 
ter, and to invade Mexico from that quarter. Heavy reinforcements 
were sent to the army under Gen. Taylor, known as the Army of 
Occupation. 

ARMY OF THE WEST. 

Of the four armies named, we have to do in the present history 
mainly with the Army of the West, of which both the companies 
formed in this county, and all the volunteers except a part of Capt. 
Denver's company and a few others, became members. 

The receipt of the news in this State in May, 184(3, that actual war 
had begun, created great excitement and even greater enthusiasm. 
As Missouri was a pro-slavery State and strongly Democratic, the 
war was popular here from the beginning. Large public meetings 
were held which warmly indorsed the administration at Washington, 
and passed resolutions pledging a full quota of men. 

Immediately Gov. Edwards called for volunteers to join the Army 
of the West at Ft. Leavenworth, and within ten days companies were 
on the march from every part of the State. 



1 Gen. Taylor took possession of Matamoras March 28, 1846, and Mexico declared 
war in April following. May 12th the U. S. Congress ordered the enlistment of 50,000 
volunteers and voted $10,000 to carry on the war. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 613 



PLATTE AND COLE INFANTRY BATTALION. 

A large public meeting was held at Weston, in this county, which 
was addressed l)y enthusiastic speakei's and a company was at once 
organized. Wm .S. Murphy was elected captain, Vincent Vaulkenberg, 
first lieutenant and Aquilla B. Aull, orderly sergeant.' The company 
was mustered into the service as Co. A, First Battalion, Missouri 
infantry. 

By the 18th of June, 1846, companies had arrived from the counties 
of Jackson, Lafayette, Clay, Saline, Franklin, Cole, Howard and 
Callaway, lettered A, B, C, D, E, F, G and H, and commanded 
respectively by Capts. Waldo, Walton, Moss, Reid, Stephenson, 
Jackson and Rogers. These composed the First Missouri mounted 
volunteers, numbering 856, of which Col. Doniphan was elected 
colonel. 

Gen. Kearney (then a colonel, who ranked Col. Doniphan) was in 
command of the whole force, the balance of which, under his immed- 
iate command, consisted of the first battalion of Missouri infantry com- 
posed of Capt. Murphy's Platte county company and Capt. Augney's 
company from Cole county, numbering 145 men ; tlie Laclede Rangers 
of St. Louis, 107 strong, under Capt. Hudson, who were attached to 
the First Dragoons, 300 strong; and a battalion of light artillery, 
consisting of two St. Louis companies under Capts. Weightman and 
Fischer, numbering 250 men, with Maj. Clark as field oflicer ; Kear- 
ney's separate force numbered 856 men. 

Gen. Kearney and Col. Doniphan, with a total force of 1,658 men 
and sixteen pieces of artillery — twelve six-pounders and four twelve- 
jiouud howitzers — started on their western expedition on the 26th of 



' The roll of the company as far as we have been able to gather the names con- 
tained the following: Captain, Wm. S. Murphy (superseded by Jonas S.Woods); 
First Lieutenant, Vincent Vaulkenberg (killed at Canada and succeeded by Gib- 
bons) ; Second Lieutenant, Franklin Finch ;0rderly Sergeant, Aquilla B. Aull; Sergeant, 
Martin Hardin; Second Sergeant, Jno. Harbst. Drummer, Sam Easburn; Privates, 
Martin Brooks (transferred to Capt. Morin's company), Beueger, Hugh Camp- 
bell, Campbell, Wm. Clark, John Carter, John Curry, Lot Drummond, Wm. 

Drummond, Sam'l. Doyl, John DoyI, Dougherty, JohnFox, Bluford Fuuderback, 

Wm. Griffith, John Graham (killed at Canada), Thos. Galloway, Robt. Grooms, Jno. 

Grooms (died at Santa Fe), Gladden Green, Gibbons, John (Jack) Harris, 

Haddock, Benj. Hartwell, Ezra Hubbell, Rolla Isaacs, Amos Isaacs, Richard Jenkins, 

Ezekiel Larrison, Larry, John Morgan, Samuel Morgan, Newton McFarlaiid, 

McCormick, Jno. McGuire, Jas. McCowan, Elijah Pierce, Pierce, Jos. Por- 
ter, Raraey, Geo. W.Riley, Jas. B. Riley, Samuel Richardson, Israel Swan, Wm. 

Skaggs, Slierer, Leroy Snodderly, Wm. Sharp, Jacob Sharp, Jonathan Sliort, Jas. 

Serat, John Thurman (from Buchanan Co.), John Ussary, Robert Waldron, Newton 
Wilcojc, John Wiley, Edward Wiley, Ward Wooteu, John Wells (from Buchanan Co.), 
Henry West (from Buchanan Co.). 



614 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

June, 1846. Their first objective point was Santa Fe, tlieu the Mexi- 
can capital of New Mexico, which they intended to capture. 

After a tiresome trip across the plains and down through the canons 
of New Mexico, lasting nearly two months, they reached Santa Fe on 
the 18th of August and took possession of that place, encountering no 
resistance. However, during the latter part of their journey they 
were repeatedly threatened with attacks from the Mexicans, and at 
Sunte Fe Gov. Amijo and Gen. Salezar collected a large army tp 
defend the place. But on the approach of the Americans the Mexican 
Governor and his forces fled precipitately. 

The trip to Sante Fe was attended with many hardships, but every- 
thing was borne with the courage and fortitude expected of true and 
patriotic soldiers. 

Gen. Kearney set up a civil government at Santa Fe, and on the 
25th of September departed for the Pacific coast to co-operate with 
the naval fleet and reduce California, leaving Doniphan and his regi- 
ment to hold New Mexico. Capt. Murphy's Platte county company, 
however, and others of the volunteers under Gen. Kearney, together 
with the artillery battalion, were left at Santa Fe. 

Before Gen. Kearney left. Col. Doniphan had obtained an order 
from him authorizing the latter to invade Chihuahua and forma junc- 
tion with the Army of the Center, under Gen. Wool, then in Mexico. 
But previous to proceeding on this expedition. Col. Doniphan was 
ordered out against the Navajo Indians, several hundred miles from 
Santa Fe, who had been committing numerous depredations in West- 
ern New Mexico, and had refused to come in and make submission to 
the Americans. This service he performed with energy and success. 
He now i-endezvoused at Valverde to organize his forces for the expe- 
dition to Chihuahua; and by the 19th of December his troops, 800 
strong, were all on the march, but in diff'erent sections, to El Paso, in 
that State, being accompanied also by a caravan of merchants with 
goods for the Chihuahua trade. 

COL. STERLING PRICE CAPT. MORIN'S PLATTE COUNTY COMPANY. 

In the meantime Hon. Sterling Price, afterwards of Missouri Con- 
federate fame, but then a member of Congress from this State, con- 
ceived the idea of organizing a regiment and marching across the 
plains and beyond the Cordilleras for the conquest of California. It 
was thought, and very reasonably, that Kearney and Doniphan would 
hardly be able to more than conquer and hold New Mexico. He 
therefore resigned his scat in Congress early in the summer of 1846, 



HISTORY OF PLATTK COUNTY. 615 

and having obtained autiiority to enlist a regiment of volunteers, at 
once returned home to recruit a regiment. Fort Leavenworth was 
appointed the place of rendezvous. 

By the 1st of August companies had arrived from Boone, Benton, 
Carroll, Chariton, Linn, Livingston, Monroe, Randolph, Ste. Genevieve 
and St. Louis counties, commanded by Capts. McMillan, Holloway, 
Williams, Halley, Barbee, Slack, Giddings H. Jackson, Horine and 
Dent, which organized as the Second regiment ; and on the 10th of 
August, just fifteen years ago to a day prior to his great victory at 
Wilson's Creek, in this State, at the beginning of the Civil War, Hon. 
Sterling Price was elected colonel of the regiment, D. D. Mitchell was 
elected lieutenant-colonel and Capt. Edmundson was chosen major. 
Companies also arrived from Marion, Polk, Platte and Ray counties, 
under Capts. Smith, Robinson, Morin ^ and Hendley. These four 
companies were organized as a separate l)attalion and under the com- 
mand of Col. Price, but with Lieut. -Col. Willock second in command, 
instead of Lieut. -Col. D. D. Mitciiell, who was lieutenant-colonel of 
tlie Second regiment proper. The fourteen companies uuml)ered 
al)out 1,200 men, and besides these Col. Price had a considerable 
number of heavy pieces of artillery, together with the necessary force 
of artillerymen, commanded by officers of tlie regular army, and a 
large train of baggage wagons. 

Thus organized and equipped. Col. Price started west across the 



' Capt. Morin's companj', of Platte county, was organized at Platte City, but was 
composed of volunteers from all over the county. The following is a roll of the com- 
pany, as far as we have been able to obtain the names : — 

List of rank and tile of Co.C, separate mounted battalion, Missouri volunteers, in 
Mexican War, 1846: — 

Jesse Morin, captain; Isaac W. Gibson, first lieutenant; John Larkin, second lieu- 
tenant ; John H. Owens, second lieutenant; Merrit Arnold, Cromwell Ashby, Joseph 
Allison, Henry Anderson, Isaac N. Brooks, Martin Brooks, John C. Brady, orderly 
sergeant; James Crooks, Anchises G. Brown, Simon Brown, Hiram Brown, Wm. R. 
Bane, Virgil P. Brooks, Brighton F. Brooks, William Brown, F. W. Beck, Joseph 
Couch, Aurelius Cox, Robert P. Clark, major; James Cox, John C. Courtney, William 
Curry, H. C. or A. C. Crais, James C. Chapman, James Duncan, William Endicott, 
James Edgar, Congreve J. Fugate, Samuel Gann, Henry Gregg, — Gi'egg, Joseph F. 
Hunt, John Huntington, Nathaniel Holland, Lewis Huitt, Wm. Hemingway, — Harri- 
son, Strother Hay, George Hopkins, Elias B. Jacks, George Kay, John Kissinger, Wm. 
S. Karr, John ICegin, William Kelley, Byram Lewis, Hayden Lewis, William Lewis, 
Sloan Lewis, David Layson, — Malott, Isom McAfee, John McAfee, Wra. S. Mason, 
John McFarland, George Mellon, Charles Morris, Enos Norman, L. D. Nash, Jones 
H. Owen, John Riley Owen, Benj. Owen, Lee Owen, S. H. Offut, Dabnev Perkins, 
Thos. Purden, J. Peery, H. C. Perrin, .^.lexander Russel, Alfred Riley, Wra. C. Rem- 
ington, Samuel Richardson, William S. Rogers, Andrew Rideuhonr, Wm. Richie, Thos. 
Scanlon, Wm. H. Story, James G. Spratt, Wm. B. Sutton, ■lolin R. Spencer, Emanuel 
Smith, J. C. Staley, VPra. Stewart, Bracken P. Sloan, Samuel Still, Romulus Trimble, 
Cliristopher Thorp, Joseph Thorp, Wm. Tolson, John Todd, Robert Tate, Elijah Vaden, 
Janes Williams, John A. Wright, .John Wallis, ,Tason Watkins, Milton Williams, John 
Wtiite, Calvin Wilkinson, Thomas Wallace, Jesse Woodland, A. S. Wilkinson, A. B. 
Westerileld, Elijah Young, William Yocum, — Morris, Elijah Burton. 

34 



616 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

plains. He aiTived at Santa Fe on the 28th of September following, 
after an arduous and more than ordinarily expeditious trip for so long 
a journey by an army. On his arrival there, he found that Gen. 
Kearney, who was first in command in the Army of the West, had 
already started to California and had left orders for Col. Doniphan to 
move on Chihuahua, 

Col. Price had resigned his seat in Congress and made great per- 
sonal and business sacrifices in order that he might make an oppor- 
tunity to perform some service of signal value to his country. But 
now circumstances seemed to be against him : Gen. Kearney had 
anticipated him on the California expedition, and Col. Doniphan was 
already making preparation to invade Chihuahua. There seemed to 
be no other field of operations in the West worthy of a soldier's ambi- 
tion. Like Alexander of old, he was literally left to weep for a world 
to conquer. 

But to make his situation still less satisfactory, his orders from Gen. 
Kearney were to remain at and hold Santa Fe, and preserve order in 
New Mexico, or, in other words, to do garrison duty, a service almost 
unbearable even to regular soldiers, and doul)ly disagreeable to brave, 
spirited volunteers who enlisted for a fight, not for sleepy, inactive 
fort life. There he was, with the finest army in the West, more than 
1,200 of as brave men as ever kept step to martial music, and all well 
armed, and yet, apparently, with nothing to do. Nevertheless he was 
too good a soldier to complain. 

But, all unexpected to him and to every one, an event shortly 
occurred which gave him and his gallant men an opportunity to render 
valuable service to their country — service of the highest importance 
to the successful prosecution of the war. 

THE ORTIZ INSURRECTION. 

A conspiracy was formed by a number of the leading Mexicans of 
New Mexico for the overthrow of the American government at Santa 
Fe and the re-establishment of Mexican authority. 

Col. Price had distributed his men into a number of bodies of from 
50 to 200 strong or more, and located them at different points, some 
nearly 100 miles from the capitol. The object was to graze their 
stock vvhere the grass was good, grass and forage of all kinds being 
scarce in the vicinity of Santa Fe. He, nevertheless, kept a strong 
force at the city. 

The intention of the conspirators was to make a general and simul- 
taneous revolt in all parts of the Territory, and to fall upon the 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 617 

soldiers unawares and wipe them off tiie face of the earth. Midnight 
on the 19th and 20th of December, 1846, was the time fixed for their 
wholesale massacre. 

But fortunately their purpose was revealed to Col. Price by a 
Spanish mulatto girl, who revolted at the idea of so great a crime. 
This for a time frustrated their designs, but did not entirely discourage 
them. The spirit of insurrection still obtained, and in a short time 
manifested itself in a number of most diabolical and inhuman out- 
rages. 

MURDER OF GOVERNOR BENT AND OTHERS. 

On the 19tli of January, 1847, Gov. Bent and his retinue, consisting 
of the tive principal oificers of the Territorial Government, were sur- 
prised and captured while sojourning at Arroyo Hondo, and brutally 
murdered ; the same day four Americans, or adherents of the Ameri- 
can Government, were murdered at Mora, and two more on the 
Colorado. 

BATTLE OF LA CANADA GALLANTRY OF THE FIRST PLATTE COUNTY 

COMPANY. 

The insurgents now speedily assembled, about 2,000 strong, at 
La Canada, on the Taos road, some 20 miles west of north of Santa 
Fe, with a view of making a descent on the capital. They were under 
Gens. Ortiz, Lafaya, Chevezand Montoya. 

Col. Price, leaving Lieut. -Col. Willock at Santa Fe with a strong 
garrison, including the principal part of Capt. Morin's Platte county 
company, took about 350 men and several pieces of artillery and 
moved on the enemy. The Mexicans were posted on the hills com- 
manding the road from l)oth sides. 

At about 2 p. ni. a brisk lire from the artillery, under Lieuts. 
Dyer (of the regular army) and Harsenstiver, was opened upon 
them. But as the Mexicans were greatly scattered the cannonading 
did but little damage. At the same time the artillery, being within 
gunshot distance of the enemy, were exposed to a galling fire. Col. 
Price, seeing this and that the artillery were not having the desired 
effect, ordered Capt. Augney with his battalion to charge the hill 
where the main body of the enemy were stationed, which was done 
in a most gallant and successful manner. The charge was well sup- 
ported by Capt. St. Vrain of the Citizens' company ' and Lieut. 



^ A company organized at Santa Fe. 



618 IIISTOUY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

White oF the Canoll eouuty CDiupauy. The enemy was completely 
routed. 

The Ameiic:in loss was two killed and seven wounded. The Mex- 
icans admitted a loss of thirty-six killed and forty-five prisoners. This 
was on the evenuig of the 24th of January, 1847. The enemy re- 
treated toward Taos. 

The first Platte count}^ company, Co. A, First Missouri battalion, 
or the principal part of it, was a part of Col. Price's forces at this 
battle, as it was throughout the remainder of his conipaign against the 
insurgents. The first liattalion, as we have noticed elsewhere, was 
composed of Capt. Murphy's Platte county company and Capt. 
Augney's company, from Cole count}'. Capt. Murphy, after his ar- 
rival at Santa Fe, engaged in business there and resigned his command. 
Jonas S. AVood, a member of the company from Weston, in this 
county, was elected to succeed Capt. Murphy.' But as Capt. Augney 
was the ranking captain of the two, he of course had command of the 
battalion, notwithstanding Capt. Wood had the larger number of men. 

To the gallantry of Capt. Wood's compau}' belongs, in large part, 
tiie credit of the victory at La Canada. The first battalion, under 
Capt. Augney, consisting of less than 200 men, had the charge, and 
were the first to dislodge the enemy. The brave Platte and Cole 
oountians, although at great disadvantage both as to numbers and 
the field, never for an instant faltered in the execution of the order of 
their commander — to " take the hill and hold it." They had a livelj' 
ascent to make, from the base to the summit of the hill ; while they 
were climbing up and firing a* they went, the Mexicans at the top, 
who outnumbered them beyond comparison, seemed to have them 
almost at their mercy. *' The charge at La Canada, " Col. Price 
was ot'ten heard to say. " was one of the most gallant achievements in 
the Mexican War." 

Here Lieut. Van Vaulkenberg and private John Graham, of Capt. 
Wood's Platte county company, were killed ; two as brave men as 
ever otfered up their lives on the altar of their country. Both were 
well known and respected citizens of this county. The news of their 
deaths cast a gloom over the entire community. But there was one 
consolation left, that they fell in the front rank whilst making one of 
the most brilliant and successful charsres of the Mexican War.^ 



' Mr. .\rnold Chance, a member of Capt. Barbee's corapauy, from Linn county, but 
ttieu and now a resident of Platte county, was with Col. Price in this campaign, and 
was in the charge at La Canada, as well as in the other ensasements that followed. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 619 



THE AMBUSCADE AT EL EMRUDO. 

On the retreat of the Mexicans to their stronghold, Taos, they 
formed an ambuscade at El Eml)udo, where Col. Price came upon them 
on the 29th. They had concealed themselves in the brush on each 
side of a narrow defile, through which the Americans had to pass. But 
the spies of Col. Price, sent forward in anticipation of something of 
the kind, discovered them there and fired upon them. Shortly Capt. 
Burgwin, who had just joined the command with his company of 
dragoons, came up, together with Capt. St. Vrain's and Lieut. White's 
companies, and continued the attack. They promptly charged the 
Mexicans and com[)letely routed them. The fight proper lasted 
!il)()ut thirty minutes, hut the pursuit was kept up for more than two 
hours. A number of Platte countians took part in this engagement,^ 
though Capt. Wood's company, as such, was not present, being with 
the main l)ody of troops who had not yet come up. 

STORMING AND CAPTURE OF FORT PUEBLO DE TAOS. 

After their rout at E\ Embudo, the Mexicans made no other halt 
until they reached their fort at Pueblo de Taos, a distance of about 50 
miles from the scene of their attempted ambuscade. There they had 
strong fortifications, and made every preparation for a piotracted 
siege. 

An adobe, or cement wall, about ten or twelve feet high, and four 
or five feet thick, provided with port-holes, surrounded a plot of some 
four or five acres. In the center of this was a fortress or citadel, also 
made of adobe, and five or six floors high. The first story was about 
50 X 60 feet in dimensions, and after this the walls all around rose by 
steps inward at each floor about six feet wide, thus making the top 
story but a small room or cupola. There was no door in the lower 
wall, ingress and egress having to be made through the doors of the 
next story, which were reached by step-ladders.- The steps or ter- 
races of the walls were intended to shelter those defending the build- 
ing from the shots of attacking i)artics beneath. Each floor, above 
the first, contained port holes to shoot through, and from the cupola a 
rope ladder could be drop[)ed to the first floor. Tlu; lower room was 
used for store rooms, autl there was a spring o'' unfailing water inside 



^ Arnold Chance and others. 

- There was a small secret entrance underground, which was intended for us 
times of sie<re and danger. 



620 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

the huildiiig. It was admirably build for defense, especially against 
the Indians, and was said to be more than a hundred years old. In 
the general iuclosnre or plot of ground was also a cathedral, one 
wall of which, for the first story, was formed by a part of one of the 
walls of the enclose. 

Col. Price arrived before the walls of the fort on the evening of the 
3d of Februarj'. He at once ordered the artillerymen to unlimber 
their guns and direct them against the enemy's works. But the waHs 
of the fort were too thick and strong to be effected by the shot. As 
it was then after sundown, he deferred a general assault until the fol- 
lowing morning, but surrounded the fort with a cordon of soldiers to 
prevent any one from making an escape. Early the next day the 
attack began. Lieuts. Dyer and Wilson, of the regular army, and 
Lieut. Hasenstivcr, of the light artillery, opened with their batteries, 
throwing shells over inside of the works. This was kept up until 
about noon when a charge was ordered, which was executed by Capt. 
Augney's battalion (Wood's Platte and Augney's companies) and 
Capt. Burgwin's company, supported respectively by Capt. Barbee's 
company, from Linn county, and Capt. McMillan's men. Capt. Bur- 
gwin and several others scaled the walls by the use of a rope ladder, 
but on the inside were fiercely attacked by a heavy force, and cut to 
pieces. Capt. Burgwiu was instantly killed, and two others were 
wounded. All but the brave and unfortunate Burgwin made their 
escape back over the walls. 

In the meantime Wood's, Augney's and Barbee's men, with picks, 
axes, crowbars, etc., had made a small entrance through that part of 
the wall forming one of the lower walls of the cathedral, in which a 
large force of Mexicans had collected. Through this the Americans 
threw Ijomb-shells, which soon cleared the church of the enemy. They 
then poured in through the entrance themselves, as bees enter their 
hive, and in a few minutes were in in sufficient force to boldly enter the 
open court and engage the Mexicans hand to hand. But the hitter had 
fled to the citadel and sealed themselves in. 

The whole American force now came inside the enclosure walls, but 
as night had come on they suspended aggressive operations until the 
next day. That evening the Mexicans ran up a white flag twice, but 
each time it was shot down. The Missourians were in no humor then 
to accept a surrender, so soon after the death of Capt. Burgwin. 

The next day, however, the nuns andother women came out on their 
knees, with crucifixes in their hands, begging that mercy might be 
shown for all, and of course the women were not harmed. Then the 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. (321 

old men and boys came, prostrating themselves before Col. Price, and 
they were followed in the same manner by the soldiers. All were re- 
leased ; but the soldiers not until the}' had brought out their leaders, 
who refused to come. They therefore brought them out by force, drag- 
ging and pulling them along as a pup would drag a sheepskin. 

The total loss of the Mexicans in all these engagements was 282 
killed and several hundred prisoners. The number of wounded is not 
known. The American loss was 15 killed and 47 wounded. 

Col. Price soon returned to Santa Fe to resume the civil and mili- 
tary government of the territory, leaving Capt. Augney in command 
at Taos with a part of his own companj^ and a part of that of Capt. 
Woods'.' 

OTHER BATTLES. 

Whilst the foregoing events were transpiring, others of barely less 
importance were taking place elsewhere in the Santa Fe country. 

Capt. Henley, who was in charge of a grazing detachment on the 
Pecos, upon learning of the insurrectionary movements going on, 
ordered all the grazing detachments in the country near him to concen- 
trate at his headquarters and prepare for aggressive action. 

MASSACRE AND SUBSEQUENT BATTLE AT MORO. 

In the meantime the Me.xicans had revolted at Moro, a place aliout 
26 miles northwest of Las Vegas and some 60 miles north of east 
of Santa Fe, and had taken five Americans, who were there, prisoners. 
The Americans were non-combatants, traders and trappers, from Mis- 
souri. Knowing the character of the Me.xicans, they at first refused 
to surrender, although escape was impossil)le, and death certain if they 
resisted. Nevertheless, it was their purpose to sell their lives as brave 
men — with guns in their hands — and as dearly as possible. Finally, 
however, they were induced to yield and give up their arms on the 
solemn assurance that they should not be personally harmed. But as 
soon as the cowardly assassins obtained the arms of their prisoners, they 
murdered them in the most inhuman and diabolical maimer. They 
threw a lasso around the neck of each of them, and with the other end 
attached to the horn of a saddle dashed about the streets of the place 
on horseback, dragging their unfortunate victims to death with the 
remorselessness and cruelty oi fiends. -' 



' For the facts in regard to Price's company we are indebted to Doniphan's Expe- 
dition, by J. T. Hughes, and to a statement from Mr. Arnold Chance, then and now of 
this county, and who took part in the campaign. 

- Messrs. Leel and McAdow, of Jackson county, and Cavanaugh, of Jackson (or 
Salem), and two others were the unfortunate men thus murdered. 



622 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

Soon after this Capt. Henley, who had advanced towards Moro as far 
as Las Vegas where he had collected a force of 225 men, including a 
grazing detachment of Capt. Morin's company and another detach- 
ment of the same company from Sante Fe under Capt. Morin himself, 
ordered out 80 picked men from his force and moved on to Moro. 
Arrived there on the 24th of January, he found a body of Mexicans 
under arms prepared to defend the town ; and while forming his men 
in a line for attack, a small party of insurgents were seen running from 
the hills. A detachment under Lieut. Harve Owens was ordered to 
cut them off, but was attacked by the main body of the enemy. A 
seneral enuasxement ensued, the Mexicans I'etreating into Moro and 
taking shelter in the houses, where they kept up a spirited fire from 
the windows. Tiie Missourians followed them closely and entered 
their houses with them, shooting many and bayoneting others. 

There was^also a fort in the place, or a cathedral used for a fort in 
times of attack. It was so constructed as to be equally serviceable 
for both purposes. Its walls were made of adobe, a kind of cement, 
which becomes as hard as solid rock and less easy to break or destroy. 
They were several feet thick and were provided with port-holes. The 
inside was partitioned into different rooms, each of which could be 
defended against an enemy in the others. A large body of Mexicans 
took refuge in this, and were doing severe execution upon the Ameri- 
cans by firing through its port-holes. Capt. Henley, seeing this, 
attacked one of the doors of the fort, and by the help of a party of 
his men effected an entrance with a battering ram. Once in, he boldly 
advanced, and was l)ravely fighting his way in the building when he 
was shot by a Mexican from an adjoining room and instantly killed. 
The enemy then rushed upon the two or three men with him and 
forced them to quit the building. 

Our men, having no artillery, and the fort being impregnable with- 
out it, retired to Las Vegas. The enemy, expecting that the Americans 
would soon receive reinforcements and attack them again, this time 
with cannon, abandoned the fort and fled from Moro to the mountains. 

The force of the enemy numbered about 200. Their loss was 25 
killed and 17 prisoners. Capt. Henley's force, as already stated, was 
80 men, including about 30 of Capt. Morin's company. ^ Capt. 
Henley was the only one killed on our side. Three were wounded. 

EMGAGEMENT AT CIENEGA CAPT. MORIN'S MEN. 

The New Mexican insurrection was now quite suppressed, and a 
large number of the leaders were prosecuted in the courts at Sante Fe 



1 Statement of Mr. Robt. Tate ttIio was along, from this county. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 623 

and hanged. But notwithstanding this, numerous depredations by 
Mexicans and Indians were afterwards perpetrated. 

On the 9th of July a detachment of 31 men belonging to Capt. 
Morin's companj', being stationed at Cienega, about 18 miles east of 
south of Taos, was furiously attacked about two hours before daylight by 
200 Mexicans and Indians combined. The object of the attack was evi- 
dently vengeance, and to steal the horses and effects of the detach- 
ment. The assailants slipped up cautiously, under cover of the 
dense darkness just preceding day, and surrounded the camp. It was 
doubtless their intention to rush suddenly in upon their victims whilst 
they were asleep and murder them all before they could recover them- 
selves and get their guns. But it so happened that Mr. Larkin, one 
of the detachment, who complained of not resting well, got up and 
went out to the fire and lighted his pipe to take a smoke. To take 
the camp entirely by surprise now was impossible, but an attack was 
made nevertheless. Taking deadly aim at Mr. Larkin, who knew 
nothing of the peril he was in, they shot him dead instantly and at 
the same time rushed upon the camp. But by the time they reached 
the tents, the Platte countians had grabbed their arms and were ready 
to meet them. A hand to hand engagement followed, and after one 
of the hottest fights that occurred during the war, the enemy was 
beaten and driven back. 

Thirteen Mexicans and Indians were killed. The number of 
wounded is unknown. Five of the Platte countians fell fatally shot 
and instantly expired; nine were wounded. The killed on our side 
were Lieut. Larkin, W. Owen, J. A. Wright, W. S. Mason and 
A. S. Wilkerson. 

The next morning Capt. Shepherd came up with his company and 
joined in the pursuit of the enemy. 

Other engagements occurred before and after this one, but none in 
which the volunteers from this county took part in any considerable 
numbers. 

During the whole time of Col. Price's occupation of New Mexico it 
was his rule to keep one or more detachments from each or at least 
from most of the companies in the country, from 20 to 75 or 100 
miles from Santa Fe, iu charge of the horses and other stock, in order 
to have the stock grazed and that they might be in proper condition 
for service when needed. Hence, when an expedition was to be made 
the members of the different companies were so scattered that they 
could scarcely be sent on a campaign, in complete companies, as orig- 
inally organized ; but detachments of several companies would be 



624 HISTORY OF PLATTE ''COUNTT. 

thrown together to form one. In that way volunteers from the two 
Platte county companies became members of nearly every command 
that did active field duty, and one or more of them took part in 
nearly every engagement fought. 

But only the engagements in which a consideral)le detachment or 
whole company from this county participated have been referred to in 
the foregoing pages.' 

RETURN OF BOTH COMPANIES HOME. 

The term for which the Second Missouri, Col. Price's regiment, 
(including Capts. Wood's and Moriu's Platte county companies) en- 
listed, expired in the summer of 1847, and during the month of Sep- 
tember of that year the regiment returned to Fort Leavenworth and 
were honorably mustered out of the sei-vice. They were succeeded 
in New Mexico by other volunteers, from Missouri and Illinois. 

CAPT. Denver's company. 

In the spring of 1847 Gov. Edwards issued a further call for volun- 
teers in this State, under which a regiment was recruited. Capt. 
Denver, afterwards the well known Gen. Denver, for whom Denver 
City, Col., was named, was then a resident of Platte county, and 
organized a company, partly from this county, for service in that 
regiment. About thirty of Capt. Denver's company enlisted from 
Platte county. 

The regiment rendezvoused at Fort Leavenworth and thence was 
ordered to join Gen. Scott in Old Mexico, going by way of St. Louis 
and New Orleans. It reached its destination just before the battle of 
Contreras, and in time to take part in that engagement. The next 
day, on the 20th of August, 1847, the success of the American armies 
at that place was followed by Scott's gallant victory at Cherubusco. 

These were the only engagements in which Capt. Denver's men took 
part during the war, for the City of Mexico was occupied soon after- 
wards b)^ the American troops, following which the war virtually came 
to a close. The treaty of peace, however, was not signed until Feb- 
ruary 2, 1848. 



1 For the same reason no further mention has been made of Gen. Kearney's Cali- 
fornia expedition, and Gen. Doniphan's Chihuahua campaign after the separation of 
the companies from this county from the commands of those officers, in New Mexico. 
To have given an account of all the results of the Mexican War, with which each per- 
son from this county was connected, would have reciuired more space than could be 
allowed in a work of this liind. 

Mr. Todd and perhaps others from Platte county were with Gen. Doniphan. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 625 

All considered, Platte county furnished over 225 men for sei'vice in 
the Mexican War, volunteers as gallant and faithful as any who went 
out to do battle under their country's flaw. Whenever and wherever 
their duty called them they went, and in every situation in which they 
were placed, they acquitted themselves with credit and honor to their 
country and the American arms. 

Most of these honored veterans of the war with Mexico have passed 
away, but the glory of their achievements and the splendid inherit- 
ance won by them for posterity and the country — its vast stretch of 
territory from the Plains to the Pacific, and its power and worth and 
grandeur — remain, monuments nobler and more lasting than molded 
bronze or chiseled marble, to testify through all the ages to one of 
the most brilliant series of triumphs at arms of which the pages of his- 
tory give any account. 

Some of the members of the company under Captain W. P. Childs 
and Jesse Moriu, who participated in this struggle were W. P. Childs, 
Captain Co. F., Third Kentucky Infantry; Jesse Morin, Captain Co. 
C, Price's Missouri regiment; Geo. W. Riley, Jas. H. Burch, James 
Wynn, Thos. A. Snoddy, Eli Gabhert, John Elliott, O. H. P. Lucas, 
John Ussary, Jas. W. Boyd, Patrick Kegard, John Hinton, W. W. 
Cox, Geo. W. Patterson, J. F. Mootou, R. L. Sullivan, W. T. Han- 
cock, A. Chance, H. C. Ray, Will Endicott, Davis Lanter, H. W. 
Wright, J. H. Nash, Will Boydston,Dabney Perkins, John Billott, 
Amos Isaacs, Jas. L. Webb, F. Luttey, T. M. Thompson, Robt. 
Bleazard, Elisha Haydon, John L. Merchant, Amton Poss, Jas. H. 
Griffith, W. S. Rogers, E. C. Thomas, Danl. Ketchum, Geo. Mellon, 
C. F. Chrisman, Fred Graham, J. M. Littlejohn. 

SOCIETY OF VETERANS OF THe'mEXICAN WAR. 

In 18 — a union of Mexican War veterans was organized in this 
county, consisting of all the old ex-soldiers living in the county who 
had served iu the war, from whatever State or county they may have 
served. The headquarters of the union is at Platte City and Judge 
W. P. Childs, of the probate court, is president of the association. 




CHAPTER IX. 

i THE K4NSAS TROUBLES. 

Slavery Uader the Coastitution — Anti-Slavery Agitation — Beginning of the Fight in 
Congress — "The Wilmot Proviso " — The California Bill — Slavery in Kansas Ter- 
ritory — Settling Kansas — Anti-Slavery Colonization — Anti-Slavery Emigrant Aid 
Societies — Excitement in Western Missouri — Insecurity of Slave Property — Fear 
of Insurrection — The Platte County Self-Defensive Association — Anti-Self-Defen- 
sive Protest — Citizens' Meeting — Platte County Emigration — Platte City Meet- 
ing — First Elections — Feeling Preceding the Parkville Luminary Affair — Destruc- 
tion of the Office — Anti-Slavery Ministers Expelled — Outrage Upon Wra . Phillips — 
Anti-Slavery Rebellion — Wakarusa War — Taking of Lawrence — Rout of Brown at 
Ossawatomie — Solibery of Hickory Point — "Heroine of the Kansas War" — 
Close of the Troubles. 

The Kansas troubles grew out of the attempted and finally success- 
ful exclusion of slavery from Kansas as a State. 

SLAVERY UNDER THE CONSTITUTION. 

Originally, the institution of slavery in the States where it existed 
was recognized by the constitution, and the authority was conferred 
upon Congress to pass laws providing for the return of slaves escaping 
into other States.^ At that time slavery existed in a majority of the 
States, and the right to hold and own slaves prevailed everywhere in 
the Union except where it was expressly prohibited. 

If it be true that the Union was formed the better to protect the 
lives, liberties and p7'operty*of those forming it, and of their posterity, 
then the institution of slavery was as much entitled to the protection 
of the law where it was not expressly prohibited as any other class 
of property. This was one of the conditions fairl}^ understood and 
fully agreed upon when the Constitution was adopted. 

ANTI-SLAVERY AGITATION BEGINNING OF THE FIGHT IN CONGRESS. 

Nevertheless, a strong anti-slavery sentiment soon began to develop 
in the North. Its first prominent appearance in politics, however, was 
not until the measure for the admission of Missouri into the Union 
came up in Congress. Then Mr. Talmadge, a member from New 
York, offered an amendment to the bill providing, in substance, that 



' Third paragraph, section 2, Article IV., Constitution. 
(626) 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 627 

slavery should not thereafter be permitted in the proposed new 
State. 

This proved a fire-brand both in and out of Congress. The people 
of the South and of Missouri regarded it as an attempt to commit a 
great outrage. Besides the fact that shiveholders were entitled, un- 
der the Constitution and the law and common fairness, to equal pro- 
tection with non-slaveholders in the possession and enjoyment of their 
property, slavery had always existed in Missouri, from the time of the 
first white settlements ; and in the treaty of pui'chase by which Louis- 
iana was acquired from France, it was expressly stipulated that slavery 
should be protected. It is therefore not surprising that the proposi- 
tion, now for the first time openly made in Congress, to violate the 
express understanding between the parties to the Constitution — an 
understanding without which the Union never could and never would 
have been formed — and repudiate the pledge solemnly made in the 
treaty of purchase with France, by excluding slavery from Missouri, 
even against the will of the people of the State, created the most 
intense excitement and alarm. " If they would do this," was evei'y- 
where asked, " and should succeed, would they not go on step by step 
in the same direction, and finally attempt to strike down slavery in 
the States where it had always existed? " 

The discussion that followed the introduction of the Talmadge amend- 
ment was characterized by great bitterness, and popular feeling was 
wrought up to a critical point. 

Finally, Missouri was admitted as a slave State, but with a pro- 
vision in the act of admission to the effect that thereafter slaver}^ 
should be excluded from all the remainder of the territory included 
in the cession of France, lying north of 36 degrees and 30 minutes 
north latitude. 

With this result, commonly called the Missouri Compromise, the 
people on neither side of the question were satisfied. Those who favored 
slavery insisted that the territories were the common property of the 
people of all the States, and that excepting onl}- the territory specified 
in the ordinance of 1787, passed two years l)efore the Constitution was 
adopted, they had the same right to hold and be protected in their slave 
property in any of the territories, until a State constitution should be 
adopted and slavery legally excluded by the people of such State, that 
the non-slaveholder had to be protected therein in his property. On 
the other hand, the anti-slavery element insisted that Congress had 
the right, and ought to exclude slavery from all the territories. 

Thus, although the question seemed to disappear from politics, and 



628 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

remain out for a time, the anti-slaverj agitation was kept up with 
more or less continuity and energy. Newspapers were established, 
books published, tracts issued, sermons preached, and every means 
that could be employed to create popular feeling in favor of the 
abolition of slavery, was resorted to. The movement constantly 
increased in strength and importance. 

" THE WILMOT PROVISO " THE CALIFORNIA BILL. 

In 1846 the anti-slavery element again brought on a conflict in 
Congress. Hon. David Wilniot, a member from Pennsylvania, 
introduced a measure providing that slavery should be prohibited in 
the territory to be acquired fi'om Mexico as one of the results of 
the Mexican War. It doubtless required considerable courage of a 
peculiar sort to bring forward that measure, in face of the fact that 
the war was being prosecuted and successfully fought by the slave 
States almost alone, not only without any appreciable help from the 
opponents of slavery, but with their constant opposition and denun- 
ciations. Nevertheless, the discussion of the slavery question was 
again precipitated upon the country, and it created profound excite- 
ment. Disunion, first advocated in New England,^ now began to be 
threatened by the South. 

Little abatement in the excitement of the times occuri'ed until after 
the admission of California. At that time Mr. Clay was the genius of 
compromise, and succeeded, mainly by his personal influence, in getting 
the so-called omnibus compromise bill through the House. It then 
passed the Senate, but as separate measures, and thereupon received 
the approval of the President. The essential features of the com- 
promise were the admission of Califormia as a free State, and a rigor- 
ous fugitive slave law. Nothing was said about excluding slavery 
from the balance of the territory acquired from Mexico. 

But the country was destined to have only a brief repose on the 
slavery question. Population had pushed on West, and was already 



' In 1812 Gen. Fessenden introduced into the Massachusetts Legislature the follow- 
ing resolution : " And, therefore, be it resolved that we recommend to his Excellency, 
Caleb Strong, to take the revenue of the State into his own hands, arm and equip the 
militia, and declare us independent of the Union." Again: William Lloyd Garrison, 
the father of the anti-slavery agitation, inaugurated the movement by publicly burning 
the Constitution. Years after that he declared in a speech, "No act of ours do we 
regard with more conscientious approval or higher satisfaction than when, several 
years ago, on the tth of July, in the presence of a great assembly, we committed to 
the flames the Constitution of the United States." So, in a speech, Wendell Phillips 
declared that, " The Constitution of our fathers was a mistake. Tear it to pieces and 
make a better one. Our aim is disunion, breaking up of the States." 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 629 

clamoring to enter Kansas and Nebraska. There, or at least in the 
former, another conflict was soon to occur. 

SLAVERY IN KANSAS TERRITORY. 

In December, 1852, Willard P. Hall, a member of Congress from 
Missouri, introduced a bill to organize the Territory of Platte, 
which had reference to what are now the St;ites of Kansas and Ne- 
braska. This was followed by the introduction of other bills having in 
view substantially the same olyect, one of which was the bill of Senator 
Dow, of Iowa, for the organization of Nebraska. 

In January, 1854, Senator Douglas reported the Dow bill to the 
Senate, with amendments, and recommended its passage. The bill as 
amended provided for the organization of two territorial governments, 
Kansas and Nebraska, and left the question of the exclusion of slavery 
an open one for the people of each territory to decide when they should 
come to adopt a constitution and enter the Union as a State. This 
proposed virtually to repeal the so-called Missouri compromise. 
Douglas' bill finally passed. It became a law May 30, 1854. 

The excitement throughout the country during the discussion upon 
this bill was indescribable. The most intemperate language was used 
on both sides, and for a time it seemed that civil war would be inau- 
gurated. But fortunately the first crisis, at least, of the excitement 
was passed without bloodshed. The territorial governments of Kan- 
sas and Nebi-aska were organized. 

It was evident from the first that there would be little or no pro- 
slavery immigration to Nebraska. Kansas was to be the common 
ground of settlement for both sides. All eyes, therefore, instinctively 
turned to the latter territory. 

SETTLING KANSAS ANTI-SLAVERY COLONIZATION. 

In the first settlement of Kansas the friends of the pro-slavery 
cause had a decieled advantage. The Territory bordered on a slav6 
State, and emigrants could go from Missouri and settle there in much 
less time and with far less expense than could those from the Eastern 
and Northern States. The practical value of this was fully demon- 
strated by the rapidity with which Eastern Kansas M-as settled from 
this State during the first two years after the Territory was opened 
for settlement. 

By those who have no love for Missouri, and whose mental vision 
has been warped by prejudice, the charge has been made and repeated 
again and again that the principal part of the early emigration from 



630 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

this State went there, not iu good faith as settlers to remain and build 
up the country, but solely for the purpose of taking part in the Ter- 
ritorial elections and to make Kansas a slave State. That some went 
there for that purpose, after a gigantic system of importing free State 
voters into the Territory had been inaugurated in the North and East, 
is not to be denied ; but that the great mass of Missourians who went 
there went in good faith and with the full intention of making their 
permanent homes in Kansas is unquestionable. 

For a time they largely outnumbered the emigrants from the East 
and North. This could hardly have been otherwise, considering the 
relative distance of the country from the original homes of the two 
classes of emigrants. Nor is it at all strange that many Missourians 
settled iu Kansas during the first year the country was opened for 
settlement. The first year after the Platte Purchase was opened there 
was hardly a quarter section of land in the county on which there was 
not at least one head of a family, and on many there were two or 
more. These, or at least a large majority of them, were from the 
adjoining county of Clay. Certainly, it has never been claimed that 
they came over here simply to vote and then return. 

Any one who knows anything about the history of the settlement 
of new counties which have long been on the very border of civiliza- 
tion can easily understand why the eastern border counties of Kansas 
were so quickly settled by Missourians. Open Oklahoma to-morrow 
and its northern border would be far more rapidly settled by Kausans 
than Eastern Kansas was by Missourians. It is easy to make whole- 
sale charges, and it is said that they may be repeated until people 
who do not take the time to consider them come to think and admit 
that they are true. 

But in proof of the assertion that tiiey did go there simply to vote 
and influence the elections, the fact is cited that most of them finally 
returned. In answer to this it is only necessary to say that fewer 
iNIissourians returned after it became evident that Kansas was to be 
a free State, than free soil emigrants would have returned if it had 
become reasonably certain that the Territory' was to become slave. 
The Missourians went there and settled in the hope that the country 
would continue to be pro-slavery soil. Manj'^ afterwards left when 
the effort was made to make it free soil by force and civil war. 
Others and most of them left when it was seen that that effort would 
be successful. If Kansas had become a slave State, nine out of every 
ten who went would have sjone soon afterwards. 



HISTORY OF TLATTB COUNTY. 031 



ANTI-SLAVERY EMIGRANT AID SOCIETIES EXCITEMENT IN WESTERN 

MISSOURI. 

The opponents of slavery anticipated the passage of the Douglas 
bill. As early as the 26tli of April, 1854, more than a month he- 
fore the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill, the Legislature of Massa- 
chusetts passed an act incorporating the Massachusetts Emigrants' Aid 
Society with an authorized capital of $5,000,000, and composed of 
some of the wealthiest men of New England. Other aid societies 
were organized in that State and elsewhere iu the East and North and 
several were incorporated by the Legislatures of their respective 
States. 

The promoters of these enterprises made no secret of their inten- 
tions. The policy of colonization was openly avowed and their 
movements toward carrying it out were daily reported in the news- 
papers. By the middle of the summer emigants sent out by them 
had begun to arrive in Kansas by whole companies. Chas. H. Brans- 
comb brought out a company from Massachusetts in July, and two 
Aveeks later S. C. Pomeroy arrived with another company. Still others 
followed in rapid succession, and thus the work of anti-slavery colon- 
ization went bravely on. 

They came in companies and alone as individuals, by land in wag- 
ons, on horseback and afoot and by river. For a long time boats 
were literally loaded down with them, each boat rivalling in appear- 
ance the faliled residence of Mother Goose with her numerous family 
of children. Mr. Evans, of Weston, a man of high standing and 
undoubted veracity, who was running on the river between St. Louis 
and St. Joseph durinir the early part of the Kansas troubles, is au- 
thority for the statements that many of them evidently came expressly 
to vote, for they came up on the boat with which he was con- 
nected just before the election and after he had passed on up to St. 
Joseph and was on the way down the same persons returned with him, 
the election having been held in the meantime. But not to go fur- 
ther into details, there is an accumulation of testimony that a large 
percentage of the so-called emigrants to Kansas, in sympathy with 
the anti-slavery movement, came to the Territory with the leadintr pre- 
dominant idea of making it a free State. 

To have accomplished their object by fair means would have been 
bad enough for Missouri, and the honest pro-slavery people who had 
gone to Kansas to live. But to bring it about by these methods was 

35 



(332 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

hardly to bo contemplated with equanimity and patience. Already 
this State was contiguous to free state territory ou the east and north, 
and now to establish a free State in the West would make Missouri a 
slave peninsula jutting out into an ocean of free soil, thus rendering 
her situation one of extreme peril to her slave property. Her citizens, 
therefor^, especially those of them on the border of Kansas, took an 
intense interest in the settlement of the territory. 

INSECURITY OF SLAVE PROPERTY FEAR OF INSURRECTION. 

But the worst evil to Missourians connected with this anti-slavery 
migration to Kansas, and one which they felt they could not with 
safety to themselves submit to, was that whilst the emigrants were 
on their way through the State they improved every opportunity to 
poison the minds of slaves against their masters and make the negroes 
restless and dissatisfied with their condition. In not a few instances 
they succeeded in persuading negroes off from their homes into 
Kansas and elsewhere. Mr. Jesse Miller, of Platte county, lost one 
in this way, and some ten or adozen were carried off from this county 
the following summer and winter after the organization of the terri- 
tory. 

It soon became so that no one on the border in Missouri felt any 
security for his slave property, and a servile insurrection was seriously 
feared. Nor does this appear to have been entirely without reason, 
when the threats of the anti-slavery leaders are considered. Hon. 
Joshua R. Giddings, of Ohio, said in a famous speech: "I look 
forward to a day when I shall see a servile insurrection in the South. 
When the black men, supplied with bayonets, shall wage a war of 
extermination against the whites — when the master shall see his 
dwelling in flames, and his hearth polluted ; and although I may not 
mock at their calamity and laugh when their fear cometh, yet I shall 
hail it as the dawn of a political millenium." So other leaders of the 
anti-slavery movement, nearly everyone of them who were recognized 
leaders in fact, held similar language. Tracts and all manner of lit- 
erature of the most incendiary character were scattered broadcast over 
the country, and many so-called ministers of the gospel vied with the 
politicians and the propagandists in the advocacy of murder, arson 
and all the crimes known to the catalogue. Even Mr. Beecher said 
that, " Sharp's rifles were better than Bibles," and that " it was a 
crime to shoot at a slaveholder and not hit him." 

The people of Platte county were nearly unanimously slaveholders 
or the relatives and friends of slaveholders and pro-slavery in scnti- 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 633 

ment. To expect that they would have borne all this with composure, 
and without becoming thoroughly exasperated and inflamed with pas- 
sion, IS perhaps to expect more of them than in the circumstances 
would have been human. Pu],lic feeling throughout the county was 
stirred to its profoundest depths and a look of indignation and des- 
perate determination was seen on every countenance. Never in the 
history of the county were the people so wrought up with passion. 
All classes were oflended, the high and the low, the rich and the poor 
church members and non-church members -all seemed determined to 
stand by each other in every emergency. 

THE PLATTE COUNTY SELF-DEFENSIVE ASSOCIATION. 

Consultations were held by a number of the leading citizens of the 
county, and it was agreed to call a public meeting to consider the sit- 
uation and the duties of the hour. Accordingly, a call was drawn 
up and published, appointing a meeting to be held at Weston on the 
29 h ot July, 1854. Subscribed to the call appeared the names of the 
hallowing, among other prominent citizens : David R. Atchison, Wm 
B. Almond, Benj. F. Stringfellow, Jas. N. Burnes, Jesse Morin, Dr* 
Bay ess Jno Vineyard, Vard. Cockerili, James Adkins, Peter T." 
^.eU, G. Galloway, W. J. Miller, Jno. M. Wallace, Jarrett M.Todd, 
W. H. Spratt, Daniel Cary and John H. Stringfellow. 

On the day appointed one of the largest gatherings of the rep- 
resentative men of the county ever witnessed within its borders ap- 
peared nM\eston, and at the hour named the meeting was called to 
order and an organization effected. Judge G. Galloway was called 
to the chair and Hon. Benj. F. Stringfellow was appointed secretary. 

Judge Galloway, in taking the chair, explained the objects of the 
meeting. He said that they had met to counsel together ami dopt 
ucli measures as might bethought necessarv and pn.per foi the Z 
ect.on ot the lives and property of the citizens of the county a'a^i^st 
he Aboh .onists, who had already begun to entice ne^^roes fionrthe r 
homes and incite them to violence and insurrection ; that the em Ura' t 

e;;i:;:S'n;'ti^''"^''"^r t""'^' r' '="-^ forces oHSS 

emigiant. fm the purpose of colonizing Kansas and makin- it a free 
State, 111 dehance of the will of the settlers of the territory" 

1 hat these hired adventurers, largely drawn from the worst ele 
ments ot the North, are sent here and subsisted by pub He and , iv^te 
con ributions and that they come breathing veiJeince a.^ainst hfe 
holders and the friends of slaveholders ; that" alre^rdy he e W i n fl itlce 

e ms'or^'r "•"" f' r' '''■"' ""^^-^^ -me'^vigorous, effid n 
.uisot protection IS adopted, no man's fireside will be safe no 
property secure; that their purpose is not only to take possession of 



634 HISTORY or platte county. 

Kansas by force with guns in their hands and by fraud at the ballot 
box, but to render slavery impossible, even on this side of the line, in 
Missouri, and to carry on constant depredations in the western 
counties of the State, taking the lives of all who oppose them and 
destroying and carrying off property. 

" That we must protect ourselves, and that we ought to go about 
it in no half-way, luke-warm manner — that the time for dallying has 
passed, the time for action is come ; that we should neither wait until 
we see our homes go down in ashes, nor permit our friends and 
brothers who have gone across the river to make their homes in good 
faith, to be driven out — that we should protect them in the right to 
live there and in the right to vote there." 

Judge Galloway further said that " if the aid societies expect to 
capture Kansas by colonizing voters they will be disappointed, for 
we are nearer the territory than they are, and can send three bona 
fide settlers there to enter lands and make homes against every emi- 
grant sent by them . ' ' 

In conclusion he 'said that he had no other feeling than that of the 
highest respect for free State men who came West in good faith to 
make their homes, and that he would go his full length to assist and 
encourage them ; but that the people of Platte county would not for 
a single day tolerate dishonest Abolitionists who came to steal negroes, 
destroy property and stir up strife and insurrection. He closed by 
counseling " action and firmness, but moderation Ani\ fairness.'' 

Gen. Alchison next spoke and delivered a stirring and able address, 
and was followed by Hon. Benj. F. Stringfellow, Col. James N. Burnes 
and others. Resolutions were introduced and passed, setting forth 
the gravity of the situation and the duties of the hour, and a perma- 
nent organization, known as the Phitte County Self-Defensive 
Association, was formed. The better to carry out the objects of the 
association, a standing executive committee was appointed. 

The practical purposes of the organization, as we understand from 
a gentleman of this county who was one of its active members, were 
substantially as follows : — 

1st. That there might be an understanding among, and, when 
necessary, a concert of action by all the citizens of the county in sym- 
pathy with the pro-slavery cause who were Avilling to stand up for 
their common interest ; 

2d. That there might be a system of scrutinizing and reporting the 
jjarticulars concerning all suspicious looking persons found in the 
county, whether armed or conveying arms into Kansas, whether seen 
hanging around negro quarters or holding secret conferences with ne- 
groes, whether disseminating incendiar}'^ Abolition literature, etc., 
etc. 

3d. That any desired number of men, up to the full strength of the 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 635 

organization, might be called out muler arms when necessary, either 
to pursue kidnapers of negroes or other ofTenders, or to go to Kan- 
sas for the relief of any settlement there favorable to the pro-slavery 
cause which the free soilers might attempt to break u\) in force too 
strong for the settlers to successfully resist. 

4th. To assist, when necessary, in protecting the pro-slavery set- 
tlers in Kansas in the right to vote and to prevent the free soilers 
from carrying the elections by force or fraud ; and, 

.5th. As a partial otT-sct to the colonization scheme of the emigrant 
aid societies, to render such assistance as they might feel able to af- 
ford to pro-slavery emigrants desiring to settle or already settled in 
Kansas, in good faith. 

The society had over 500 members, including a large number of the 
prominent and influential citizens of the county. In a short time it 
developed into a secret organization with pass-words, grips and badges. 
For a time the pass-word was "Kan." The badge was a skein of 
bleached silky hemp tied in a button hole of the coat. 

It continued as an organization, however, only about a year, its 
membership gradually falling ofl" all the time until finally it disap- 
peared altogether. As is often the case with secret societies of a po- 
litical cast, or controlled by political influences, it went to some very 
unjustifiable extremes. Among other things that it seems a sober 
second thought would have prevented, a resolution or series of reso- 
lutions was adopted pledging the members of the association and re- 
questing the friends of the pro-slavery cause not to patronize in any 
way merchants or others who dealt with wholesale houses or other 
establishments not friendly to the cause, or gave any countenance or 
encouragement whatever to emigrant aid society emigrants. 

AN ANTI-SELF-DEFENSIVE PROTEST. 

This action called out a strong protest from a large number of the 
citizens of Weston. A meeting was held at that place September 1, 
1854, and resolutions were passed denouncing the course of the Self- 
Defensive Association. 

Mr. G. W. Gist was made chairman of the meeting and Jos. B. 
Evans, secretary. On motion of W. S. Murphy, J. B. Wright was 
requested to explain the objects for which they were assembled. Mr. 
Wright made an animated and telling speech,^ after which G. T. 
Hulse moved that a committee on resolutions be appointed. Geo. T. 



1 We have not been able to flud a copy of the newspaper of that date giving the 
substance of his remarks. 



636 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

Hulse, J. V. Parrott, Benj. Wood, E.Cody, Col. Railey, W. S. Mur- 
phy and A. B. Hathaway were appointed such committee. 

Resolutions were drafted and unanimously adopted "disapproving 
the Bayliss (Self-Defensive) resolutions and urging merchants and 
others to trade wherever and with whomsoever they could obtain the 
best bargains for the interest of buyers and consumers ; declaring in 
favor of law and order; expressing strong union sentiments and de- 
nouncing disunion, maintaining the honor and dignity of labor ; hold»- 
ing that the Douglas bill gave all equal rights in Kansas and 
Nebraska ; maintaining the right to judge who should be ex^oelled 
from the community and who should make laws for the town; that 
suspicion is not guilt and that mob law can be tolerated only when 
the civil law fails and then not without clear proof of guilt ; charging 
that the Self-Defensive Association had brought about a state of dis- 
cord and disputing in the county and had brought the name of the 
county into bad odor both at home and abroad, and requesting the 
papers to publish these resolutions." 

citizens' meeting. 

Weston, September 1, 1854. 

At a meeting of the citizens of Weston and vicinity, G. W. Gist 
was called to the chair, and Jos. B. Evans appointed secretary. On 
motion of W. S. Murphy, Mr. J. B. Wright was called on to explain 
the object of the meeting. Mr. Wright addressed the meeting in an 
eloquent and al)le manner. 

On motion of G. T. Hulse, a committee was appointed to draft 
resolutions expressive of the sentiment of the meeting. The follow- 
ing persons were elected: Geo. T. Hulse, J. V. Parrot, Ben. AVood, 
E. Cody, Col. Railey, W. S. Murphy and A. B. Hathaway. Said 
committee retired, and after a short absence, reported the following 
resolutions, which were adopted by acclamation : — 

Whereas, Our rights and privileges, as citizens of Weston, Platte 
county. Mo., have been disregarded, in fringed upon, and grievously 
violated within the last few weeks, by certain members of the " Platte 
Count}' Self-Defensive Association ;" and whereas, the domestic quiet 
to our families, the sacred /;oHor of our sons and daughters, the safety 
of our property, the security of our living and persons, the "good 
name" our fathers left us, the " good name" of us all — and the city 
of our adoption — and each and all disrespected and vilely aspersed, 
and contemptuously threatened with mob violence; wherefore, it is 
imperatively demanded, that we, in niass meeting assembled, on this, 
the first day of September, A. D. 1854, do m'Ake prompt, honorable, 
effective and immeddate defense of our rights and privileges as citizens 
of this glorious Union. — Therefore, 



» HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 637 

Resolved, 1. That lye, whose uames are hereunto affixed, are ordei-- 
loving and law abiding citizens. 

Resolved, 2. That ive are Union men. We love the South much, 
but we love the Union better. Our motto is — the Union fir-;t, the 
Union second, and the Union forever. 

Resolved, 3. That we disapprove the Bayliss resolution as contain- 
ing nidlification, disunion and disorganizing sentiments. 

Resolved, 4. That ive, as consumers, invite and solicit our mer- 
chants to purchase their goods ?y/<ereye)' it is most advantageous to the 
buyer and the consumer. 

Resolved, 5. That we hold every man as entitled to equal respect 
and confidence until his conduct proves him unworthy of the same. 

Resolved, 6. That we understand the " Douglas bill" as giving all 
the citizens of this Confederacy equal rights and equal immunities in 
the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska. 

Resolved, 7. That we are believers in the dignity of labor; it does 
not necessarily deb-act from the moral nor intellectual character of 
man. 

Resolved, 8. That we are competent to judge who shall be expelled 
from our community, and wlio shall make laws for our corporation. 

Resolved, {). That wzere suspicion is not aground of guilt; mob- 
law can only be tolerated when all other law fails and then only on 
proof of guilt. 

Resolved, 10th and lastly, That certain members of the Platte 
County Self-Defensive Association \va,\q proclaimed and advocated -AnA 
attepipted to force measures upon us contrary to the foregoing prin- 
ciples, which measures we do solemnly disavow and disapprove and 
utterly disclaim, as being diametrically opposed to common and consti- 
tutional law, and as having greatly disturbed and well nigh destroyed 
the order, the peace and the harmony of our families and com- 
munity, and as being but too well calculated seriously to injure us in 
our property and character, both at home and abroad. We will 
thus ever disavow and disclaim. 

On motion of Samuel J. Finch, it was 

Resolved, That both papers, published in the city of Weston, be 
requested to publish the foregoing preamble and i«esolutions, and all 
papers throughout the State, friendly to law and order, are hereby re- 
quested to copy the same. 

J. B. Evans, G. W. Gist, 

Secretary. Chairman. 

Sam'l J. Finch, Wm.S. Murphy, Marcell Neale, M. V. Snell, 
C.G.Hartguven, Christian Ricli, Henry Roney, John McConell, 
A.B.Hathawav, John M. White, G. B. Sinoot, G. Beaumont, 

Fred xMagers,Jr, Aquilla Phy, W. H. Ellestcm, J. C. Abbott, 

W. H. Bell, Solomon Siiell, C. F. Hammond, John Cone, 

B. F. Shell, L. S. Meeker, John Simmons, R. S. Watkins, 

J. Weeks, J. Y. Patton, J. M. Atkinson, W. Serion, 

N. S. Rogers, D. V. Cauott, Felix Currau, James S. Harris, 
Wm. T. Steele, Levi Loller, A. J. Lovelady, John. M. Flar, 



638 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 



Jas. Osboni, 
Geo. W. Gist, 
Geo. Alcock, 
W. McGay, 
Thos. Quinn, 
J. F. Biuuer, 



James Morin, 
L. Biyam, 
D. H. Stevens, 
Heiuy Smith, 
Jno. Williams, 
Nelson Ford, 



Wm. McKinney,Geo. T. Hulse, 
G. Johnson, P. W. Marntlv, 



E. Ohihousen, 
Jno. Patton, 
Pearce Butler, 
Geo. Sheely, 
W. O. Watts, 
Jacob W. Gorman 
Geo. W. Hard esty 
L. D. Bird, 



FernandoHulse,Fred Manners, Sr., John Deitz, 



H. Tucker, 



J. P. Rabhott, 



Wm. Sharp, 

C. Gookung, Henry Rosenbero-, Aug'stus Kolster 

I. Hattenbach, Ephraim Gumbert, Clias. Guenther, 

John Williams, Patrick Fleming, S. P. Moss, 

Geo. Wnertely, John Benz, 

F. Biepinger, H. C. Dunn, 

Robt.Bari^hart, R. Meek, Jr, 



G. P. Farr, 
E. Jenkins, 
Jno. Silvertooth 



A. H. Maxfield, George Wortley, Jas. R. Conyers, 



John. H. Reed, John Reece, 
N. Diefendorf, James Main, 
Elijah Cody, T. G. Scanlon, 
J. V. Parrott, C. Setuven, 
Wm. Murdock, James Beagle, 
Jno. Herrmann, Andreas Noll, 
Paul Sohler, Fred'k Benter, 
Jno. Campbell, Jas. Melhoweu, 
Fred'k Starr, G. Z. Foor, 



J. 01m stead, 
E. W. Railey, 
Ben Hughes, 
Wm. Finley, 



R. C. Brown, 
A. C. Bell, 
J. Mayer, 
G. W. Dye, 



Jas. 0\venhosser,J. N. Steel, 



B. F. Strano-, 
Wm. McThay, 
M. Saule, 
Wm. Scraer, 



L. Dilan, 
Gastan Stall, 
R. V. Ward, 



James Meek 
Joseph Finley, 

A. D. Kirk, 

B. Wood, 
Robert Murdock 
John Herbert, 
Lewis Meyers, 
Robt. McKoweu 
A. Milligan, 
Jacol) Turn, 
W. S. Darneal, 
C. Beechler, 

C. R. Moffett, 
H. B. Hodges, 
W. W. Wilson, 
H. Miles Moore 
C. A. Smith, 



A. Van-der-Hoeht. 



D. W. Railev, 
J. M. Fackler, 

B. G. Linch, 
A. O. Dowde, 
Christian Beck, 

, A. G. Beller, 
, A. G. Boyd, 
I. Frank Bird, 

C. Hundley, 
Jacob Mettier, 

, Frank A. Miller, 
C. Epperson, 
H. Ferrigan, 
R. S. Merchant, 
Jacob Snibsonn, 
, W. H. Mockber, 
B. Waller, 
G. D. Stevenson 
J.D.Abenorcargh, 
Jno. M. Railey, 
John Murdock, 
, A. S. Peck, 
Tyary Beetz, 
Peter Blez, 
, Thos. Joneloc, 
Lewis Shouse, 
T.D.S.Macdonell, 
Jas.O'Gorman, 
A. Dessert, 
G. W. Hood, 
Otto Clum, 
P. Beaussant, 
, A. Sporleder, 
Thos. Kearney, 



PLATTE COUNTY EMIGRATION. 

During the summer and fall of 1854 there was a heavy emigration 
from this county to Kansas ; probably not less than 500 claims were 
taken on the other side of the river Ijy Platte countians. The great 
rush for the rich lauds of Kansas, that could be had for a mere trifle, 
reminded old settlers here of the early settlement of the Platte Pur- 
chase immediately after it was opened for settlement. 

The following among other prominent citizens of the county went 
over during the period just mentioned : John W. Forman, R. R. Rees, 
David Lykins, William Barbee, James Whitlock, O. H. Brown, John 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 639 

H. Striiigfellow, AVilliam H. Til)l)s, Allen Wilkcrson, Jarrett Todd, 
George Quiuby, Daniel Tibbs, James Doniphan, William Fox, Am- 
brose Pembertou, .James Adkins, Dr. H. D. Oden, Judge Kiiykendall, 
L. F. Holling.sworth, Robert Tate, Perry Fleshnian. 

PLATTE CITY MEETING. 

All, or substantially all, who went from this county and from Mis- 
souri and the other Southern States were favorable to the pro-slavery 
cause, and were naturally very anxious to maintain Southern institu- 
tions in Kansas. But anti-slavery immigrants were pouring in in a 
constant stream, and much uneasiness began to be felt lest they should 
overrun the Territory. They were being sent in large numbers by 
organizations of immense wealth in the North for the express purpose 
of making Kansas a free State. On the other hand no organized 
eifort was being made in Missouri or the South to counteract them — 
there were no pro-slavery emigrant aid societies anywhere. The Self- 
Defensive Association, of this county, though they discussed the 
subject, failed to take any action in regard to it. All the friends of 
slavery who went there, went at their own expense, except in rare 
instances where individuals received slight assistance from private 
parties. 

Believing that the pro-slavery settlers in Kansas must inevitably b^ 
out-numbered and overawed unless something were done to counter- 
act the colonization scheme of the anti-slavery societies of the North, 
a number of the leading men of the county called a public meeting to 
be held at Platte City, November (5 ('54), to consider the matter and 
take such action as should be thought advisable. 

The meeting was largely attended, many of those mentioned as be- 
ing present at the Weston Self-Defense meeting, attending here also. 
Gen. Atchison was the principal speaker. He explained what the 
emigrants and societies were doing : — 

He said they were sending free soil voters to Kansas by hundreds, 
all who applied for passage ; that they provided those who wanted to 
settle with the means to enter land and to subsist themselves and 
families for a year and that even then they were to assist them fur- 
ther if necessary ; that there was no attempt to conceal the fact that 
they were sent out to vote and make the Territory a free State ; that 
now, just preceding the election of a delegate to Congress, they were 
flocking in in large numbers, and that doubtless many of them came 
for no other purpose than to vote and then return. 

Gen. Atchison declared that this wholesale system of anti-slavery 
colonization must be counteracted, that the people of Platte county 



640 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

can assist materially in a counter movement and should do so ; that 
we have hundreds among us, especialh^ of the young men, who would 
be glad of the opportunity to go to Kansas and make homes for them- 
selves if they were properly assisted and encouraged. 

Continuing, he said that if a set of fanatics and demagogues a 
thousand miles off could afford to advance their money and exert 
every nerve to abolitionize the Territory and exclude the slaveholder, 
when they have not the least personal interest, " What is your dutj', 
when you reside in one day's journey of the Territory, and when your 
peace, your quiet and your property depends upon your action ? You' 
can, without an exertion, send 500 of your young men who will vote 
in favor of 3'our institutions. Should each county in the State of Mis- 
souri only do its duty, the question will be decided quietly and peace- 
fully at the ballot box. If we are defeated, then Missouri and the 
other Southern States will have shown themselves recreant to their 
interest and will deserve their fate." 

The meeting resulted, as popular meetings usually do, in nothing 
of any practical importance ; no organization for colonization was 
formed ; no fund to assist emigrants, worthy of mention, raised, small 
amounts by a number of gentlemen were contributed, but the aggre- 
gate was not enough to have maintained a colony for a school dis- 
trict. 

Whatever assistance was given after this was given by individuals 
on their own private accounts, principally in the way of provisions 
and farm supplies. Even this was contributed by only a small num- 
ber comparatively, and cash was given even more sparingly. Many 
were opposed to colonization upon principle, even if the other side did 
resort to it, and they refused to do anything; others were in favor of 
directing all their energies and means to looking out for their slave 
property at home, providing against kidnapers and depredations in 
their own midst. Beside all this, colonists were by no means abund- 
ant — those who would consent to accept help. 

FIRST ELECTIONS — PRO-SLAVEKY V. ANTI-SLAVERY. 

Nevertheless, the friends of slavery in Kansas proved themselves to 
be strong enough to carry the election by a large majority. The vote 
(November 29, 1854) stood: pro-slavery, 2,258 ; opposition, 575. The 
total vote was 2,833. According to the Territorial census of that fall 
the number of votes in the Territory was 2,905, or 73 more than were 
cast. Mr. Whitfield was elected to Congress and took liis seat, with- 
out question. 

During the following winter affairs in this county became somewhat 
settled, though several times there was considerable excitement caused 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 641 

by the escape or enticement away of slaves. Kansas immigrants 
sent out by tiie aid societies came over in large numbers, soliciting 
help — grain, provisions, etc., — such supplies as the farmers had to 
spare, and they were generally not refused. Only those who were 
believed to be interested more in the negroes than in getting aid were 
turned off, and they were invariably ordered to leave the county. 

Early in the following spring, however, the tide of immigration for 
Kansas, both pro-slavery and anti-slavery, set in again. Excitement 
began to increase. The election for members of the Territorial Leg- 
islature was appointed for the 30th day of March, 1855, and each 
party put a full ticket in the field. Both sides made strong efforts to 
carry the election, and the canvas was one of much bitterness. A 
number of personal encounters occurred, but without serious results. 
The pi'o-slavei-y ticket was again successful. Among the members of 
the Legislature elected were Hons. A. M. Coffey, David Lykins, 
William Barbee, John W. FormanandR. R. Rees, of the Council, and 
Hons. James Whitlock, O. H. Brown, Allen Wilkerson, William H. 
Tibhs and John H. Stringfellow, all formerly of this county. 

In this election the anti-shivery party claimed that there was illegal 
voting on the pro-slavery side. There was probably illegal voting on 
both sides. The colonization of voters had been inaugurated, and 
when that is resorted to it is hardly reasonable to expect perfectly 
fair elections. 

On account of alleged irregularities a special election was ordered 
May 22, 1855, at Lawrence, Stenson, Douglass, " 110," Council 
Grove and Leavenworth. This also resulted favorably to the pro- 
slavery ticket. It is not questioned that at that time the pro-slavery 
party had an overwhelming majority in the Territoiy. 

THE BAD FEELING PRECEDING THE PARKVILLE "LUMINARY" AFFAIR. 

A great deal of bad feeling was engendered by the elections, both 
in Kansas and on this side of the river. Pro-slavery settlers there 
felt that each contest was to decide whether or not they were to be 
forced to give up their homes and be driven out of the country. 
Those of them who had slaves very well knew that they could not 
live in the Territory and keep them after the anti-slavery party came 
into power — they could hardly keep them as it was. Those who had 
no slaves were not less zealous than their slaveholding friends and 
neighbors for the pro-slavery cause, and as a rule they would not 
think of living in the Territory if it was to be handed over to the 
free soilers. 



642 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

The anti-slavery colonists bated slavery above evei-y thing else — ap- 
parently to madness. Mr. Garrison, the great apostle, very well 
expressed their feelings on the subject when he said : " Small-pox is a 
nuisance ; strychnine is a nuisance ; mad-dogs are a nuisance ; slav- 
ery is a nuisance ; and slaveholders are a nuisance ; it is our busi- 
nes, nay, it is our duty, to hate nuisances ; we propose, therefore, 
with the exception of strychnine, to exterminate this catalogue from 
beginning to end."^ 

On this side of the river the people, besides being relatives and 
friends of the pro-slavery residents of the other side, believed, and 
probably not without reason, that if slavery were driven out of Kan- 
sas there would be little security for it here — that at least their ne- 
groes would be rendered hardlj^ more than valueless. They there- 
fore felt a deep interest in the elections in the Territory. 

These causes combined to raise popular feeling to a fever heat. It 



DESTRUCTION OF THE PARKVILLE "LUMINARY OFFICE. 

Whilst the excitement was at its height in this county and the 
people almost or quite beside themselves, popular frenzy directed' itself 
against a free soil newspaper office at Parkville, the Luminary, pub- 
lished by Mr. George Park, an old and very estimable citizen of the 
county.^ Mr. Park was opposed to slavery on principle, and being a 
man of strong, positive convictions, and thoroughly without fear, he 
boldly advocated the doctrine of emancipation, and, generally, the 
views and policies of the anti-slavery party through the columns of 
his paper. 

In times of great excitement men are apt to do and saj' a great 
many things — men who at other times arc looked upon as the repre- 
sentatives of soberness and conservatism, moderation and kindness of 
heart; men of the highest standing, and generally of the best im- 
pulses — which in ordinary times they would avoid further than they 
would avoid death. 

Mr. Park was a citizen of unquestioned estimation and worth; so 
were and are the citizens who were concerned in the destruction of 
his newspaper office — men, many of whom stand as high, and tiien 



1 John Brown and sons, James Moutgomer}' and a great many others afterwards 
proceeded to carry out this threat. Subsequently, slaveholders were not entirely exter- 
minated, but slavery was. It amounted to 81,414,010.00 in this county according to 
the assessment of 1860. 

'' Mr. Park has resided in Illinois for many years. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 643 

stood, in public esteem as any within the borders of the county, the 
representatives of the character, intelligence and worth of their respect- 
ive communities. 

He believed that slavery was a crime, honestly and conscientiously 
believed it. They believed, not less honestly and conscientiously, that 
for one to say and teach that it was a crime in a community where a 
large number of slaves were held was itself a crime. He warmly sup- 
ported and encoui'aged the anti-slavery cause in Kansas, and causti- 
cally criticised the conduct of the pro-slavery adherents there and here. 
They thought it bad enough to be menaced with financial ruin and 
social and industrial revolution from beyond the river, without being 
reprobated in their own midst. 

In the flush of their indignation and )>assion they did what they 
themselves, when not lost to reason, would not be slow or moderate 
in condemning — they took the law in their own hands and threw his 
newspaper office material into the Missouri river. 

Regarding his paper as a fire-brand in their midst, a public meeting 
was hastily called to consider what should be done. It was decided 
to suppress it, destroy it ; and resolutions were adopted to that effect. 
A committee ^ was appointed to see that the purpose expressed in the 
resolutions was accomplished, and on the 15th of April, 1855, by 
a[)pointment of the committee, a large body of citizens, more than a 
hundred, met at Parkville to assist or encourage the destruction of 
the office. The publication was not renewed. 

ANTI-SLAVERY MINISTERS EXPELLED. 

During the Civil War newspapers were suppressed and ministers 
interdicted from preaching everywhere in Missouri, for having 
sympathy with the South. A few years before, they were, in a few 
instances, proscribed in parts of Western Missouri by individuals for 
antagonizing Southern institutions. What power beneath the skies 
can control the passions of men in times of popular commotion ? 
Until humanity shall grow wiser and better than it has ever been, ex- 
cesses from time to time will reappear. 

About the same time the Lumiiiarij office was destroyed, two or 



' The committee was composed of Johu Winston, Hugh Sweeney, Jesse Miller, 
Lycurgus Sheparol, (Mr. Shepard was not iu Parlcville the day the oflJce was destroyed), 
Yard Coclierill, W. J. Miller and Dr. Joseph Walker. Suit was brought against 
several of them afterw.ards, and the case was carried into one of the upper counties, 
and continued over until the war was well under way. It was then compromised by 
the payment from defendants of .$2,500. It was not considered a favorable time to 
defend against actions brought for the destruction of anti-slavery newspapers. 



644 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

three ministers wiio were charged with backing Abolition doctrines 
and counseling with the negroes were notified to leave the count}'. 
They left shortly after receiving the notification. The names of the 
only two whom, so far as we have been able to learn, were expelled, 
were Revs. Christian Morris and Allen. They were ministers in the 
M. E. Church. Rev. Morris' pastorate was near Hillsljoro, in this 
county, about eight miles from Leavenworth. 

THE OUTRAGE UPON WILLIAM PHILLIPS. 

The shameless outrage upon William Phillips, of Leavenworth, 
was no less an outrage upon this county. He was brought over to 
Weston on the 17th-of May, 1855, by parties from Kansas, and most 
scandalously treated. The following account of the affair has been 
furnished us by a gentleman residing in Leavenworth: — 

Mr. Phillips was a resident of Leavenworth, a lawyer by profession, 
aud a violent anti-slavery man. He took an active part in politics, 
and was aggressive, not to say abusive, in his denunciations of slavery 
and slaveholders. After the spring election he contested the validity 
of the election of the members of tlie Legislature from Leavenworth 
and succeeded in having the result set aside and a new election 
ordered. The friends of those whose election he had thus attacked 
and invalidated, claimed that he made a false affidavit and misrepre- 
sented the facts. 

The difiiculty assumed a personal cast. He was ordered to leave 
the country', and, refusing to do so, was seized and taken over to Platte 
county at or near Weston, where he was tarred and feathered, and 
one side of his head shaved. He was then rode on a rail and sold at 
auction, a negro acting as auctioneer, after which he was released. 

The perpetrators of the dastardly outrage came on this side of the 
river to avoid the law in Kansas, and then returned beyond the juris- 
diction of our courts. They came heavily armed, and set the whole 
community at defiance. No responsible resident of the county 
approved the act, but, on the contrary, was everywhere condemned 
and denounced. The citizens of Weston, especially, were loud in their 
protest, and at once took steps to protect their community from an}' 
similar or other outrage. 

ANTI-SLAVERY REBELLION. 

In Kansas, after the spring elections of 1855, all the machinery of 
the territorial government was regular!}' aud lawfully set up and put in 
motion. Gov. Reedcr, of Pennsylvania, had been appointed to the 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. ■ 645 

office of Governor of the Territoi-y by the President, and a Secretary, 
Supreme Court Marshal and other officers had also been appointed, 
and had entered upon the duties of their respective offices. The 
Legislature had met and provided a code of laws, and county officers 
were everywhere peacefully engaged in the discharge of their duties. 
Their authority was resisted nowhere, and it was hoped that an era 
of law and order would ensue. 

But politicians out of office are the most restless of men. The 
leaders of the anti-slavery movement, who had proudly hoped to 
become men of prominence and position in the officiate of the Ter- 
ritory, were dissatisfied with the result of the elections, and set about 
to overthrow the government and install themselves in power. Pre- 
liminary to the accomplishment of this a convention was called to meet 
at Lawrence on the 14th of August, 1855, which, on the day appointed, 
was largely attended by the leading free soil men of the Territory. It 
continued in session two days, and adopted resolutions, caliin"- a con- 
vention to meet at Topeka on the 19th of September, 1855, for the 
purpose of drafting a State constitution, and urging anti-slavery 
settlers to elect delegates to the convention. James H. Lane and John 
Brown, Jr., were leading spirits in the movement. Lane also caused 
a similar convention to be held at Big Springs, when violent and 
revolutionary resolutions were passed. 

At Topeka, on the 19th and 20th of September, they went through 
the form of drafting and submitting a so-called State constitution. 
After that they refused to take any further part in the regular, law- 
fully authorized elections in the Territory, and sj'stematically set ou 
foot a movement to disregard and resist the lawful authorities. 
Holding an election for the adoption of their constitution, at which 
no body voted but themselves, thej^ of course, declared it adopted. 
Thereupon they proceeded to " elect " a Legislature, State officei's and 
all, including even a " Governor." It was always supposed, and is 
yet, that the President appoints the Governors and State officers of the 
Territories. 

Nevertheless, they set up a full and complete "government," in all 
its parts, in opposition to the Governor appointed by the President, 
the Supreme Court also appointed by him, and the Legislature and 
county officers elected under autliority of the laws of the United 
States. They attempted to nullify the laws of the Territory and the 
United States, and refused to pay their ta.xes, obey the writs of the 
courts, and openly inaugurated a rebellion of the most pronounced 



646 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

character. A militia force was enrolled and armed, numbering 800 
men, with John Brown and his sons conspicuous in the force. 

TROUBLE BEGINS — WAKARUSA WAR. 

In November (1855) Sheriff Jones, of Douglas county, was pro- 
ceeding on his way to court with a free State prisoner, for whom he 
had a writ, when he was set upon by a mob of free soilers, heavily 
armed, and his jirisoner taken from him. Bronson, the prisoner, was 
tendered an ovation when he entered Lawrence, where he delivered 
a fiery speech against slaveholders and the territorial government. 
The free soilers resolved to rally around him and defy the authorities. 
They assembled in full force at that place, all underarms and provided 
with artillery. 

Gov. Shannon called out the militia. In answer to his call a large 
number of men went from this county and offered their services. 
Among the first to go was a squad under Capt. L. F. Hollingsworth, 
though he was not elected captain until the town of Delaware was 
reached, on the opposite side of the river. Bluford Thompson, of 
Clay county, was made first lieutenant. Among those remembered as 
being along were John W. Jones, a lieutenant ; J. W. Miller, Joseph 
Settle, Dr. Joseph Walker, Johnson Hughes, Archibald Hughes, 
Daniel Stewart, Robert Tate, George Quinby and Samuel Ralls. 

Two considerable squads also went from Weston, one commanded 
by Capt. Wm. Martin, numbering probably 50 or 75 men. 

Others went over about the same time, altogether nearl}' 300. One 
company was commanded by Daniel Cary ; W. H. Spratt was first 
lieutenant. This company numbered 125 men. A battery, consist- 
ing of two small guns, was taken along. These had been drawn from 
the State prior to the Kansas troubles, bj^ a company in this county, 
organized under the old militia laws. Gen. Atchison, Capt. Wallace 
and G. Sprague accompanied the force. The latter was adjutant. 
Capt. Hollingsworth yielded the command of his company to Capt. 
Wallace, who was an experienced ofiiccr. Gen. Atchison had general 
control of the command. 

There was no regular organization, however, no drills or anything 
of the kind. It was simply a spontaneous uprising of volunteers to 
go over to Kansas, and see to it that Lane and Brown's forces at Law- 
rence should not overrun the territory, set the laws at defiance, and 
rob and murder or drive out the pro-slavery settlers. 

They proceeded to near the mouth of the Wakariisa, about six miles 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 647 

east of Lawrence, where they encamped, and where a large force soon 
collected. Gov. Shannon also had a considerable force at Lecomp- 
ton just west of Lawrence. The place was therefore virtually belea- 
guered. Tlie Governor's combined force, including the Missourians, 
numliered about 1,500, but lai'gely composed of Kansas territorial 
militia. Lane and Brown's forces occupied Lawrence ; Dr. C. Robin- 
son was chief commander. 

The militia were now ready to move on the place, but before doing 
so a conference was called. Fortunately this resulted in at least a 
temporary adjustment of the difBcultios. The free soilers were to let 
the law take its course, and both sides agreed to disband their forces. 
The militia were disbanded and the ^Missourians returned home. 

The only other events that occurred during the so-called VVakarusa 
War were the capture of S. C. Pomeroy by Capt. Wallace and a 
squad of his men, including Robt. Tate, Joseph Settle and Joiin W. 
Jones, of this county, and the killing of Thos. W. Barbee, a free soiier. 
He and two othei's were met under arms near Lawrence, by a squad 
of militia, and on being ordered to surrender, they refused to do so. 
They were fired upon and Barbee was killed. Thus closed the Wa- 
karusa War. 

HOSTILITIES RE-OPENED THE TAKING OF LAWRENCE. 

The free soilers persisted in going through the form of carrying on 
a so-called territorial government, in defiance of the regular, territorial 
and the National authorities. Numerous depredations were committed 
and a great many indictments found by the grand juries. Under the 
charge of Judge Lecompte, presiding justice of the Supreme Court, 
appointed and constituted by the President, a number, then leaders, 
were indicted for treason and warrants issued for their arrest, includ- 
ing " Governor " Robinson. John Brown and his followers were in 
open revolt and in arms. 

President Pierce sent a message to Congress, January 24, 185(1, 
strongly indorsing the regular territorial government at Lecompton, 
and declaring that those connected with the so-called Topeka govern- 
ment were in open rebellion against the properly constituted author- 
ities. Soon afterwards he issued a proclamation commanding all 
persons engaged in unlawful coniliinations against the regular govern- 
ment of Kansas to disperse and retire peaceably to their homes. 

On the 19th of April, 185(3, Sherifi' Jones attempted to arrest S. N. 
Woods at Lawrence, and was openly resisted by an armed mob. The 
next day he renewed his efforts to apprehend the offender and eom- 

36 



648 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

manded the bj'standers (free soilers) to assist him. They refused. 
On the 23d he returned with a force of U. S. troops and took into 
custody several prisoners for whom he had writs. That night an at- 
tempt was made to assassinate him and he was seriously wounded. 

Soon afterwax-ds the militia was called out to assist in enforcing 
the law. Citizens of Platte county again volunteered for the main- 
tenance of law and order in the territory. Several hundred went, 
all under the command of Maj. Jesse Morin. Among them was -a 
company under Capt. John Wallace. His company, after they arrived 
then enlisted in the regular Kansas militia and remained in Kansas 
nearly or quite a year. This was thought to be necessary to assist in 
protecting the people against the depredations — murders, arsons and 
almost every crime in the catalogue — of the Browns, Montgomery?, 
Mountjoys and other freebooters and desperadoes. 

In May, 1856, the volunteers proceeded from this count}' to Wa- 
karusa and thence to Lecompton. Uniting with the regular Kansas 
militia and with other volunteers from Missouri, they were then or- 
dered to move on Lawrence. Within a short distance of the place the 
troops were halted and Sheriif Jones, Deputy U. S. Marshal Fain, 
Capt. Wallace and several others went forward to see whether or not 
resistance would be again made to the execution of the process of the 
courts. No armed force was to be seen anywhere ; they had fled the 
place. The sheriff had a number of writs, but the parties against 
whom they were issued could not be found. 

The grand jury had condemned the stone hotel building in Lawrence as 
a refuge and fortress for armed outlaws, and the court had ordered its 
destruction. A couple of newspapers published there were also con- 
demned as seditious publications, advising assassination and other 
crimes. They were also ordered to be destroyed. 

The property was removed from the hotel and the United States 
Deputy Marshal ordered the cannons to be opened upon it. It was 
soon in ruins. The newspaper offices were in the building and were 
destroyed at the same time. 

It now being believed that no further resistance of any importance 
would be met with by the officers of the hiw, the Missourians, except 
Capt. Wallace and his compan}', and a few others, again returned to 
their homes. 

The respectable element of the free State colonists now yielded 
obedience to the law and resumed their usual occupations ; but the 
outlaw clement went on the road and engaged in all kinds of crimes 
and depredations. John Brown and forty men went to the residence 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 649 

of an old man liy the name of Doyle, on the night of the 24th of May, 
ami, pretending that he was sent to have the old gentleman and his 
two sons appear before an investigating committee, fell upon them in 
their own yard and brutally murdered all three of them. From this 
time on murders, robberies and outrages of all kinds were kept up until 
after Brown was driven out of the Territory. 

THE ROUT OF BROWN AT OSAWATOMIE. 

Soon affairs in Kansas again assumed such a phase that both the 
Kansas territorial militia and the regular troops were kept constantly 
employed in pursuit of armed bands of marauders and thieves. The 
country was in a state of anarchy. 

Once more the citizens of this county were called upon to cross the 
line. Acting Gov. Woodson issued a proclamation calling on all law 
abiding people to assist in restoring law and order. 

Volunteers went over from this county in strong force — about 400 
of them. Gen. Atchison was at the head of the force, though Col. 
Jno. W. Reid was the active military commander. They camped on 
Bull creek, about twenty or twenty-five miles from Osawatomie, the 
home and headquarters of the notorious John Brown, and there they 
were joined by other forces. The principal officers of the combined 
forces were Gen. Jno. W. Reid, B. F. Stringfellow, L. A. Maclean, J. 
W. Whitfield, Geo. W. Clarke, Wm. A. Heiskell, N. P. Richardson. 
F. J. Marshall and H. T. Titus. 

While encamped at Bull creek, on the 28th of August, Gen. Reed 
called for volunteers from the command to make a forced march upon 
Osawatomie for the capture of John Brown and his party. More 
men offered themselves than were needed. Gen. Reid selected about 
50 from the entire number, most of whom were from this county, in- 
cluding Capt. Wallace, Capt. J. W. Miller, Granville Adkins and 
others. 

Starting after dark, they reached Osawatomie about sunrise, and 
as they came in sight of the town they were fired upon by one of 
Brown's pickets, who proved to l)e a son of his. Frederick Brown, 
after firing upon Reid's advance, fled toward Osawatomie at full 
speed, but was hotly pursued and was overtaken by several of the 
pursuing party. Rev. Martin White shot him dead from his horse. 

Brown and his party had taken a sou of Rev. White's from his 
home a short time before and, in cold blood, had murdered him. An 
eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth had now been taken. 

The pursuing party dashed up into the town and began firing into 



650 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

Brown's men indiscriminately. The latter, having heard the shooting 
on the approach of the militia, attempted to form and withstand the 
attack, but without success. After the first fire they fled precipitately 
and rushed into the timber on the Marais Du Cygne river, without 
order and every one for himself. Reid's men were among them 
when they reached the river, shooting right and left and every where, 
and it seemed that none of them would escape. But thoroughly 
panicked, and without stopping either to fight or surrender, Browrt 
and his whole company jumped into the river and swam across to the 
opposite side. Several were shot on this side and several while in the 
stream. Some of them were taken prisoners and were afterwards 
turned over to the authorities of Kansas, except one, an inhuman 
butcher known as " Dutch Charley," who attempted to escape and 
was shot. 

Brown reported that he had but 41 men, but several of the attack- 
ing party, whose judgment as former soldiers and whose word as 
citizens may be relied upon, say that he had at least 120.^ It was 
not a great while after this that he went to Virginia. 

ATTACK UPON AND ROBBERY OF HICKORY POINT. 

About this time, or soon afterwards, a scouting party from Law- 
rence, under one Harvey, was engaged in a series of robberies and 
outrages in the vicinity of Hickory Grove, in Jefferson county. They 
robbed Judge Kujdvendall, formerly of this county ; 'Squire Perry 
Fleshraan, also from Platte county (from whom they stole a horse), 
and a number of others. They now moved on Hickory Grove to sack 
that place. Col. Sam. A. Lowe was the leading citizen of the place, 
and kept a hotel there. 'Squire Fleshman sent him word that the 
niauraders intended to make a descent on the town, and he hastily 
collected about eighteen men and prepared to make a defense. 
Among Lowe's men were John Huntington, William Gardiner, 
William Mayatt, and several others who had settled there from Platte 
county. They all took shelter in a heavily-built log blacksmith shop. 

The marauders were more than a hundred strong, and had a six- 
pound cannon. They opened on the shop with both cannon and small 
arms. Lowe's men replied by a spirited fire. The fight was kept up 
from about 10 a. m. until night. 

In the afternoon a squad of militia came up, about eighteen in num- 
ber. After their arrival a triangular fight was carried on ; but they 



' Facts furnished by Mr. Granville Adkins and several others. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. (351 

were not strong enough to drive the marauders otF. In this squad 
were several from this county, iuchiding First Lieut. Randolph, 
Second Lieut. Richard Bennett and William Rader, now of Platte City. 

Twice attempts were made to burn the shop by running wagon loads 
of hay, set on fire, against it. Both attempts tailed. Lowe's men lay 
flat on the dirt floor, and continued to load and shoot in that position. 
During a momentary cessation of the firing William Mayatt, formerly 
of the vicinity of Iatan,.in this county, stepped to the door to see what 
was being done on the outside. He was instantly shot, and fell mor- 
tally wounded. He died the next day. 

During the night the marauders raised the siege and moved off to- 
ward Leavenworth. They were captured the next day by a command 
of U. S. dragoons, and were afterwards indicted and tried for 
murder, robbery and other crimes 

All the "chinking" was knoclced out of the log shop by the can- 
non, and several logs were knocked in. One ball knocked the horn 
of the anvil off, and by another the stoek of the gun of one of the 
defending parties was shattered to pieces. 

" THE HEROINE OF THE KANSAS WAR." 

During the progress of the fight at Hickory Grove, and late in the 
afternoon, an incident occurred which illustrated, in a thrilling and 
noble manner, the heroism and self-sacrificing devotion of wife and 
womankind. Mr. Huntington, one of the defenders of the fort, re- 
sided a short distance out of town. All day his wife had watched with 
blanched cheeks and treraoring heart the terrible bombardment going 
on. At each report of the cannon she felt that her own life would 
go out, of despair ; and when the attempts were made to burn the 
building all hope seemed to be lost. 

At last she determined to go to her husband — take her own life 
in her hands and go to him, or perish in the attempt ; go and be 
with him, and care for him if he were wounded and dying, or if 
he were still unhurt, but doomed to die in the fort, to stay by his 
side and die with him. What the bravest of the brave would not 
have dared to undertake, she was resolved to do — run the gauntlet 
of a galling fire and join the defenders of the fort. 

Accordingly, saddling a horse and providing herself with water an d 
other refreshments for her husband and friends, she mounted into the 
saddle and made a desperate dash for the fort. The men on the inside 
and their friends on the outside sent up a wild cheer, that fairly 
shook the earth ; and the marauders — even they ceased to fire and 
joined in loud huzzas. 



652 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 



CLOSE OF THE TROUBLES. 

This was one of the closing events of the Kansas troubles, so far 
as Platte county's connection with them is concerned. The marau- 
ders, opposite to this county, generally were either put down or 
driven from the country. A number of them were sent to the peniten- 
tiary, for differing terms of service. 

In the meantime Gens. Atchison and Reid had gone into encamp- 
ment at Franklin, near Lawrence, where a force of about 2,700 men 
were collected, including a large force of Kansas territorial militia. 
They were visited by Gov. Geary, who had succeeded Gov. Shannon 
in office, and were warmly thanked for the service they had rendered 
the territory in the work of restoring law and order. He assured 
them that from that time forward he was satisfied he could maintain 
order with the forces of the regular United States troops and of the 
Kansas territorial militia whom he could call out at his command. 

The following preamble and resolutes speak for themselves : — 

" Whereas, Under the proclamation of acting Governor Woodson 
we have I'eached the town of Franklin, three miles from Lawrence, on 
our way to the latter place in search of an organized band of mur- 
derei'sand robbers said to be under the command of Lane — who have 
plundered and butchered large numbers of our fellow-citizens — with 
the intention of overpowering and driving that band from the territory ; 
aud, 

" Whereas, We have met and conferred with Gov. Geary, who 
arrived into the territory since we were called into the field, and who 
has given us satisfactory assurances of his intention and power to 
execute the laws of the territory and called on us to dissolve our pre- 
sent organization and to leave the preservation of the peace of the 
territory to his hands ; and, 

" Whereas, Gov. Geary has assured us of his intention to muster 
into service a portion of the militia of the territory for the purpose of 
giving the strongest guaranty of protection of its citizens ; therefore, 

"Resolved, 1. That relying upon the assurances of Gov. Geary, and 
the spirit of order-loving and law-abiding citizens, we cordially con- 
form to his wishes by dissolving our organization, and that we will 
disperse to our homes as speedily as the circumstances in which we 
are placed will admit. 

"2. That the Governor be requested to recognize and place in the 
field a battalion (part mounted and part infantry) of Kansas militia 
and distrilnite them over the territory in such a manner as will best 
protect the settlers in their homes, persons and property. 

" 3. That in view of the condition of things in Southern Kansas, we 
respectfully recomraen<l to the Governor that he station a company of 
one hundred mounted men on Pottawatomie creek in Franklin, An- 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 653 

dersoii and Lykins counties to give protection to the law-abiding 
citizens of that section of the country. 

4. That we respectfully recommend Col. H. Titus, of the Douglas 
county militia, for commander of the territorial militia to be mustered 
into the service. 

G. W. Clark, 
Saml. J. Jones, 
And Others, 

Committee. 

A copy of the preamble and resolutions ordered sent to the 
Governor 

(Signed) D. R. Atchison, 

Chairman. 

Thus, so far as this county's connection with it is concerned, the 
Kansas war virtually closed. From that time on immigration poured 
into the Territory in a heavy stream ; but more from the free States 
than from the South. At the fall election of 1857 the free soilers jjar- 
ticipated in the regular territorial elections, for the first time since the 
spring of 1855, and were successful. The pro-slavery party yielded 
gracefully to the result, a thing the free soilers had persistently refused 
to do from the first settlement of the Territory. Those who wished 
to hold slaves moved out ; the peaceful mass of pro-slavery citizens 
did the same thing. Kansas became the rendezvous for runaway and 
kidnaped negroes, and all alolig the border slave property decreased 
rapidly in value until the Civil War, when it was wiped out entirely. 

It has long been the fashion with a certain class of narrow-minded 
bigots and fanatics, when speaking of the Kansas troubles, to charac- 
terize the Missourians and the Southern people who went to Kansas to 
settle, or to assist the properly constituted authorities of the territory 
in the preservation of law and order, as " border ruffians," and the 
like. That in a few instances individuals who went there committed 
acts not to be excused or palliated goes without saying, but that as a 
rule or by any considerable numbei's wrongs were done or depreda- 
tions committed is most certainly not the case. They went to 
restoi'e law and order, not to destroy it ; and as a rule those who went 
from this county and from this State were as fine a class of men — 
gentlemen of character, means and intelligence, citizens of the highest 
standing — as could have been collected from the mass of people in 
any community in the country. We sent no John Browns, Jim Mout- 
gomerys, Mountjoys, Jim Lanes, Jennisons, nor S. C. Pomeroys. It 
would be an insult to the men who went to Kansas from this count}' and 
this State to name them in connection with the individuals mentioned 
above, even by way of contrast. 



CHAPTEE X. 
THE CIVIL WAR. 

Causes of the War — Secession Efforts to Compromise — Beginning of Hostilities — 
Affairs in Missouri in 1800-61 — Attitude in Platte County — Enlistments for the 
Southern Army — Wallace Jacljson's Company — Campaigns and Battles — Capt. 
Stewart's and Capt. Thompson's Companies — "The Extra Battalion" — Col. 
Winston's Regiment — Capts. Mitchell's, Rogers', and Kuykendall's Companies — 
Companies of Capts. Spratt, Crisman, Miller and Morton — Formation of Winston's 
Regiment — Campaigns and Battles — Second Re-orgauization — Other Companies — 
Col. Burnes', Capts. Downing's and Robertson's Companies — Col. Childs' Convoy 
of Volunteers — Companies of Capts. Lanter and McGee — Of Capt. Carr — Gates' 
Regiment and Hughes' Battalion — Services — Casualties — Last of the Southern 
Companies — Capt. Woodsman's Company — Col. Thornton's Recruits — Total 
Number from this County — Union Enlistments — Capt. Phelp's Company — Col. 
Price's Company — The Paw-paw Militia — The Sixteenth Kansas — Capt. Fitzger- 
ald's Regiment —Occupation of the County by the Federals — Fight, Etc. — Maj. 
Joseph's Campaign — The Bee Creek Fight — Capture of Col. Moonlight and Maj. 
Ralph — Maj. Huff comes to Weston — Gordon's Departure South — Morgan's Ad- 
vent — Clough's Raid of Robbers — Wisconsin and Ohio Troops — Other Troops in 
1862 — Skirmishes and Robberies in 1862 — Parkville Skirmish — Goose Neck 
Fight — Raid of Thieves and Negroes — 1863 — A Reign of Terror — Robbing an old 
Colored Man — Raid on Stump Cockrill — Murder of Toney Tinsley — Kansas Red 
Legs — Hangings and Robberies — Destruction of the Sentinel Office — Paw-paw 
Militia Excitement — Threatened Trouble at Platte City — Other Events in 1863 — 
Events of 1864 — Thornton's Recruiting Expedition — Raid of the Bashi-bazouks — 
Other Tragedies — Fights and Robberies — Capture of Parkville — Fight at Ridge- 
ly — Murder of Geo. Fielding — Killing of Phineas Wood, Throckmorton and 
Andy Smith — Slash Valley and Buena Vista Fights — Murder of Dr. Joseph 
Walker — Exodus to Montana and the West — Affairs in 1865. — The Close of the 
War. 

I. 

CAUSES OF THE WAR. 

Like the Kansas troubles, the Civil War grew out of the agitation 
of the slaver\' question — was but a continuatiou or renewal, in fact, 
of the conflict between the same forces that antagonized each other 
in the Territory, onlj^on a national scale now, and with the advantages 
in favor of the anti-slavery part}', far greater than they had ever 
been in favor of their opponents. 

In the North, which was stronger as a section than the South, and 
could, if it would, control the Government, the anti-slavery senti- 
ment had been developing for a number of years with wonderful 
(654) 



HISTORY OF PLATTE GOUXTY. 655 

rapidity, and there now remained no longer any doubt that it was 
destined to sweep over and win to the anti-slavery party all the North- 
ern States. 

In 1852, John P. Hale, the free soil candidate, received 156,149 votes 
out of 3,144,120, and failed, of course, to carry a single State ; in 1856, 
John C. Fremont, free soil, or Eepublican, received 1,341,264 votes of 
the 4,073,967 cast, and carried Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Massachu- 
setts and Michigan ; and in 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected, re- 
ceiving 1,86(5,352 of the 4,676,853 votes cast, and carrying California, 
Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, 
Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, 
Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin. 

Revolutions never go backwards. These figui'es showed with un- 
mistakable certainty that the solid North against slavery was simplj' 
a question of time. The expectation and even the hope of ever main- 
taining it in any of the Territories or new States to be formed were 
abandoned. The only question left open for discussion, was, " Would 
the anti-slavery North, now coming into possession of the Govern- 
ment, be content with the exclusion of slavery from the Territories 
and new States — would not the anti-slavery party, flushed with 
victor}', and embittered by a hard struggle, attempt to establish it in 
tiie States where it had always existed, regardless of the will of their 
people?" 

Many patriotic men of the South and of the North hoped and be- 
lieved — the hope was father to the conviction — that the slavery 
question could be amicably adjusted by the exclusion of slavery from 
the Territories and new States to be formed, united with the policy of 
non-interference by the General Government or the people of other 
States with it in those States where it already existed. It could have 
been so adjusted if human nature had not been what it was, and is. A 
majority of the people of the country were rapidly coming to believe that 
slavery was a curse and a crime, and the resolution was already formed 
to wipe it out at any cost. The principal reasons that prompted them 
to demand its exclusion from the Territories and the new States to be 
formed, would support with equal force a demand to extinguish it 
throughout the whole country. 

As early as June 17, 1858, Mr. Lincoln declared that, " A house 
divided against itself cannot stand. I believe that this government 
can not endure permanently, half slave and half free. I do not ex- 
pect the Union to dissolve ; but I do expect it will cease to be di- 
vided • * • \ye ai-g ijQ^y into t[i(, fifth year since a policy was in- 



656 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

augunited with the avowed object aud confident promise of putting an 
end to the slavery agitation. Under the operation of this policy tliat 
agitation has not only not ceased, but has considerably augmented." 
So four months afterwards, Mr. Seward said, " Shall I tell you what 
this collision means? They who think it is accidental, unnecessary, 
the work of interested or fanatical agitators, and therefore ephemeral, 
mistake the case altogether. It is an irrepressible conflict between 
opposing and enduring forces, and it means that the United States 
must and will, sooner or later, become either entirely a slave-holding 
nation or entirely a free soil nation. * * * It is the failure to 
comprehend this great truth that induces so many unsuccessful at- 
tempts at final compromise between the slave and free States, and it 
is the existence of this great fact that renders all pretended com- 
promises, when made, vain and ephemeral. Startling as this saying 
may appear to you, fellow-citizens, it is by no means an orignial idea 
with me, or even a modern one." 

Mr. Lincoln became President in 1861, Mr. Seward, Secretary of 
State, and the whole Cabinet was constructed of like material, The 
House had been Republican for two years, and the South was rapidly 
changing its political complexion. 

With this change in the administration of the Government, the 
plain, bold alternative stalked in befoi-e the people of the South — the 
abolition of slavery and a complete revolution in their industrial sys- 
tem, together with all the evils that they believed would follow, or, a 
complete separation from the North: peaceably to withdraw if they 
could, forcibly if they must. All the world knows the course they 
took and its result. 

The Southern people had a l)illion and a half of dollars wrapped up 
in slave propert}'. They entered upon such a course as they believed 
would best preserve their property from destruction, and — failed. 
New England, at the same time, had less than a billion and a half 
represented in real estate. If a party of communists in the South, or 
elsewhere, had risen up and, after obtaining possession of the Govern- 
ment, had made the solemn declaration that this Union could not 
exist under a system of private landlordism. New England would 
doubtless have taken some steps to protect her property with not less 
ceremony or greater regard for the Union than that with which the 
Southern States seceded. 

But whether secession was advisable, under the constitution, for 
any cause, it is now too late to discuss — the question is believed to 
have been settled for all time by the arbitrament of arms. Sufficient 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 657 

to s;u', in passing, that the riirht of withdrawal had often been as- 
serted by the highest authorities, both North and South, and that just 
before the beginning of the Civil War many of the leading men of the 
North conceded the right to be beyond question. But the attempt 
of the Southern States to effect a separation by force, or, rather, to 
separate in face of the fact that their independence would depend 
upon their ability to maintain it hy force, the result has proved to 
have been ill advised and impolitic. 

Facts make histor}^ and results establish principles. The first 
struggle for independence in this country having succeeded, is ad- 
judged to have been wise and patriotic. The second one having 
failed, is held to have been the reverse of the first, not the least reason 
for which is that it failed. 

SECESSION EFTORTS TO COMPROMISE. 

On the 17th of December, 1860, after the election of Mr. Lincoln 
was virtually an accomplished fact. South Carolina, by a representa- 
tive convention of her people called to consider the question of 
secession, passed an ordinance withdrawing from the Union. Commis- 
sioners were appointed to treat with the Goverment at Washington 
for possession of the forts and other [property in that State belonging 
to the United States. Most of the other Southern States soon fol- 
lowed the example of South Carolina — withdrawing from the Union, 
and a provisional Confederate Government was established. 

In the meantime, various efforts were made to effect a compromise. 
A peace conference was held at Washington in February, 1861, by 
representatives of all the States. Various propositions were intro- 
duced into Congress, and others were submitted by the several States. 
But ail were without avail. Concessions were refused by the ex- 
tremists on both sides, and Mr. Lincoln declared in January that he 
would not consider, nor would he advise his friends to consider, any 
proposition looking to a settlement of existing difficulties until after 
he had been duly and legally inaugurated.' 

As soon as the inauguration of March 4, 1861, was over, it became 
apparent to all that the Administration meant to attempt the coercion 
of the seceded States. Supplies were sent forward for the forts in 
tlic South and hasty preparations made to maintain the National 
authority within the Southern States. 



1 New York Tnbune, January 30, 1861. 



658 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 



BEGINNING OF HOSTILITIES. 

South Carolina took the initiative in inaugurating hostilities as she 
had in inaugurating the secession movement. Apprised of the fact 
that the authorities at Washington were taking steps to provision and 
hold Ft. Sumter, early in April, 1861, Gen. Beaureguard demanded 
the surrender of the fort. Maj. Anderson, who was in command of 
the United States forces at the garrison, refused to yield. It was fire3 
upon on the 12th of the month and speedily reduced. The war had 
now begun. 

AFFAIRS IN MISSOURI IN 1860-61. 

In Missouri there was a marked change in public sentiments within 
the six or seven months immediately following the election of Mr. 
Lincoln. Although the people were citizens of a pro-slavery State 
which was originally settled nearly altogether from the South, and 
were warmly in sympathy with Southern rights and Southern institu- 
tions, there was at the same time a strong Union sentiment through- 
out the State, a sentiment which, during the time it was hoped and 
believed that slavery within the above States would not be attacked 
or interfered with by the party then coming into power, prevailed with 
a large majority of the peoi^le : it was strong, as a rule, with each indi- 
vidual substantially in proportion to the degree of security he felt 
for the continuation of slavery, except with the few who were alwa^'s 
opposed to it and with another class " who have little or no settled 
convictions on any public questions," but readily fall into line with the 
powers that be and are loyal to any government they happen to be 
under. 

Early in 1861, an election was ordered, under an act of the Legis- 
lature, to select delegates to a State Convention which was to take 
into consideration the relations of Missouri to the Union. This elec- 
tion occurred February 18, 1861. 

" At the time the election of delegates was held the public senti- 
ment of the state had unquestionably settled in favor of a continuance 
of Missouri within the Union and a hostility to secession, except to 
resist coercion. Mr. Seward and Mr. Cameron had made conciliating 
speeches in the United States Senate ; a loud voice was heard all over 
the Central States, calling for the immediate adoption of measures 
for the salvation of the Union and the adjustment of all questions of 
difference between the contending sections. Crittenden and Doug- 
las declared that an adjustment would take jjlace ; and the general be- 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 650 

lief out of Congress w:is, that in less than 90 days all the difficulties 
would be honorably settled, unless the extreme Republicans should 
defeat all concessions, or the State of South Carolina should deter- 
mine to bring about war by making an attack upon the forces and 
forts of the United States. Hence, the result of the election of dele- 
gates to the State Convention was the choice of a large majority of 
Union men."^ 

It was in this state of public sentiment that Sterling Price ran as a 
Union man, and was elected. He was also made president of the 
convention. After the war opened he and other members, to whom 
it became apparent that not a compromise, but the coercion of the 
South and the ultimate abolition of slavery were the purposes of the 
administration, entered the service of the State under Gen. Jackson's 
call, and then the regular Confederate army.^ 

If, in February, 1861, the people had known, as they afterwards 
found out, that a civil war was inevitable, aud that unless the South 
succeeded, slavery would be wiped out from all the States, no sane, 
well informed person can for a moment doubt that they would have 
been in favor of secession by an overwhelming majority — perhaps 
by five to one, or even more. 

The Convention, or the remainder of it, after those of its members 
who espoused the Southern cause had withdrawn, continued in session 
from time to time throughout the first two years and more of the 
war; and although called at the suggestion of Gen. Jackson and 
elected, whilst the people were laboring under the delusion that 
neither coercion nor the abolition of slavery would be attempted by 
the party then coming into power, much less by the Convention 
itself, it assumed the authorit}' in the course of its long and unprece- 
dented sittings, and without consulting the will of the people, to iden- 
tify the State with the cause of coercion, to oust and outlaw the 
regularly and legally elected Governor and Legislature, and other 
State and county officers ; to prescribe test oaths for voters and pub- 
lic officials which disfranchised two-thirds of those who voted for 
the delegates to the convention ; and, finally, to abolish slavery ! 



> Davis' History of Missouri, p. 153. 

- Tliose were classed as Union men at that time, and they cast a large majority of 
the Union votes, who, although they sympathized with the South and thought her 
complaints well grounded aud just, were opposed to seccession on the ground that 
a compromise could be effected, by which both the rights of the Southern States and 
tlie Union could be preserved. Gen. Price was a Union man of this class. Howard 
and Clay counties were also Union counties. 



660 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

These ordinances of the convention were enforced by Federal bay- 
onets and by a militia enlisted under its authority. 

Meanwhile, before these extreme measures were proposed in the 
convention, and while its members were passing resolutions by prac- 
tically unanimous votes, decUiring that they were devotedly attached 
to slavery and would defend the State against coercion and secession, 
and asking the Federal Government to withdraw its forces from the 
South, Fort Sumpter was fired upon and the conflict opened. Gov. 
Jackson called an extra session of the Legislature, and military bills 
were brought forward to put the State in proper condition for defense 
against its occupation by Federal troops. 

As soon as hostilities opened and it became apparent that the people 
of Missouri would be compelled to take one side or the other, a rapid 
change in public sentiment set in favorable to the South ; not 
that they loved the Union less, but that thej' loved the people 
and institutions of the South more — their own kindred and 
their own institutions. The capture of Camp Jackson on the 10th of 
May by Capt. Lyon, the victory of the Missourians at Wilson's 
Creek in August, and the emancipation, martial law proclamation 
of Gen. Fremont, tended to increase and complete this revolution in 
popular sentiment. Counties that gave large Union majorities in 
February would uow have voted in three cases out of five overwhelm- 
ingly for secession. In less than one hour after the news of the cap- 
ture of Camp Jackson was received by the Legislature, the military 
bills were passed and signed by the Governor. He \vas authorized to 
borrow $500,000 from the banks for military purposes and issue bonds 
for $1,000,000 more. Every able bodied male inhabitant of the State 
above the age of 18 and under 45 was made subject to military duty. 
The Governor called for 50,000 volunteers to form a State Guard. 

After the capture of Camp Jackson, Gen. L3'on moved on the State 
capital, which he occupied on the 15th of May. In the meantime, 
the Legislature had adjourned to meet at Neosho, where it afterwards 
assembled — but without a quorum of both Houses — and went through 
the form of passing resolutions of secession and electing Senators to the 
Confederate Congress. That proved to be the last Legislature in the 
State favorable to the Southern cause. It was succeeded by a " loyal " 
Legislature, elected by the voters of the State — or those of them not 
in the Southern service or prevented from voting for sympathizing 
with the South — ctdled !>}' authorit}' of the convention referred to in 
a former page. Before the close of the first year of the war the forces 
of the Federal Government and the Union State militia had practi- 



HISTORY or PLATTE COUNTY. 661 

cally overrun and taken possession of the State. A large percentage 
of those of the people of Southern proclivities who remained at home 
now became loyal, some of them actually so, and the others construc- 
tively ; aud to protect their homes and themselves a great many en- 
tered the Union militia. Missouri became, apparently, a Union, loyal 
State. 

ATTITUDE OF PLATTE COUNTY IN 1861. 

Like those of Clay and Howard counties, the people of Platte 
county, under the impression that a compromise could be effected and 
both the institutions of the Southern States and the Union saved, 
voted, by a decided majority, for the Union candidates in February, 
1861 ; and like those, after the war opened, they sympathized with 
the Southern cause by even a more decided majority. Whilst there 
were a few original Union men in the county, that is, those who were 
for the Union in any circumstances — unconditional Union men — lit- 
tle or nothing was heard from them during the first year of the war. 
At that time the current of popular feeling seemed to be altogether 
favorable to the South, and all the recruiting for militia service ^ was 
for the State (Southern) Guard. Later along, however, another 
change occurred, this time favorable to the Union cause. The State 
fell into the hands of the Union forces and Federal troops came in and 
took possession of the county. After this enlistments for the South- 
ern army were extremely difEcult and dangerous, and even if volun- 
teers succeeded in reaching the South in safety, a service of the 
greatest hardships and privations faced them — trials more severe than 
the ragged, half-starved continentals of the Revolution underwent. 
On the other side the most flattering inducements were held out. 
Bounties, flashy uniforms, plumes, brass cross-swords, yellow tassels, 
and everything ; fire arms and accoutrements, sword bayonets, navy 
pistols, and all that ; and an abundance of good rations, regularly 
three times a day, and pay that in most instances is going on yet ; 
back pay, forward pay, side pay, and top and bottom pay ; pay of all 
sorts and kinds, classified by names too numerous and technical to 
mention or remember. 

These considerations influenced a few, as like considerations influ- 
enced many during the War of the Revolution. Then, again, there 



1 lu ISOl there were 2,975 slaves iu the couuly, valued at $1,2G'J,061 ; iu 1862 there 
■were 2,318, valued at !j:!19,770, a falling off in numbers of 057, and a depreciation in 
value of $979,291. In other words, a man who was worth §10,000 iu slaves in '01 was 
worth only about 31,000 in 18(!2, Bell and Everett and Douglas Union slaveholders 
now began to realize what the war really meaut. 



f)62 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

is always a class in eveiy community loyal to any government they 
live under, and their loyalty changes with the changes in the govern- 
meut of the country. This class also became loyal, of course, as it 
would have done with equal alacrity if the Czar of Russia had taken 
possession of the counti'y instead of the Federal authorities. 

Altogether, a considerable Union sentiment began to manifest itself 
in the county during the year 1862, and after a while it came to form 
a respectable minority of the people, in numbers. It was represented- 
principally by the Germans of the county, who were Union because 
they were opposed to slavery and for other reasons, and by the less, 
well-to-do class of Americans. There were a few of the latter, how- 
ever, who were substantial property holders. Many of them became 
so during the war. 

On one side, even for those who desired to stay at home and take 
no part in the war, were dangers, annoyances, insults and wrongs of 
almost every description, and perhaps the ruin of their fortunes and 
families, and death. On the other were comparative security for both 
life and property, and perhaps great profit by judicious deals or other- 
wise. The wonder is that under such circumstances a greater number 
did not become loyal than really did become so. 



II. 

ENLISTMENTS FOE THE SOUTHERN ARMY. 

The stirring events in the spring of 1861 throughout the country, 
and the aggressive course of the Federal authorities in Missouri, pro- 
duced intense excitement in this county. Many of those who stood 
up for the Union whilst there was hope for a compromise now came 
out squarely for the South and became active and prominent in en- 
couraging enlistments for the Southern army. Public meetings were 
held at Platte City and other points. Southern flags were raised and 
speeches were made by leading citizens. 

Wallace Jackso7i's Company/. — The first company formed in this 
county for the Southern service was that of Capt. Wallace Jackson, 
made up principally of volunteers residing in the vicinity of Camden 
Point. Indeed, it was enlisted as early as October or November, in 
1860, being organized under the general militia laws of the State — 
and not without a dream of the service it might be called upon to 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 663 

perform. Its members drew uo arms or supplies, however, until after 
they were sworn into the State service in the spring of 1861, subse- 
quent to the outbreak of the war. 

The principal officers of Capt. Jackson's company were : Wallace 
Jackson, captain; Wm. Kuykendall, first lieutenant ; James Spann, 
second lieutenant ; Joseph St. John, third lieutenant, and E. McD. 
Coffey, company surgeon. It was a cavalry company and regular 
drills were had from time to time through winter and summer until 
it was ordered to rendezvous at St. Joseph, in the spring of 1861. 
• About the middle of May, or immediately following the capture of 
Camp Jackson at St. Louis, Capt. Jackson was directed to report at 
once to St. Joseph with his men, where a body of Southern volunteers 
was being collected under Cols. M. Jeff Thompson and C. C. Thorn- 
ton. Capt. Jackson's company was sworn into the State service at 
that place by Col. Thompson on the 16th of May, 1861, by authority 
of Gov. Jackson, under his call for 50,000 volunteers, to be known 
as the Missouri State Guard. 

About this time, or soon afterwards, Lexington was named by the 
Governor as the place of rendezvous for volunteers in this part of the 
State, and accordingly Capt. Jackson's company was directed to re- 
port for duty at that point. On their way to Lexington the members 
of the company were permitted to stop for a time at their homes in 
Platte county, but in due time they reached Lexington and reported 
to Gen. Rains as directed. They were placed in the First cavalry of 
the Fifth division Missouri State Guard, the organization of the divis- 
ion being completed on the 21st of June. Capt. Wallace's company 
was lettered B. 

The regiment was commanded l)y Col. Theodore Duncan, of the 
vicinity of Smithville, just across iu Clay County. The other prin- 
cipal officers of the regiment were lieutenant-colonel, Chas. P. Hyde ; 
major, M. P. Savery ; surgeon, E. McD. Coffey, of Platte county, 
and assistant surgeon, Sidney Cunningham. 

Col. Duncan had organized a company near Smithville, of which he 
was made captain, and about one-third of his company was comi)osed 
of volunteers from across in Platte county, near that place. His com- 
pany ol)tained arms from tlie arsenal at Liberty, and were well armed 
and equipped. 

After going to Lexington he was elected colonel of the First 
cavalry, as stated above, but died soon afterwards from a wound re- 
ceived by accident in the vicinity of Independence. 

Lieut. -Col. Hyde succeeded to the command of the regiment. 
37 



664 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

Campaigns and Battles — Jackson's Men. — The First cavalry 
nndev Col. Hvde, incliulin<r Capt. Jackson's company and the other 
volunteers from Platte county, or those from the vicinity of Smith- 
ville in Col. Duncan's old company, bore a gallant part in the battles 
of Carthaije, Springfield, Drywood and Lexington. 

After the battle of Lexington there was a thorough reorganization 
of the State forces, and Cornell became colonel of the First cavalry, 
with Elijah Gates as lieutenant-colonel ; Bostwick, major ; R. R. 
Lowther, adjutant; E. McD. Coifey, surgeon, and W. F.Stark, 
assistant surgeon. 

This organization was afterwards succeeded by Gates' regiment, of 
the regular Confederate service, which trained in the three-barred 
banner of the brilliant but unfortunate Confederacy of the South, 
until all save honor and the record of glorious deeds was lost. 
Throughout the war the regimental flag of Gates' men floated in the 
fore-front of battle, wherever duty called or brave men dared to do 
and die. 

Judge BrasfieUr s Company. — In the meantime other companies 
were forming, or had been formed, in Platte county. The next one 
in order of time, after that of Capt. Jackson's, was the company of 
Judge John Brasfield, of Bear Rough, in the vicinity of Platte City. 
Judge Brasfield had been a strong Union man, and had voted for 
Bell and Everett, and at the February election in 1861 for the Union 
ticket. But as soon as he saw what he believed to be the real 
object of the war, he warmly espoused the cause of the South and 
formed a company, or rather became a member of a company, early 
in the spring of 1861, which was organized principally for home 
protection.^ It was believed that as soon as hostilities were fairly 
opened a general system of robbery and plunder would be inaugurated 
in this county by Jayhawkers from Kansas, and this company was 
organized to protect the people against depredations of that kind. 
It numbered about 100 men. 

The principal officers of the company at the beginning were 
J. L. DeBerry, captain ; John Brastield, first lieutenant and James 
Mitchell, second lieutenant. Soon afterwards Capt. DeBerry resigned, 
and Judge Brasfield succeeded him, and continued in command of the 
compan}' until it was disbanded during the following summer. 

After the war opened in earnest in Missouri it was the intention of 



■ Judge Brasfield says thatafter the capture of Camp Jackson nineteen-twentieths of 
the people of the county favored the Seuthern cause. 



HISTOKY OF PLATTE COUNTY. (365 

Judge Bnisfield to join Gen. Price with bis company, but on account 
of a long and critical illness he was prevented from doing so. The 
members of this company therefore enlisted in otiier companies and 
left for the Southern army. 

" THE EXTRA BATTALION." 

What became known as the Extra Battalion (infantry) attached to 
John T. Hughes' regiment was organized prior to the Carthage fight 
and was composed of the following companies, enlisted in the spring 
of 1861 : Capt. Daniel Stewart's Company, of this county ; Capt. 
Thos. McCarty's of Clay, and Capt. Gideon M. Thompson's, of Clay 
and Platte. 

Capt. Stewart's Oompan//, made up altogether of Platte couuty 
volunteers, had John Moore for first lieutenant and Stephen Cooper 
for second lieutenant. 

Capt. TJionipson's Comjxmy, formed about equally of Platte and 
Clay county volunteers, had for first lieutenant, Thos. Gash, who, 
after Capt. Thompson's promotion, became captain of the company. 
Thompson's company was formed in the vicinity of Barry, 
where he still resides. Capt. McCarty, being senior captain of the 
three, in the Extra Ballation, commanded as major. He was wounded 
at Wilson's Creek, and Capt. Thompson succeeded him as major of 
the battalion. Maj. Thompson subsequently rose to the command 
of a regiment and proved one of the most gallant officers from Mis- 
souri in the Southern service. He served under that knightly and 
irresistible cavalry leader. Gen. Jo. Shelby. Col. Thompson still re- 
sides in this county, and is noted not less for his success as a leading 
planter imd fine stock raiser than for the brilliancy of his military record, 
and his cultured, dignified bearing and fine, prepossessing presence. 
He is regarded as one of the handsomest and most dignified, most 
popular and broad and liberal-minded men of the county. In his 
presence one is reminded of the old knightly, courtly, cavalier days of 
the Virginia gentry. In Hughes' regiment there was another com- 
pany in which there were a number of volunteers from this county — 
that of Capt. Clay Kerr, of Plattsburg» His company was formed of 
volunteers from the three counties of Clay, Platte and Clinton. 

Extra Battalion also took part in the battles of Carthage, Spring- 
field, Drywood and Lexington, and in the battle of Pea Eidge. At 
Springfield it was in the thickest of the fight, occupying what is 
known in history as Bloody Hill. Of Stewart's company alone no 
less than fourteen were killed or wounded. Maj. McCarty, the 



666 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

senior ctiptuiu of the brigade, and tlierefore. the major coniiuanding, 
was one of the wounded. Jas. Synnamon, afterwards captain of a 
conipanj-, and whose military career is one of the most remarkable 
and honorable in the history of civilized warfare, was also wounded, 
being shot in the head. 

After the expiration of the term of the Extra Battalion, or what 
was left of it, it was consolidated with Winston's regiment, from this 
county. 

COL. Winston's regiment. 

During the summer and latter part of 1861 the companies were 
organized in this county which subsequently formed Col. Winston's 
regiment. This was composed of teu companies as follows: Co. A, 
commanded by Capt. W. P. Childs ; Co. B, by Capt. William S. 
Rogers ; Co. C, by Capt. Benjamin F. Mitchell ; Co. D, by Capt. 
"William Kuykeudall ; Co. E, by Capt. William C. McKinnis ; Co. F, 
by Capt. C. F. Crisman ; Co. G, by Capt. Willis ; Co. H, by Capt. 
Sinclair Powell ; Co. I, by Capt. J. W. Miller, and Co. K, by Capt. 
Henry Morton. 

Capts. Mitchell's and Rogers' Companies. — -The first companies 
of Winston's regiment organized in this county were those of Capts. 
Mitchell and Rogers. The former's was an infantry company' and the 
latter's mounted infantry. 

Capt. JNIitchell's first and second lieutenants, respectivel}', were 
Oliver Swiuney and Thomas Hardesty. The orderly sergeant was 
Luther Hody. The names of only the following privates are recalleel : 
Robert Kelly, Salem Ford, James Beading, Henry Woodsmall, James 
Jeuuett * and Joseph Boyd.' 

Capt. Rogers was a son of Gen. Rogers, an earl}' settler of this 
county and a veteran oflicer of the War of 1812. Capt. Rogers' 
under officers, as far i>s their names have been obtained, were Jeft". 
Moore, first lieutenant; E. J. Link, second lieutenant; Toney Tins- 
ley, third lieutenant, and Amos Spicer, orderly sergeant. The names 
of the privates now remembered are Henry Cade, Mort. Spicer, 
Wallace Rule, Wiley Johnson, Henry Johnson, Thomas Grimes, 
James Berrj-, Benjamin Tinsley, John Schwartz and Peddrich. 

Capt. KuykendaU's Company. — Soon after Capts. Mitchell and 
Rogers began the formation of their companies, Capt. Ku}kondall - 



' Uuder Gen. Price before the formation of Winston's regiment, aud wounded at 
the battle of Wilson's Croeli. 

' Capt. Kuykendall was a son of Judge Kuykendall, one of the early settlers and 
prominent citizens of the county. 



HISTOKY OF i'LATTE COUNTY. 607 

also corameiiced enlisting vohmteers for tlic Southern service. He 
Liniself liai.l volunteered in the State service early iu the spring, and, 
after taking part in the battles of Carthage and Springfield (or Wil- 
son's Creek), had obtained a commission to organize a company. At 
once returning home for that purpose, he soon had a sufficient number 
of men to form a complete company. C. C. Capen ^ was elected 
first lieutenant ; J. C. Todd, second lieutenant, and Richard Stan- 
ton, third lieutenant. Edward Turner became orderly sergeant, 
ilark Todd, second sergeant, and R. Morgan, corporal. The names of 
but few of the privates have been obtained, viz. : — 

O. Morgan, Joseph Tiernan, William Todd, Pat. Dorsan, William 
F. McCullugh, (]has. D. Pugh, Solon Coots, Bud Link, George 
Welib, Edward Brennan, Gilbert McCafferty, Marion Daniels, William 
Sharp, James Sharp, William Miller, James Jack, Samuel Lecompt, 
Wm. Coram, Wm. Allen. 

During the month of August and the early part of .Se[)tember the 
three compaiii(!s named rendezvoused at Second Creek Church 
engaged in drilling, recruiting, and so forth, and from there they 
removed to the grade of the Parkville and Grand River Railw.ay, 
near the homestead of Thomas Park. Subsequently they removed 
to the place then belonging to Kemp Woods, in Cla}' county, and a 
little later to what has since been known as Camp Cain, in Platte 
county. 

(Jiipl. C'li-lhW and McKinnis' Coinpaaleit. — In the meantime. 
Judge Childs had been organizing a company at Platte City, and 
about the latter part of August or the first of September he estab- 
lished a camp near the Cain farm, about six miles east of Platte City. 
Of this company, M. C. Park was first lieutenant ; W. C. Hatton, second 
lieutenant ; Thos.W. Park, third lieutenant, and Thos. Turner, orderly 
scrgc-ant. The names of the following parties have been obtained: 
J. M. Littlejohn (afterwards regimental wagon-master), Jas. Frost, 
"Stump" (E. C.) Cockrill, Chas. Crockett Potter, Sam Park, 
Weed Chely, Frank Todd, Riifus Todd, Chas. Wilson, Dr. John 
Wilson, Geo. Ely, Thos. Park (No. 2), Ross and Jas. Frost. 

Cotemporaneous with the formation of Capt. Childs' c(>m[)anv. 



' C. C. Capeii .and James Murphy were both officers iu the United States service at 
Ft. Leavenworth, the first an orderly sergeant and the other a first lieutenant. Both 
were Southern men, and when the war broke out they resigned tlieir positions and 
came across into Platte county and volunteered in the Southern service. Lieut. 
Murphy became major of Col. Winston's regiment. He was a man of great bravery, 
and a line drill officer. Both went into the Confederate service east of the Missis- 
sippi after their time in the State Guard expired. 



668 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

Capt. Will. C. McKiiinis, previously President of the Camden Point 
College, formed :i compuuy in the vicinity of that place. He also 
rendezvoused at Camp Cain. His under officers were John B. Clark, 
first lieutenant, R. H. Bywatcrs, second lieutenant; Benj. Minor, 
third lieutenant ; and Frank Forbius, orderly sergeant. 

Capts. Mitchell, Rogers and Kuykendall, joined Capt. Childs and 
McKinnis at Camp Cain, and of the five companies a battalion was 
formed. They were sworn into the State Guard service of Maj. 
Thos. Shields, a son of Gen. James Shields. Maj. Shields was a cau-^ 
didate for major of the battalion, but was defeated for that position 
by John H. Winston, a prominent citizen of the county and after- 
wai'ds a colonel in the Southern service. Col. Winston is now living 
in retirement on his farm in this county. 

Capt. SpraWs Company. — Judge James Spratt had also collected 
a number of volunteers for the cavalry service, in all neai'ly or quite 
equal to the number of an average company. Pe joined Maj. AVin- 
ston at Camp Cain, and was attached to the battalion. 

On the 11th of September Maj. Winston was ordered to join Gen. 
Price at Lexington with his battalion. He started the following 
morning for that place reaching there in time to take part in the siege 
and battle at Lexington, which resulted in the surrender of Col. 
Mulligan, the Federal commandant of the post, on the 20th of the 
month. 

Capt. Crisman's Company. — About the time Major Winston was 
on his way to Lexington, Capt. Crisman, of Ridgely, who had 
formed a company in the vicinity of that place, was also proceeding to 
Lexington to join Gen. Price. He had temporarily attached himself 
to the command of Col. Sanders who went South by way of Blue 
Mills Landing, in Clay county. Whilst there they had a skirmish 
with a body of Federals who attemptd to cut them off from Lexing- 
ton, an account of which appears in the Clay county divison of this 
work. Capt. Crisnian's officers were Geo. Mock, first lieutenant ; 
Wm. Thatcher, second lieutenant; A. M. L Hanley, third lieutenant, 
and John Byrd, orderly sergeant. He reached Lexington just after 
the surrender of Mulligan. The following were some of his privates: 
Richard Pack, Eleven Godsey, Peyton Newman, Sam Moore, Nich- 
olas Ford, — Rollins, Dick Larimore, Wm. Carum, George Duncan, 
Matt. Duncan, Henry Thorp, Theodore Dodd, Joe St. John, Robert 
Douglas, Jeff. Mayo, Sam Harris, John Harris, Matt. Woodard, 
Wm. Eads, E. S. Goddard, John Byrd, William Newman, Louis 
Throckmorton, William Throckmorton," James Duncan, Geo. Mack, 



HISTOKY OF PLATTE COUNTY. (369 

Wm. Thatcher, Eleven Thatcher, Henry Metcalf, A. M. I. Hanley, 
Saui. Moore, John Trimljle, Ben. Guin, Geo. Roberts, Crane 
Roberts, Henry Wagle, George Craig, Nick Ford, Saiu Rollins, Will- 
iam Delterry, Thomas Deberiy, Peyton Newman and R. W. Pack. 

Capts. Miller's and Morton's Companies. — The companies of 
Capts. J. W. Miller and Henry Morton were organized in the fall of 
'61 and on reaching Gen. Price, south of the Missouri, were attached 
to Maj. Winston's command, or, rather, became part of his regiment, 
it havhig been formed in the meantime. Capt. Miller's first lieutenant 
was Stephen Cooper ; second lieutenant, John Barnes ; third lieuten- 
ant, James Baker ; orderly sergeant, Judson Miller. The names of 
only the following privates are now before us : John Gregg, Prior 
Pemberton, Scott Yates. 

Company I. — W. J. Miller, captain ; Stephen Cooper, first lieu- 
tenant; John Barnes, second lieutenant; James Baker, third lieuten- 
ant ; Judson Miller, orderly sergeant ; John Stone, Faulkner Kenady, 
Salem Ford, Prim Rollings, Robert Hilly, W. A. Fox, James Esk- 
ridge, Turn Moore, Thomas Moore, Dan Boyd, Otho Ofl'utt, John 
Shepard, Clay Owens, George Ely, Wm. Oliver, David Clarke, H. S. 
Yates, John Eskridge, Stephen Pemberton, Prior Peml)erton, John 
Dikes, Joseph Settle, Luther Hay, James Beeding, Joseph Coons, 
Wm. Coons, Irvin Timberland, Dempsy Cummings, Jos. P. Massy, 
Sam Winston, Johnson Hughes, Stephen Baker, Barton Lewis, Wm. 
Osburn, Mat. Moore, Gus. Parker, Alfred Offut, and others. 

Ca})t. Miller's company was enlisted principally in the vicinity of 
Hampton, where he then resided. He now resides at Platte City. 

Capt. Morton had a coziipany of about 73 men, whom he had col- 
lected from different parts of the county, but principally in the south- 
east part, near where he himself resided. Many of them were young 
men. A considerable percentage of his company continued in the 
Southern service until the close of the war. His under officers were 
Elias Markwell, first lieutenant ; David Richardson, second lieutenant ; 
Allan Johnson, third lieutenant, and John Mothersett, orderly ser- 
geant. 

Willis' and Powell's Co7npa7iies. — Cajjt. Willis' subordinate officers 
were : first lieutenant, " Shang" Masterson ; second lieutenant, P. E. 
Chesnut; third lieutenant, Bluford Thompson. The company rendez- 
voused at Second Creek Church in the fall of 1861, until they were 
ready to start South the latter part of December. 

Capt. Powell joined the regiment with his company after the battle 
of Lexington. He was an acquaintance and personal friend of CoL 



670 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

Winston, and very naturally preferred to be under the latter in the 
service. His company was formed in the vicinity of Toas in the 
northwestern portion of the county.^ 

Formation of Winston'' s Regiment. — At the general reorganization 
after the battle of Lexington, in September, 1861, Winston's regi- 
ment was formed, consisting of ten companies and 840 men.'- 

Judge Spratt's company was consolidated with that of Capt. Rogers, 
under the command of the latter, and Judge Spratt was made adju- 
tant of the division, but he continued in the position only a few days.- 
On account of serious illness in his family he was compelled to return 
home and, subsequently, circumstances prevented him from i-ejoining 
his command.' 

The following were the officers of the regiment and its position in 
the organization of the army: John H. Winston, colonel; W. P. 
Childs, lieutenant-colonel; James Murphy, major; John W. Ross, 
adjutant; Thomas E. Park, drum-major; George Adams, quarter- 
master, and James Littlejohn, baggage-master. Maj. Flowers suc- 
ceeded Maj. Ross as adjutant later along in the service; and M. C. 
Park, Capt. Childs' first lieutenant, became captain of the former's 
company, after Capt. Childs was elected lieutenant-colonel of the reg- 
iment. The regiment became the Second infantry. Fifth division 
Missouri State Guard, under Gen. Early Steen. 

C.VMPAIGNS AND BATTLES. 

After the organization the State troops, including Col. Winston's 
regiment, fell back to the southwestern part of the State, but in a short 
time moved up again northwest to Sac river, near its confluence with 
the Osage. In December they again fell back stopping for a time at 
Springfield, where the battle of the 10th of August had been fought. 
In February they removed to Cane creek, Arkansas, to form a junc- 
tion with Gen. McCoIlough, so as to be able to make a stand against 
Gen. Curtis, who had been pushing them warmly with a greatly sup- 
perior force. On the way down there was almost constant fighting. 



1 By several officers he is not remembered at all, but Col. Winston is positive he 
had a company in the regiment. Some of them say that Capt. Carr should be included 
in place of Capt. Powell, but Capt. C.'s second lieutenant, and afterwards captain of 
the company, James Synuaraon, says that Carr was not in Winston's regiment at all, 
and Lieut. -Col. Childs says the same thing. 

2 Capts. Miller's, Morton's, Powell's and Willis' companies were not incorporated 
into the regiment until after the Lexington flght. 

' His wife died soon after he returned home, leaving him with a family of small 
children. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 671 

At Sugar creek, a considerable engagement occurred and in a few 
days afterwards another one of less importance at Cane creek. In 
each of these the Platte county volunteers bore an honorable part. 

Early in March the forces of Price and McCollough under Van 
Dorn moved up and met Curtis at Pea Ridge where the battle known 
by that name was fought. 

Gen. Steen was not present with his command at the battle of Pea 
Ridge and the command of the division fell upon one of his senior col- 
onels. The division was on Gen. Clark's left, who was receiving a 
heavy and destructive fire from the enemy. Col. Winston seeing this 
suggested to the senior colonel that they advance and flank the enemy 
so as to relieve Gen. Clark. But the latter refused to order an ad- 
vance. 

Finally, Gen. Clark's situation became so critical and his ranks 
were being thinned so rapidly that Col. Winston took the responsi- 
bility to order an advance himself, which was responded to with a 
shout in a double-quick-forward by his men. The enemy was driven 
from his position and Gen. Clark's forces were thus extricated. Then 
Winston's regiment captured a battery, and Wagonmaster Littlejohn 
took it ofi" of the field in triumph. 

On more than one occasion Col. Winston proved himself a gallant 
and sagacious officer. In one of the engagements during the siege of 
Corinth be was personally and publicly complimented by Gen. Price 
for the bravery and good judgment he displayed at an important and 
critical juncture.^ 

Second Reorganization. — After the battle of Pea Ridge another 
reorganization was made necessary by the fact that the six months' 
terms of most of the volunteers in the State Guard had by this time 
expired. Most of them enlisted in the Confederate service. Col. 
Winston's men re-enlisted in sufiicient numbers to form, five compa- 
nies. Re-enlistments from the Extra Battalion and from other sources 
completed the regiment. 

The new regiment formed became the First Missouri Rifles, in- 
fantry, C. S. A. Col. Winston was continued as colonel, and Maj. 
Calhoun C. Thornton became lieutenant-colonel. Maj. Thornton, in 
former engagements, had shown himself to be an officer of unflinch- 
ing bravery. 

From Pea Ridge the Southern forces fell back to Little Rock, and 
thence to Memphis, Tenn. There Gen. Parsons had command of the 



' This informatiou was not obtained from Col. Winston himself. He is too brave 
and modest a man to speak of his own merits. 



672 HISTOEY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

Second Missouri Brigade, of which the' First Missouri Rifles Wiis a 
part. The regiment continued under him until the close of the war, 
and took part in many of the hardest battles of that long and unequal 
struggle. 

For a time during Halleck's siege of Corinth Col. Winston had 
charge of the division, Gen. Parsons being engaged at Memphis iu 
making arrangements for the pay of his troops, which was long past 
due. It was while in charge of the division during an engagement at 
that time that Col. Winston was so generously and justly compli- 
mented by Gen. Price. 

Early iu 1863 Col. Winston, at Gen. Price's special request, came 
up. into Missouri on a recruiting tour. But while stopping at home, 
iu this county, he was surprised by a party of Federals and captured. 
He was kept in prison until several months after the close of the 
war.^ 

In the meantime his regiment was commanded, until the war closed, 
first by Gen. Steen, who was killed at Prairie Grove after taking com- 
mand, and then by Col. Moore, and others. Only the merest frag- 
ment of its original force, however, survived the war. On every bat- 
tle field where its flag floated, many of the brave volunteers frcm 
Platte county yielded up their lives in defense of their Southern 
homes and kindred, and to the imperishable honor and glory of 
Southern patriotism and the Southern arms. 



' The purpose and circumstances of his mission were these : Lieut. -Col. C. C. 
Thornton and several other Confederate officers of influence and prominence in, Mis- 
souri, had been sent up here to sound what was known as the Pawpaw militia as to 
their disposition toward the Southern cause. These gentlemen reported to Gen. 
Price that they bad held numerous conferences with officers and men iu the militia 
and that arrangements had been completed by which 2,700 of the Pawpaws were to 
come over, with arms and equipments, to the Southern cause at tlie first favorable 
opportunity; and that if no opportunity more favorable occurred sooner, they would 
revolt anyhow when the effort should be made to disarm them, it then being generally 
understood that such an effort would be made — which the militia were to use as a pre- 
text for their revolt. These reports were shown to Col. Winston iDy Gen. Price, and 
the former was instructed to come up into Missouri and talie charge of and direct the 
movement. It was believed that that force of men, well armed and properly officered, 
could nialie its way safely to tlie Southern array if properly relieved on the way. Col. 
Winston came up safely from the South and found that the reports of Lieut. -Col. 
Thornton and others were substantially correct. lie held numerous conferences with 
betli the officers and men of different militia organizations, and became satisfied that 
the Pawpaw force was only a little less than unauimous for the Southern cause. He 
was in the midst of his negotiations and plans with them when he was captured. This 
and other untoward circumstances prevented the carrying out the plans agreed 
upon. The above facts were given to the writer by Coi. Winston, in the presence of 
another gentleman, and with the assurance that he had never before revealed them to 
any living man. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 673 



OTHER COMPANIES. 



Duriiio; the summer and latter part of ISUl some ten or twelve com- 
panies were organized in this county for the Southern service, not in- 
cluding those of Winston's battalion nor the ones previously formed. 
The principal companies that left during this time were those of Field- 
ing Burnes, Dr. E.(jbertson, William Downing, Joseph McGee, Davis 
Lantern, Silas M. Gordon, Joseph Carr and the last four companies 
of Winston's State Guard regiment, namely : Capts. Lanter's, Mar- 
tins, Willis' and Miller's. 

Col. Bii7-nes' Comjjan//. — Early in 1861 Col. Fielding Burnes, 
now of Platte City, but then of the vicinity of Hampton, enlisted a 
company of volunteers for the Southern service, about seventy men. 
T. W. Davis was his first lieutenant. They started to the Southern 
army al)out the time that the fight at Blue Mills occurred, and went by 
way of Liberty. But Col. Burnes returned home before reaching that 
place, and afterwards took no further part in the war. His company, 
however, went on, under the command of Lieut. Davis, who became 
captain of the company. 

In explanation of his return. Col. Burnes says that he was met on the 
way South by his I)rother, Col. James N. Burnes, with whom and Col. 
John Doniphan he had had an understanding that the latter two were 
to raise a regiment for the Southern service, of which Col. James N. 
Burnes was to be colonel, and Col. John Donii)luin lieutenant-colonel, 
whilst he, Col. Fielding Burnes, was to command a company in the 
regiment; but that when he met his brother. Col. James N. Burnes, 
the latter told him that he had looked the field over carefully and had 
come to the conclusion that the South was bound to fail, and that the 
best thing he. Col. Fielding Burnes, could do would be to return home 
and become loyal and continue so until the close of the war. Col. 
Fielding Burnes did as he was advised to do. According to Col. 
Price, of Weston, Col. James N. Burnes afterwards made a speech to 
a Kansas Union League club at Fort Leavenworth, which Col. Jenni- 
son, who was present, disapproved in strong terms because of its bit- 
terness against the South and the e.xtreme views it gave expression to 
on the negro question. Col. Burnes afterwards publicly embraced 
Col. Jennison at Platte City, in the presence of Mr. Larkin Fleshman 
and a great many others, and declared that he " loved him better 
than all the world besides." 

Caj^t. Downing' s Company. — The company of Capt. Downing was 
formed in the neighborhood of Now Market, where he resided. He 



674 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

was a farmer by occupation and a man of character and information — 
one of the influential citizens of that part of the county. In common 
with the great mass of the people of the county he sympathized with 
the South at the beginning of the war, and being a man of public 
spirit and courage he very naturally entered upon the work of enlist- 
ing volunteers for the Southern service. His company was formed 
early in August and was mustered into the Southern service as a part 
ot Cornell's regiment, of which Col. Gates was lieutenant-colonel. 
Some of his men afterwards entered in the regular Confederate ser- 
vice and continued in the army throughout the war. 

Capt. Robertson's Company. — Capt. Robertson's company was 
formed in the vicinity of latan and below there, near Weston. He 
himself was a physician by profession and was successfully engaged in 
the practice of medicine when the war broke out. He was also in- 
terested in farming. But being a Southern man, and with the courage 
to defend his principles, he put every private interest aside in order 
to serve the State. His company was enlisted in the summer of 1861 
and accompanied Col. Sanders (with whom Capt. Crisman went) to 
Lexington. Capt. Robertson was with Sanderson at the time of the 
Blue Mills fight. Many of his men also became tried and true veter- 
ans in the Southern cause, and not a few made the highest and noblest 
sacrifice brave men can make for their country — the sacrifice of their 
lives. 

COL. CHILDS' CONVOY OF VOLUNTEERS. 

The last considerable body of volunteers to leave the county, and, 
in fact, the largest one, were the six companies led out by Col. 
Childs in December, 1861. Most of these remained out throughout 
the war and distinguished themselves in tlie Southern service by their 
valor, fortitude and devotion, amongst a soldiery whose heroism and 
endurance are without a parallel in all history. 

By the fall of 1861 the State was so generally in the hands of the 
Union forces that it was difficult for volunteers in bodies of any impor- 
tance to make their way South to join the army. A strong escort, was 
generally necessary, to prevent them from being intercepted and 
captured. It was to prepare the companies which had been forming 
in Platte county for a month or more, to start South under escort, that 
Col. Childs was sent up from the army by Gen. Price in December. 
He was to organize them and see to it that they were armed and 
equipped as thoroughly and efficiently as circumstances would allow, 
and then to notify Gen. Price where to send the escort. 

The six companies were those of Capts. Davis Lanter, H. CUiy 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 675 

McGee, Silas M. Gordon, Joseph Carr, and the companies of Capts. 
Willis and W. J. Miller already mentioned. Col. Childs swore them 
into the State service, and had them ready to stai't South in the early 
part of December. They were met south of the Missouri by an escort 
under Col. Clarkson of 600 men from Gen. Price, and the whole force 
reached the army of the latter whilst it was encamped on Sac river. 

The names of the officers of Capts. Morton's and Miller's com- 
panies have already been given. 

Capts. Lan(.e7-'s and McGee's Companies. — Capt. Lanter's com- 
pany was composed of volunteers, principally from Lee, Pettis, and 
Carroll townships. He also had some from Holt county and several 
from other neighboring counties. His company was formed in 
November and had for its five principal officers, Davis Lanter, cap- 
tain ; Garrett Gregg, first lieutenant; Guyun, second lieutenant; 

Acton, third lieutenant and Andrew Justice, orderly sergeant. 

Capt. Lanter is still living, and resides on his farm near Farlej'. 

The company of Capt. McGee was formed in the vicinity of Cam- 
den Point. The lieutenants of the company were McPike, 

Holland and ^ . Capt. McGee is said to have per- 
mitted himself to be captured early in the war. Lieut. McPike then 
succeeded to the command of the company. He was killed at 
Corinth, and after that Lieut. Hollfind had command until the close 
of the war. 

Capt. Gordon's Company. — Before organizing his company for the 
Confederate service Capt. Gordon operated iu this and several other 
counties for about six months at the head of a squad of men as an 
independent scout. But few of the men afterwards comprising his 
company in tlie regular service were under or connected with him 
whilst he was operating as a scout. 

The following is a copy of the roll of his company in the Confed- 
erate service as it was found when they were captured at the fall of 
Vicksburg : — 

Muster roll of Capt. Silas M. Gordon, ninth company in the cav- 
alry regiment (first brigade) of Missouri volunteers, commanded liy 
Col. Elijah Gates, called into the service of the Confederate States, of 
the provisional army, under the provisions of the Act of Congress, 
passed February 28, 1861, by Gov. C. F. Jackson, from the Ifith 
day of January, 1862 (date of this muster), for the term of 12 months, 
unless sooner discharged. 

S. M. Gordon, Jas. W. Barclay, J. N. Archer, Jarrett Todd, Men- 
ard \V. Bell, Albert H. Todd, Jas. B. Redman, Henry Sutton, Benj. 



676 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

S. Powell, Eubin Cassil, Peyton Long, Thos. B. Todd, Robt. A. 
Locke, John Anderson, Isaac Archer, Stephen Baker, Thos. Barnes, 
Wni. Barbee, Juo. Blauton, F. KInned, Sidney Lanter, E. "W. Mit- 
chell, Moses B. Munier, T. L. Moore, Alex. Morgan, Juo. W. Olivis, 
Elias Barbee, Wm. Palmer, Geo. Reed, Harvey Rector, Edward Red- 
man, Jno. Rowley, Chas. H. Steele, Augustus Spratt, Benj. Talbott, 
Jno. W. Taylor, Jno. W. Todd, Jas. B. Todd, Wm. H. Todd, Edward 
Bowman, Jno. N. Jas, Thos. Jenkins, John P. Tribble, W. P. Taylor, 
Elijah Whitton, H. B. Williams, John Yates, E. McD. Cofley, W. D. 
Taylor, F. Kennedy, Stephen Baker, Thos. Barnes, W. L. Todd, 
Daniel R. Shoemaker, Calvin Blaukenship, Jno. Bradley, Thos. E. 
Burton, Wm. Callahan, Frank Carsley, Alex. Carson, Martin B. Car- 
ter, Thos. E. Coale, Joshua Copeland, Benj. S. Cooper, Silas Eliiston, 
Thaddeus Farley, B. L. G. Frazier, Jos. G. Gardner, Willard Had- 
ley, Jos. Halpaine, Met. Haitman, Del. Harris, Mathias Hudson, 
W. F. Stark, R. W. Mitchell, T. L. Moore, H. L. Todd, Frank 
Cleed, W. F. Stark. 

Jas. W. Bai'clay was first lieutenant of the company and J. N. 
Ai'cher was second lieutenant and Mark Todd, third lieutenant. Capt. 
Gordon was commissioned a recruiting officer by the Confederate 
authorities and was afterwards engaged in that service until the close of 
the war. Lieut. Barclay became "captain of the company, a man of 
great bravery and an officer of coolness in action, discretion and judg- 
ment. He was killed at Vicksburg and after the exchange of the 
company Lieut. Archer became captain, which position he held until 
the close of the war. He was in every way worthy to head the gal- 
lant Co. I, of Gates' regiment. 

Capt. Ccirr's Company. — This company was organized in the fall 
of 1861, and was a party to the first fight worthy a name in this 
county. It was this company that the gaUant Capt. Synnamon, 
mentioned in a former page, commanded during a considerable part 
of the war. Capt. Carr was promoted to the rank of major and Lieut. 
Clark was killed at the battle of Baker's Creek, Miss. After that 
Capt. Synnamon had command of the company until it was annihi- 
lated by the ravages of the twenty-odd principal engagements in 
which it took part. This company was the color company of the reg- 
iment for three years. But one man of the entire company escaped 
unscathed and but seven survived the battles of the war, the hospitals, 
and the wounds received and diseases contracted in the service. 
These seven bear no less than nineteen scars from wounds received 
in honorable warfare. \ 



HISTORY or PLATTE COUNTY. 677 

When the company went into the battle of Franklin, Tenn., but 
nineteen of its members were living. Ten of the nineteen were 
killed outright in that battle, and five of the remaining seven were 
wounded. 

Capt. Synnanion was wounded eight times during his four years' 
service. Once he was carried off and thrown in a pit to be covered 
up as dead; and at Franklin, Tenn., he was shot through the 
body, the ball entering within an inch of his navel and passing out 
within au inch of his spine. Again he was left as dead and lay in 
that condition for thirty-six hours. He is now the assessor of Platte 
county, and one of the most energetic and highly esteemed citizens 
of the county. 

At Franklin, Tenn., his company had been so reduced by previous 
losses in battle that it had been consolidated with other companies, 
throwing the command to a senior captain. Gen. Cockerill, knowing 
that Capt. Synnanion was already covered with scars, and probably 
designing to shield him, detailed him to take charge of the baggage 
wagons. But Capt. Synnamon, for the first time in his life, protested 
against an order, and urged that he might be permitted to go into the 
battle, with a musket on his shoulder, and side by side with his men, 
saying that if they were to be swept away, as all believed they would 
be, he wanted to be with them. He and all knew it was to be the 
last and most desperate battle of the war and none entertained 
a hope for victory. 

During the war different meml)ors of the company were breveted 
from time to time for conspicuous gallantry, among them Matthew 
J. Moore, Frank Owens and Frank Murdock. 

The following are the seven survivors : Capt. Jas. Synnamon 
(grimlyuicknamed inthe armythe " Ball Catcher Captain "), wounded 
eight times ;B. F. Murdock, wouixled four times ; J. B. Sloan wounded 
three times; D. H. Calvert, wounded once; T. B. Cooper, wounded 
twice ; J. Alvin Herndon, wounded twice, and G. W. Olfutt, one of 
the bravest f)f the brave, wounded nf)t at all. 

gates' REGIMENT AND HUGHES' BATTALION SERVICES. 

After the six companies convoyed out by Col. Cliilds had reached 
Springfield, Mo., under Gen. Price, a reorganization was effected 
and Capts. Lanter's, McGee's and Gordon's companies entered the 
legular Southern service under Col. Gates. His regiment was known 
as the First cavalry and was in the Second Missouri brigade, Confed- 



678 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTT. 

erate States army. The officers of Col. Gates' regiment^ were: 
Elijah Gates, colonel; Richard Childs, lieutenant-colonel ; R. R. Law- 
ther, major; Chas. W. PiiUins, adjutant, and E. McD. Cofley, sur- 
geon. 

The companies from this county were lettered : Lauter's company 
C, McGee's company E and Gordon's (Holland's) corapauy I. 

Capt. Carr's (or Clark's and Synnamon's) company became one of 
three companies (Clay's, Kerr's and E. Price's being the others) 
forming Hughes' battalion. Later along these was consolidated into 
the Sixth infantry under Col. Eugene Irwin, of the First Missouri 
brigade. Confederate States army. Gen. Martin Green, commanding. 

At Vicksburg, both Gen. Green and Col. Irwin were killed and after 
that the First and Second brigade consolidated under Gen. Cockerill, 
thus throwing the four companies last mentioned, Lanter's, Holland's 
(McGee's), Barclay's or Archers' (Gordon's), and Synnamon's 
(Carr's or Clark's^ in one command. From this time on their history 
is the same as the history of Cockerill's Ijrigade, with which every citi- 
zen of Missouri who feels any pride in the valor of her soldiers and 
the fiiir fame of the State is, or ought to be, familiar. Its record 
may be epitomized into a few words : With an original force of 7,000, 
by the time it reached Franklin, Tenn., it numbered but 600 men, 
and in that battle 419 of these were killed or wounded.^ 

CASUALTIES. 

The record of one of the Platte county companies we have men- 
tioned last gives a fair idea of the records of all four of them, and 
that the young men of the future in this county may be able to see 
what war really means and what material their fathers were made of, 
we give below the record of Capt. Sj^nnamon's company. It should 
be stated, however, that this was prepared simply from memory and 
it does not assume to give the numl>er of times each one was wounded 
nor all the casualties suffered, by any means. The compiler of this 
was often wounded and for weeks was not awai'e of what was going on 
in the company : — 

Co. G, Sixth Missouri infantry, First Missouri brigade, organized Oc- 
ber, 1861, at Platte Cit}', Platte county Mo: Capt. Joseph Carr, 
wounded, Bee Creek, Mo., promoted major; Capt. Biddle Clark, 
wounded and died at Baker's Creek, Miss. ; Capt. James Synnamon, 
wounded Oak Hill, Corinth, Port Gibson, Vicksburg, Franklin ; 



1 Col. Gates had previously been lieutenant-colonel of Col. Cornell's regiment. 
- Figure.s furnished by Mr. B. F. Murdock. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 679 

Lieut. Jolin Slone, wounded Corinth, Miss. ; Lieut. William Hols- 
claw, killed at Corinth, Mis.s. ; Lieut. William Clay, wounded Port 
Gibson, killed at Vicksburoj, iMiss. ; Sergt. B. Frank Murdock, 
wounded, Franklin, Tenn. ; Sergt Frank Owen, wounded, Kenesaw 
Mountain, Ga., killed, Franklin, Tenn ; Sergt. Ed. Scott, wounded, 
New Market, Va., died since war; Sergt. James Francis, wounded, 
Corinth, lost foot at Vickshurg, Miss. ; Sergt. Barnett Herudou, 
wounded, Corinth, killed, New Hope Church ; Corp. Lou. Craddock, 
killed. Heights of Altoona, Ga. ; Corp. Dave Stanton, wounded Port 
Gibson, Miss. ; Corp. William Harrington, killed, P(jrt Gil)son, Miss. ; 
Corp. Marion Bonnell, wounded. Baker's Creek, Miss. ; Privates— Will- 
iam Buford, discharged on surgeon's certificate ; William Bivens, tiled at 
liosi)ital ; John Crowbarger, wounded. Port Gilisou, Miss. ; Oscar 

Cooper, killed, Vicksburg, Miss.; Lin. Cuuniug, ; Tom 

Cooper, wounded, Vicksburg, Miss. ; Dallas Calvert, killed, Milliken's 
Bend ; Holt. Calvert, wounded. Baker's Creek, Miss. ; Will- 
iam Gladden, died of dropsy; Turner Geter, killed Vicks- 
burg, Miss.; William Enil)ree, died at hospital; William Harris, 
wounded, Vicksburg, Miss. ; James Houlsclaw, wounded, Elkhorn; 
Ark., promoted colonel ; Ben Houlsclaw, killed, Vicksburg, Miss. ; 
John Holsclaw, killed, Vicksl)urg, Miss. ; Henry Herudou, died of 
C()nsumi)tioii : James S. Heriidon, wounded, Corinth, Miss, ; 
J. A. Herndou, wounded at Franklin ; Sam Jones, died of consump- 
tion ; John Kenedy, wounded at Kenesaw Mountain, died in Federal 
prison ; Tom Muloy, died from wounds in Georgia ; Matt. J. Moore, 
wounded at Port Gibson and Heights of Altoona, Ga. ; Newton Mas- 
sey, killed at Corinth, Miss. ; James Marsh, died in Federal [irison ; 
Lee McClane, wounded at Port Gibson, killed at Vicksburg, Miss. ; 
Tom McGiiton, killed at Franklin, Tenn. ; Polk McCreary, wounded 
at Elkhorn and Corinth; Wni. McCutcheon, wounded at Port Gibson ; 
John McDaniels, died in liospital ; Willis McKinuey, wounded at 
Baker's Creek, Miss. ; John McKinney, wounded at Vicksburg, Miss. ; 
Sam Nowers, wounded at Port Gibson, Miss., died since the war; 
George Offutt, Port (libson ; Fred. Otto, wounded at Port Gibson 
and Vicksburg, Miss. ; John Oldham, Corinth ; Lee Oldham, died at 
hospital ; Dock Philips, died at Jackson, Miss. ; Thomas Parks, 
wounded at Elkhorn, Mo. ; Ham. Prichard, killed at Franklin, Tenn. ; 
Dee Proctor, Port Gil)son, killed at Franklin, Tenn. ; Wm. Roberts, 
discharged on surgeon's certificate ; George Riley, Steve Ring, 
wounded in Arkansas ; Tom Robnck, wounded at Baker's Creek, killed 
at Franklin, Tenn. ; Queene — , Ike Shiply, killed at Lookout Mountain, 
Tenn. ; Gem-ge Spears ; Bluford Stanton, died at Demo[)olis, Ala. ; 
Wm. Silvey, wounded at Elkhorn ; Ed. Tunnell, wounded at Vicks- 
l)urg ; Wm. Wing, died in Springfield, Mo. ; Hcniy Whitman, killed 
at Corinth ; Wm. Welch, wounded at Grand Gulf, Miss. 

The following arc the battles in which the members of Company I 
(Synuamon's), of Gates' i-egiment, took part: 

Camp Hane, Carthage, Oak Hills, Drywood, Lexington, Bee 

38 



680 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

Creek — all the foregoing in 1861 ; and Elkhorn, Ark. ; Cross Hollow, 
Ark. ; siege of Corinth, Miss. ; Farmington, Miss. ; Iiika, Miss. ; 
Corinth, Miss. ; these five preceding were in 1862 ; Grand Gulf, Miss. ; 
Port Gibson, Miss. ; Baker's Creek, Miss. ; Black River Bridge, Miss. ; 
siege of Vicksburg, Miss. ; Lookout Mountain, Tenn. ; New Hope 
Cliurch, Ga. ; the seven foregoing were in 1863 ; Atlanta, Ga. ; 
Heights of Altoona, Ga. ; Franklin, Tenn. ; Kenesaw Mountain, 
Ga. ; Blakely, Ala. 

LAST OF THE SOUTHERN COMPANIES. 

Up to the beginning of 1862 more than twenty companies had left 
the county for the Southern service, probably aggregating according 
to the lowest reasonable estimate not less than 1,500 men. Besides 
these there had been a large number of enlistments by individuals in 
companies formed in adjoining counties, and not a few who went 
directly to the Southern army without enlisting until they reached it. 
Merritt Young led out quite a squad from the vicinity of Weston in 
the fall of 1861, and other squads went out from time to time, which 
were afterwards consolidated into various companies. 

By the opening of spring in 1862, the country was so generally in 
the hands of the Union forces that it was hardly less than impossible 
for Southern volunteers to organize All enlistments after that, with 
but rare exceptions, were by individuals or in very small squads, and 
even then it was a question of life or death, with the chances in favor 
of the latter, whether one could get out at all to join the Southern 
army. If recruits for the South were found slipping through the 
country on their way to enlist, they were denounced as "bushwhack- 
ers," and in many instances were shot, although guilty of nothing 
more than otlier volunteers who left their homes to enlist for mili- 
tary service. 

The only companies to leave after the beginning of 1862, or the 
only bodies of volunteers after that worthy of mention as companies 
or squads, were those of Capt. Henry Woodsmall and those under 
Col. C. C. Thornton. All of these had to fight and dodge and run 
their way out, and not without losses by death, capture, and intercep- 
tion. 

Captain WoodsmaU's Company. — Capt. Woodsmall started out in 
the Southern service early in the war, and in the spring of 1862 ob- 
tained a commission to recruit a company. Most of his volunteers 
were from the vicinity of Parkville, and he succeeded in collecting 
enough to form the basis of a company. While encamped near Park- 
ville engaged in recruiting and drilling, in concealment as he supposed. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 681 

he was attacked hy a detacliment of Penick's men, sent over from 
Lil)erty, and a spirited skirmish followed. They defended themselves 
with success and with slight loss, and soon thereafter were on their 
way South. They became a part of Shelby's force, and most of them 
continued in the service until the close of the war. 

Col. Thorntoiis Recruits. — Col. C. C. Thornton came in from 
Price's army early in the spring of 18G4 with a commission to recruit 
for the Southern service. He operated in and through Platte, Clay, 
Clinton, Buchanan, and neighboring counties, but principally in Platte 
county. Col. Thornton collected probably 150 boys and \'oung men, 
nearly all of them of this county, and after perambulating around over 
the county settled down at Camden Point, under the very shadow of 
Ft. Leavenworth " to hold the country." He held it, but no part of 
it very long at a time after Jennison's Kansas regiment and Ford's 
Colorado regiment came in sight. He, finally, ran at' the first fire, 
and but for the bravery and soldierly manhood of Maj. Thrailkill and 
a few other old soldiers, who happened to be present, all of Thorn- 
ton's volunteers, most of them college boys from 15 to 19 years of 
age, would have been butchered in cold blood. Thrailkill, Lieut. 
Hardin, and five or six others, stood their ground a few minutes at 
the risk of their own lives, thus momentarily checking the Federals 
so that the young men could escape. An account of this affair will 
be given furthey along. 

Probably 100 volunteers from this county reached the Southern 
army of those encouraged to enlist by Col. Thornton. 

These were the last attempts at organized enlistments in the county 
for the Southern service. Thenceforward the only recruits received 
from here by the South were those of individuals exclusively, those 
who, taking their life in their hands, depended upon working their way 
through the Union lines as best they could. Several hundred are said 
to have been received into the Southern service from Platte count}' 
in this way. 

TOTAL NUMBER FlIOM THIS COUNTY. 

According to the estimates of those best qualified to judge — Cols. 
Winston, Childs, Thompson and Capt. Synnamon, Miller, Lanter and a 
number of other ex-Confederate officers of this county — there were be- 
tween 1,800 and 2,000 volunteers furnished to the Southern army from 
Platte county from the beginning until the close of the war, not count- 
ing re-enlistments. Many of them, however, served only a short 
time — probably not more than one-third of them became permanent 
Confederate soldiers. Some of those who returned, not a few of 



iJ62 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

them in fact, enlisted in what was called the Paw-paw (Union) militia, 
gotten up more to protect themselves and their families and property 
from Kansas Jay hawkers than for any other purpose. 

This, in part, explains how it was that the county furnished so many 
volunteers to both sides durinof the war. 



III. 
UNION ENLISTMENTS. 

CAPT. PHELPS ' COMPANY. 

The first enlistments iu the county for Union service were in the 
early part of 1862. Capt. Burton H. Phelps, of the vicinity of Ridgely, 
recruited a part of a company iu the northwest part of the county, 
receiving also volunters from across in Clay county. 

With 50 or 60 men he proceeded to St. Joseph, where his company 
was completed. It became Co. A, of the Fourth cavahy, Mis- 
souri State militia, they being organized at St. Joseph. This was in 
February, 1862. 

Of the company. Burton H. Phelps was captain, Jno. T. Carr, first 
lieutenant; Benj. P. Holland, second lieutenant; Sanders McComas, 
commissary sergeant ; Hiram D. Smith, first duty sergeant ; Wm. 
Morgan, second duty sergeant ; and Benj. Fitzgerald, third duty ser- 
geant. 

Only the names of the following privates from this county have 
been obtained : Oliver Clark, Benj. Stitha, Chas. Avery, Geo. McMil- 
lan, Wm. McMillan and Leve Green. 

Capt. Phelps resigned in June, 1862, and was succeeded by R. T. 
Cunningham. The latter died at Mt. Vernon in October of the same 
year and A. R. Couklin became captain. He was from Warrensburg, 
this State, and served until the close of the war. 

Second Lieutenant Holland resigned in June, 1862, and was suc- 
ceeded by Ephraim Davis, of Sedalia. 

The history of the Fourth cavalry includes that of Co. A, and 
we therefore sketch the history of the regiment. The Fourth Regi- 
ment of cavalry was organized with eight companies, April 28, 
1862. Two more companies were added to the organization June 7, 
1862, and two more Februarj' 22, 1863. At its organization Geo. 
H. Hall, brother to Gov. Willard P. Hall, was commissioned as 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 683 

colonel, William M. Albin as lieutenant-colonel, George W. Kelly 
as senior major, Douglas Dale as junior major, and Lieuts. Joseph 
K. Robinson and David Bonham, Jr., as battalion adjutants. In 
September, 1862, Lieuts. Robinson and Bonham were mustered out of 
service in obedience to law and Lieut. Jose))h K. Robinson was 
mustered in as regimental adjutant. In March, 1863, Lieut. -Col. 
William M. Albin was mustered out of service, and Lieut. -Col. Wal- 
ter King was mustered in as lieutenant-colonel ; also Lieut. Joseph K. 
Robinson, regimental adjutant, was promoted to major, and Lieut. 
William C. Defever was appointed regimental adjutant. 

Dr. D. v. Whitney was surgeon from the time of organization, and 
Dr. James H. Shoot, assistant surgeon. 

In Ma}', 1862, the diffei'ent companies composing the Fourth Cav- 
alry, Missouri State militia, were ordered to assemble at Kansas City, 
Mo., to receive the equipments and transportation necessary to equip 
the regiment for the field, and when equipped, the regiment marched 
to Southwest Missouri, and was reported for duty to Brig. -Gen. E. 
B. Brown. About the 8th of August, 1862, the regiment marched 
from Springfield, Mo., in pursuit of Coffee and his band of raiders. 
On the morning of the 12th of August, 1862, the regiment, under 
command of Maj. Kelly, together with a section of the battery of 
Co. F, First artillery, Missouri volunteers, under Lieut. Mattie, 
encountered Coffee, near Stockton, and defeated him, killing 13 of 
his men and capturing thirty-six prisoners. Maj. Dale was wounded 
severely in the right wrist, which was the only casualty. Maj. Kelly 
pursued Coffee over twenty miles, being joined by Maj. Montgomery, 
Sixth cavalry, Missouri volunteers, while pursuing the enemy. 

By order of Maj. Montgomery the whole command moved to 
Greenfield, and in a day or two afterwards the regiment, with other 
troops under the general command of Col. Clark Wright, Sixth cav- 
alry, Missouri volunteers, marched from Greenfield after Coffee and 
others by whom Coffee had in the meantime been joined, and pur- 
sued Coffee out of the State. The regiment returned to Mt. Vernon, 
Missouri, about the first of September, 1862, having been out on the 
march constantly since the 8th of August, 1862, till that time, and on 
but five days' rations of hard bread and salt, without transportation 
or change of clothes. 

On the 30th of September, 1862, the regiment, with others com- 
posing Gen. Brown's brigade, marched under Col. Hall's command 
to Newtonia, and succeeded in covering the retreat of Gen. Solo- 
mon from his ill-conceived attack or demonstration against the Con- 



684 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

federate forces at that point. On the 3d of October, 1862, being 
then a part of Gen. Totten's division of the Army of the Fron- 
tier, it marched with the army till November 10, 1862, having 
been the advance of that army into Arkansas, and the rear of that 
army upon its withdrawal. On the 8th of January, 1863, the reg- 
iment was at the battle of Springfield and went with Col. Cloud in 
the pui'suit of the Confederate forces in their retreat therefrom. 
The regiment was active in bringing Shelby's raiders to a battle, 
and in the pursuit it was at the battle of Marshall, Mo. The' 
regiment was in so many skirmishes and battles that it is difficult 
to narrate them. It went into Huntsville, Arkansas, and had a 
skirmish with a superior force of the enemy, driving them from the 
town. It was first to enter Fayetteville in October, 1862, having 
skirmished for five miles before entering the town with the enemy, 
and in almost numberless other cases. It was never surprised, and 
surprised the enemy, atone place on Horse creek, in Dade county. 
Mo., killing eight and capturing one hundred horses and camp and 
garrison equipage. 

During the year 1864 the regiment was in Central Missouri, and was 
engaged in scouting, policing, escoi-ting and guarding the line of the 
Pacific Railroad, under command, until September 1st, of Col. Geo. 
H.Hall. From September 1st, Col. Hall having been mustered out 
to accept promotion as i)rigadier general, the regiment was under the 
command of Maj. Geo. W. Kelly. The different companies were sta- 
tioned in January as follows : Cos. A and B at California, Mo. ; C 
and E at Lamine Bridge ; D, H, I and M at Jefferson Citj' ; L at Linn 
creek; F at Syracuse; G at Boonville, and K at Tipton, Mo., with 
regimental headquarters at Lamine Bridge, Tipton and Jefferson City, 
Mo. During the months of February, March, April and May, tiie 
regimental headquarters were at Jefferson City, Mo. Six companies 
of the regiment formed a column for patrol duty under the command 
of Maj. George W. Kelly, and were constantly moving through the 
region comprising the first sub-district of Central Missouri, rendering 
it entirely free from the depredations or presence of guerrillas. June 
3d, regimental headquarters were removed' from Jefferson City to 
Sedalia, Mo. ; thence July 30th to Warrensburg, Mo. ; August 25th to 
Tabo, Lafayette county. Mo., and during the month of September to 
points as follows : From Tabo to Georgetown, thence to Boonville, 
thence to Otterville, thence to Tipton, thence to Sedalia, thence via 
Tipton to Russellville, Mo. In June, July, August and September 
the regiment was constantly on the march, scouting the country 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 685 

extending from the northern Ijoundary of Lafayette county to the 
mouth of the Osage, and was during tiiis time in frequent fights and 
skirmishes with guerrillas. In the latter part of September the regi- 
ment was concentrated at Sedalia, Mo., and, in connection with other 
troops under General Brown, moved to the defense of Jefferson City, 
against Gen. Price, arriving at Jefferson City, Octol)er 1st. From 
this date to the 7th the regiment was engaged on outpost and patrol 
duty along the Osage river and Moreau creek. Octoljer 7th, it was 
withdrawn to Jefferson City ; October 8th, moved out in connection 
with other cavalry under Gen. Sanborn in pursuit of the enemy ; 
found and skirmished with him at Moreau ; October 9th, pursued, 
overtook and engaged him at California, Mo., in which engagement 
three of the regiment were wounded. From this date until October 
19th, the regiment moved and remained in the vicinity of the enemy 
in Cooper and Pettis counties, and participated in several slight skir- 
mishes, in one of which, near Boonville, one man was lost — missing. 
From October 19th, forming part of the first brigade, cavalry divi- 
sion, the regiment took part in the pursuit of Price, and was in the 
battle of Independence, Octoljer 22, of Big Blue, October 23, and of 
Osage, October 25, 1864 ; its losses in these engagements amounted 
to eight killed, forty-four wounded and one missing. The prin- 
cipal loss was at Big Blue ; in this engagement Capt. W. D. Blair was 
killed while gallantly leading his men ; Lieut. Dale was mortally 
wounded, and Capt. Van Sickle, Lieuts. Hamilton and Bryson 
severely. lu the fight at Osage the regiment captured two pieces of 
artillery, and one battle flag, together with many prisoners. From 
Osage the regiment moved via Fort Scott to Lamar, and returned 
thence via Fort Scott, Germantown and Warrensburg to Sedalia, 
Mo., arriving at Sedalia November 4th. November 12th, agreeably 
to Special Order No. 283, Headquarters Department of the Missouri, 
1864, Cos. K and L were broken up, and the enlisted men distributed 
throughout the remainder of the regiment, leaving but ten companies 
in the organization. 

During the year 1865, until mustered out, the regiment was en- 
gaged in general scouting, escort and guard duty, and rendered ex- 
cellent service. 

It was mustered out in June, 1864. 

COL. price's company. 

December 15, 1861, the Eighteenth Missouri infantry. United 
States volunteers, commanded by Col. Morgan, came to this county 



686 HISTOKT OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

and went into quaiters at Weston, doing post duty there until March, 
1862. Whilst the regiment was at Weston, James A. Price, a citizen 
of Weston, organized a company of volunteers in this county for the 
Union service. The company became Co. K, of the Eighteenth 
Missouri, under Col. Morgan. Capt. Price was afterwards, June 19, 

1862, promoted to the rank of major of the regiment, in wliich posi- 
tion he served until he resigned, July 7, 1862. His regiment was 
badly cut to pieces at the battle of Shiloh and a large part of the 
men captured. He, himself, was badly wounded, and it was on ac- - 
count of disability resulting from his wound that he resigned. 

The officers of Co. K, of the Eighteenth Missouri, were as follows ; 
Captain (first one), James A. Price; succeeded by William M. Edgar 
after the former's promotion ; Capt. Edgar was also promoted, and 
he was succeeded by D. A. Cudworth ; after Capt. Cudworth was 
mustered out, his term expiring in March, 1865, Abijah M. Everest be- 
came captain. William H. Minter was first lieutenant from September 
7, 1863, to December 4, when he became captain of Co. F, same 
regiment. William M. Edgar ranked as first lieutenant from June 3, 

1863, to March 1, 1864, when he was succeeded by Michael Collery. 
Lieut. Collery resigned April 3, 1865, and Charles Manda became 
fir^t lieutenant. He was honorably mustered out July 18, 1865. O. 
B. Douglas was second lieutenant until after his desertion, after the 
battle of Shiloh. William M. Edgar was then second lieutenant 
from December 4, 1862, until June 3, 1863. James R. Wilson next 
became second lieutenant. He was also promoted, and James M . 
Smith succeeded him. 

While the regiment was at Weston, Col. Morgan was succeeded by 
Col. Madison Miller. He resigned March 16, 1864, and Lieut. -Col. 
Charles S. Sheldon became colonel of the regiment. 

The regiment was ordered South in the spring of 1862. The first 
important battle in which it took part was the battle of Shiloh. It 
was in the thickest of the fight and sustained itself with distinguished 
gallantry until it was cut to pieces. More than a third of Maj. Price's 
old Platte county company was either killed or wounded. The whole 
regiment, and particularly the brave Platte countians, fought with a 
courage worthy of their gallant State and of the ever victorious flag 
that floated above them. 

After the battle of Shiloh the regiment returned to St. Louis to re- 
cruit its depleted ranks and to reorganize. In a month or two more 
it was again on its way South. It joined the Union forces in Tennessee, 
and was in numberless skirmishes and several battles prior to the be- 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 687 

ginning of " Sliernian's March to tlie Sea." It then accompanied 
that famous and invincible chieftain of the Union arms on his victor- 
ious campaign through the heart of the Confederacy. When Athanta 
fell, the last sea port of the South was closed, and the Confederacy 
had received its death blow. ' 

COL. price's REGIMENT. 

In the meantime, Maj. Price, after his resignation from the Eighteenth 
Missouri, near Shiloh, had returned hoBie to Weston, and after re- 
covering somewhat from his wounds, decided to raise a regiment. He 
had lost none of his ardor for the Union cause, and was determined 
that as long as he could raise an arm it should be uplifted for the old 
flag, and the authority and integrity of the nation. 

Platte county was strongly Southern in feeling, and although the 
county was nominally under the control of the Union forces, it was 
almost constantly infested with returned Confederates and independ- 
ent Southern scouts, who improved every opportunity to harass 
Union troops passing through or stationed here, falling upon small 
detachments unawares, and attempting to cut them to pieces. As all 
the volunteers then in the field were already fully occupied with the 
work of closing in upon the enemies of the Government elsewhere, 
an order was issued in July, 1862, for the enrollment and organiza- 
tion of an additional force of State militia. This was intended for 
home service strictly, that is, for service inside the State. It was ex- 
pected with this force to rid the country of the armed bands of Southern 
raiders and scouts then infesting it, and to restore peace and the reign 
of law and order. 

Under the authority of the Governor's call, Maj. Price at once 
commenced the enlistment of volunteers for the formation of a regi- 
ment. The necessary companies were soon raised and organized, and 
a regiment was formed which numbered, rank and file, about 800 
men. 

Maj. Price was made colonel of the regiment; Hon. Jno. Doniphan, 
lieutenant-colonel; Hon. Jno. M. Clark, major; Hon. H. J. Wolf, 
adjutant, and Benj. Bonifant, surgeon. 

The principal officers of the companies of this county forming the 
regiment were as follows : — 

Rtgimental Officers — James A. Price, colonel; John Doniphan, 
lieutenant-colonel; John M. Clark, major; Henry J. Wolf, adjutant ; 
L. W. Ringo, quartermaster ; Benjamin Bonifant, surgeon ; James 
F. Bruner, army surgeon. Company A — Wash. T. Woods, captain ; 



688 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTV. 

Thomas H. Talbott, first lieutenant ; James O. White, first lieutenant ; 
John Sliindlar, second lieutenant. Company B — James M. Noland, 
captain; Hiram Malott, first lieutenant; George W. Noland, second 
lieutenant. Company C — Wni. J. Fitzgerald, captain; Henry H. 
Snyder, first lieutenant ; John Sheerer, sec(md lieutenant. Company 
D — John M. Clark, captain; Charles G. Peacock, captain; Thomas 
E. Mills, first lieutenant ; Thomas J. Wilson, second lieutenant. 
Company E — John H. Burts, captain; William F. Baker, first 
lieutenant ; Alex. Maltshergfr, second lieutenant. Company F— 
M. P. Moore, captain ; Wm. T. Carrington, captain ; John R.Norton, 
first lieutenant; William Cox, second lieutenant. Company G — 
Charles Guenther, captain ; Philip Doppler, first lieutenant; Mathias 
Schindler, second 'lieutenant. Company H — Samuel J. jNIilier, 
captain ; Henry J. Wolf, first lieutenant ; John L. R. Ringo, first 
lieutenant; S. Veneman, second lieutenant; John F. Kenny, second 
lieutenant. 

In consequence of an extraordinary reduction in numbers from 
various causes, such as removals from the State, enlistments in the 
United States service, and payments of commutation tax in lieu of 
military service, this regiment was disbanded and the commissions of 
all the offices vacated by General Orders No. 30, Noveml)er 1, 1863. 
Col. James H. Moss, commanding First Sub-District, Seventh Military 
District Enrolled Missouri Militia, completed the reorganization 
of the effective militia of Platte county, as instructed to do by said 
general order, and the regiments was known as the Eighty-second En- 
rolled Missouri Militia, command by Col. Moss. 

The Thirty-ninth Missouri (Enrolled Missouri militia) continued in 
the service for about a year. Two companies of the regiment were not 
dissolved until January, 1863. It was active and vigilant in its eft'orts 
to maintain the authority of the Union armies in this county and to 
crush out at the very inception every demonstration of hostility on 
the part of the Southern element. A number of spirited skirmishes 
occurred in the county, some of them hotly contested and bloody, 
and quite a number of prisoners were taken by the militia. The 
authority of the Government and the Union armies was strictly 
enforced, and a great many private citizens wiio were suspected or 
known to be guilty of disloyalty were apprehended and made to take 
the oath required at that time. 

Col. Price was a Union man and a soldier, an unconditional Union 
man, and terribly in earnest in his desire to see what he believed to be 
a causeless and unholy rebellion crushed out. His neighbors and 



HISTORY OF TLATTE COUNTY. 689 

friends, Southern sympathizers, though they might he, he esteemed as 
much as others and always sought to shield and protect them when 
he could, without trenching- upon his duty to the cause he had sworn 
to uphold, a cause as dear to him as ever Colonial independence was 
to a soldier of '76. "Whenever loyalty to the Union and personal 
friendship came in contact, the latter, for the moment, was put aside. 
In many instances, it is true, he favoi'ed his Southern friends, but 
never when it seemed to be treason to do so. 

To give aid and comfort to those in arms against the Government 
was held to be positive and flagrant disloyalty, and was punishable by 
the laws of war. Sometimes he had the painful duty to perform of 
seeing to it that the ^ offenses of his neighbors and friends in this 
respect were not permitted to go unpunished. For this he has Ijeen 
bitterly blamed by some. But whilst it was perhaps but natu- 
ral for them to give food and shelter — to harbor aud protect, as far 
as possible — their kindred in arms against the Government, he would 
have been doing less than his duty as an officer and soldier had he 
permitted this to be done without making an elTort to prevent it. War 
is bad at best. But war in which neighbors and friends are on op- 
posite sides is the worst of all. 

THE PAW-PAW MILITIA. 

After the Thirty-ninth, under Col. Price, was mustered out, there 
were no other Union forces here except those merely passing through 
or stopping only temporarily, until the organization of what was 
known as the Paw-paw Militia — Eighty-first and Eighty-second regi- 
ments of the Enrolled Missouri State Militia. These were organized 
in the fall of 1863. The following were the principal officers of the 
regiment and the companies forming it : — 

Eiglity-first Regiment E. M. M. — Officers. — John Scott, colonel ; 
Elias Parrott, lieutenant-colonel; Jno. M. Bassett, major; P. K. 
O'Donnell, major ; Chas. West, captain, adjutant. ComjMuyA. — Geo. 
J. Lucas, captain ; Wm. Howard, captain ; D. L. Irving, first lieutenant ; 
Jno. Eaton, first lieutenant; T. L. Crumpacker, second lieutenant. 
Company B — T.J. Stratton, captain ; W. L.Hyatt, first lieuten- 
ant ; T. J. Bracken, second lieutenant. Company G — Jacob B. Cox, 
captain ; Cornelius Day, first lieutenant ; Robert B. Thomas, second 
lieutenant. CompaAiy D — Milton M. Claggett, captain ; Jacob T. 
Child, first lieutenant ; T. C. Roberts, second lieutenant. Company 
E — Harrison W. Davis, captaiu ; James Dye, first lieutenant ; 



690 HISTORr OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

Joseph H. Dicken, second lieutenant. Company F'^ — John A. Dole- 
man, captain ; Eohert S. Gunn, first lieutenant; Henry T. Gore, sec- 
ond lieutenaut. Com/payiy G — Anthony Grable, captain ; Daniel A. 
Meadows, first lieutenant ; John T. Ferrill, second lieutenant. Com- 
pany H — John N. Smith, captain; William A. Cornelius, first lieu- 
tenant; Thomas L. Blakely, second lieutenant. Company I — Mil- 
ler Woodson, captain ; Uriah Griffith, first lieutenant; Jacob Schultz, 
second lieutenaut. Company K- — James H. Davis, captain ; William 
S. Tyler, first lieutenant ; Allen H. Dunlap, first lieutenant ; H. B'. 
Gross, second lieutenant ; C. R. Thompson, second lieutenant. Com- 
pany L — Jas. !Noland, captain ; B. F. Catlett, first lieutenant ; D. C. 
Hart, second lieutenant. Company M — Milton R. Singleton, captain ; 
John L. Stanton, first lieutenant; Isaac Hayes, second lieutenant. 

Eighty- Second Regiment, E. M. M. — Officers: James H. Moss, 
colonel ; Nathaniel Grant, colonel ; John Doniphan, lieutenant-colonel ; 
John M. Clark, major ; C. S. White, adjutant. Company A — R. D. 
Johnston, captain ; Wm. Chesiiut, first lieutenant ; E. O. Sayle, second 
lieutenant. Company B — Isaac Simpson, captain ; Wm. M. Stokes, 
first lieutenant ; H. C. Hatfield, second lieutenant. Company C — 
L. A. Ford, captain ; J. H. Nash, first lieutenant ; Cyrus Caprou, second 
lieutenant. Company D — W. T. Woods, captain ; John W. Martin, 
first lieutenant; Samuel A. Woods, second lieutenant. Company E — 
Thomas J. Wilson, captain; John S. Mallott, first lieutenant ; M. 
D. Riley, second lieutenant. Company F — R. H. Bywaters, cap- 
tain ; William H. Elliot, first lieutenant ; James M. Hall, second lieu- 
tenant. Company G — Aaron P. Osborn, captain; William Down- 
ing, first lieutenant ; William A. Williams, second lieutenant. Com- 
pany H — Charles B. Hodges, captain ; Elijah W. Cooley, first lieu- 
tenant; John W. Dixon, second lieutenant. Company I — John S. 
Thomason, captain ; Nathaniel Grant, first lieutenant; James D. Bax- 
ter, second lieutenant. Company K — George S. Story, captain; 
John W. Collins, first lieutenant ; L. W. Tiegardner, second lieuten- 
ant. Company L — Robert P. Clark, captain; A.V.Smith, first 
lieutenant ; Thomas W. Park, second lieutenant. Company M — 
Preston Simpson, captain; A. R. Baker, first lieutenant; Samuel R. 
Brown, second lieutenant. 



1 Formerly Company F, Twenty-flfth Regiment. Attached to this regiment by 
General Orders No. 32. Transferred to Eighty-third Regiment, Co. B, by Special 
Orders, No. 178, 1864. 

2 Formerly Co. K, Twenty-flfth Regiment. Attached to this regiment by General 
Orders No. 32. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 691 

Of the foregoing regiineuts Cos. G, H, I and M, of the Eighty- 
first, and Cos. A, 'B, C, D, E, F, G, L and M, of the Eighty- 
second were composed principally of volunteers from this county. In 
the two regiments, according to the statement of Mr. Wolf, member 
of the Legislature during the war, there were volunteers from Platte 
county sufficient to have formed seven complete companies. These 
regiments were afterwards consolidated, as we were informed by Col. 
John Doniphan, and those not previously mustered out were honora- 
bly discharged, March 12, 1865. 

They were organized for home protection and were composed of 
some of the best citizens of the county, without regard to political 
affiliations or distinctions ; and a great many of both rank and tile 
were those who had previously been in the Southern army. 

When there were no regular Union soldiers here — Federal forces 
with some regard for their reputation for common honesty and with a 
desire to protect law-abiding citizens from thieves and open and noto- 
rious robbers and plunderers — the people were subject to constant 
raids from what were termed " red-legs " from Kansas, who stole and 
cai-ried off all kinds of movable property, and sometimes burned 
houses and committed other depredations. It was mainly to protect 
the people against raids of this kind that the Paw-paw militia regiments 
of Platte county were organized. They did valuable service as a local 
police and gave protection to all classes of citizens who were at home 
obeying the laws and quietly engaged in their usual avocations. They 
served without pay and without the expectation or hope of it — simply 
to protect the lives and property of the peaceable, law-abiding classes 
of the community. 

But among the extremely lo3'al classes, or the Radical Union men 
as they were called, there was a strong prejudice against the Paw-paws. 
It was charged that a great many of them were ex-rebels, with the 
" ex " hanging on only by a thread, and that most of the others were, 
to say the least. Southern sympathizers. Finally, this prejudice be- 
came so bitter that when the Radical element in the Union party ob- 
tained control of the State Government, a movement was set on foot 
to have the Paw-paws disarmed and disbanded. 

This of course created great dissatisfaction. The militia were 
serving without pay and were molesting no law-abiding citizen. On 
the contrary they were affording protection to all and maintaining the 
public peace. Many l)elieved that they were to be disarmed simply 
that tiiey might be robl)cd and plundered again with impunity. The 
greatest outcry against the Paw-paws came from across the river in Kan- 



692 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

sas, which was of itself extremely significant. Some of the militia 
declared they would not give up their arms, believing that there was 
no honest or patriotic motive in disarming them, and that rather than 
submit to this they would resist to the bitter end and even go over to 
the Southern army with their guns in their hands. As a matter of 
fact a few of them afterwards did join the Southern army, but only a 
very few. The difficulty was at last adjusted without serious trouble, 
and the militia quietly and peaceably disbanded and resumed their 
places at home. 

THE SIXTEENTH KANSAS. 

At the time of the disbandment of the Thirty-ninth Missouri State 
militia in Platte county, and the organization of the two Paw-paw 
militia regiments, the State government in this State was in the hands 
of the Conservative Union party; that is, that party as contradis- 
tinguished from the Eadicals. Gov. Gamble had been made Governor 
by the old State Convention called by Gov. Jackson to take the State 
out of the Union, and Lieut. -Gov. Hill, who succeeded Gov. Gamble 
as Governor, after the latter's death, was a Conservative, but a 
strictly loyal Union man. But as a matter of fact the State adminis- 
tration did not keep abreast of the more extreme element in the Union 
party. 

The extreme Union men soon began to feel that they were not being 
fairly treated by the Conservative Union party ; that both in political and 
military affairs they did not receive the attention and consideration 
their loyalty and services for the Union demanded. Many of them 
refused to have anything to do with the Paw-paw organization, the 
loyalty of which they did not believe to be very clearly distinguish- 
able from that of Gov. Jackson's militia, then under Gen. Price; and, 
to make their feeling still more bitter, officers of Paw-paw patriotism 
were often promoted to positions of prominence and responsibility, 
whilst others whose devotion to the cause was not questioned were 
silently ignored. 

This was the case with Col. Price, of this county. He would have 
nothing to do with the Paw-paws. On the contrary he went to work 
to organize a regiment of men whose loyalty could not be called to 
question. He raised several companies and had every reason to be- 
lieve that he was to be made colonel of the regiment, the Twelfth 
Missouri. But another was preferred by the State administration. 
Determined not to remain idle, he took the major part of his volunteers 
over to Kansas and with them entered the Sixteenth Kansas United 
States volunteers. Three Platte county companies accompanied him, 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 693 

tlidse of Capts. Philip Doppler, \V. J. Fitzgerald and Charles Guoii- 
tlier. A number of others also went and became members of different 
companies in that regiment. Probably as many as 450 men from 
this county entered the Sixteenth Kansas under Col. Price. J. P. 
Etuickson and W. Bj Holgard, both of Platte county, became respect- 
ive!}' surgeon and quartermaster of the regiuient. 

The Sixteenth Kansas was commanded by Col. Werter R. Davis, 
Lieut. -Colonel Samuel Walker and Maj. James A. Price. It subse- 
quently took part in the tights at Camden Point (Co. F, Capt. 
A. J. Miller), Lexington, Little Blue, Lulependence, Big Blue, Little 
Osage, Newtonia and Powder river. 

But in the fall of 18(34 it became evident that there was to be a 
change of administration in Missouri and that tlie Conservative State 
government was to be succeeded by the Radicals. Col. Price and 
many of his men, therefore, resigned or secured honorable discharges 
from the Sixteenth Kansas, and returned home to Platte county. 

In the meantime the Paw-paw militia, or most of them, had i>een 
disbanded and the rest were soon afterwards mustered out. 

COL. Fitzgerald's regiment. 

After the disbandment of the Paw-paws and the return of many 
of the volunteers from Kansas and from other commands in the 
Union service, prominent Union soldiers in this county began the 
formation of a Platte county regiment of militia. Twelve companies 
(several of them were only parts of companies) were organized, and 
of these the Sixteenth Missouri militia regiment was formed in May, 
18()5. The following became officers of the regiment and companies, 
respectively: Wm. J. Fitzgerald, colonel; Charles Guenther, lieu- 
tenant colonel ; A. G. Beller ; major ; Philip Doppler, lieutenant-adju- 
tant ; Manoah Miles, lieutenant-quartermaster; Albert Bowlby, sur- 
geon. Company A — Wm. Magers, captain; Wm. H. Roney, first 
lieutenant; Henry Mays, second lieutenant; (Jompany B — James 
A. Price, captain ; Charles S. Warner, first lieutenant ; Daniel C. 
Linn, second lieutenant. Company C — B. F. Dougherty, captain; 
Jesse Brashear, first lieutenant ; J. D. H. Coleman, second lieutenant. 
Company D — Francis M. Tufts, captain ; John Rohan, first lieuten- 
ant ; James K. Lamar, second lieutenant. Company E — Robert C. 
Brdck, captain; Achilles Perrin, first lieutenant ; R. W. Bywaters, 
second lieutenant. Company F — Wm. Cockrill, captain ; P. Mc- 
Comas, first lieutenant ; Philip W. Stice, second lieutenant. Com- 
pany G — Wm. Chestnut, ca})tain ; John R. Swain, first lieutenant; 



694 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

D. O. Darnell, second lieutenant. Company H — S. R. Brown, cap- 
tain ; A. E. Hughes, first lieutenant ; J. F. McAlexander, second 
lieutenant. Company 1 — Nathan Spatcher, captain ; B. F. Cox, 
first lieutenant ; Felix Cox, second lieutenant. Company K — James 
T. Riley, captain ; Geo. W. Noland, first lieutenant; R. J. Huffman, 
second lieutenant. Company L — Thomas J. Wilson, captain ; E. 
V. Randolph, first lieutenant ; Geo. W. Rennolds, second lieutenant. 
Platoon M — John Y. Patton. 

This regiment was organized more than two months after Gen*. 
Lee surrendered at Appomattox, and of course it was called upon to 
perform no service. It was mustered out soon after its organization. 

From the list of companies and regiments given on the foregoing 
pages in this chapter, it would appear at the first glance that there 
were a great many more volunteers from Platte county in the armies 
of the two sides in the late war than it would be reasonable to accredit 
the county with, considering that its population in 1860 was 18,500. 
The vote of the county the same year on the different oflices was 
from 2,500 to 3,000, or about one vote to every six and a half in- 
habitants. 

It being on the border, nearly every one in the county capable of 
bearing arms was in the service on one side or the other. Some 
were in only a short time — a month or two, or even a week or two — 
but many served continuously throughout the whole war. Altogether 
there were probably not less thau 3,000 persons of this county who 
served for a greater or less time in one army or the other. There 
were, of course, more enlistments thau that, but some volunteers en- 
listed as often as two or three times, and in both armies. First, the 
country was strongly Southern in sentiment, the South received all 
the early volunteers for the war. Then, after the Union forces took 
possession of the county, many who had been in the Southern army, 
but afterwards wanted to remain at home, enlisted in the Union home 
militia. In this way the apparently unreasonable number of Union 
volunteers is accounted for. 



IV. 

OCCUPATION OF THE COUNTY BY FEDERALS FIGHTS, ETC. 

As has been remarked on a former page of this chapter, Platte 
county, being strongly Southern in sentiment at the beginning of the 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 695 

w:ir, was the scene of almost constant enlistments for the Southern 
service from the time Gov. Jackson first called for volunteers until 
the close of that year. The county was in the undisturbed possession 
an(l control of its Southern citizens and soldiery until the fall of 1861. 

FIRST FEDERALS IN THE COUNTY. 

On the afternoon of the 17th of September, 1861, Federal troops 
for the first time appeared in Platte county. They were about 800 
strong, and were under the command of a Col. Smith, from Illinois 
(Sixteenth Illinois regiment), which State his command was also from. 
Col. Smith was on his way to Lexington for the relief of Col. Mulli- 
gan, who was already being invested by Gen. Price. 

Capt. Silas M. Gordon, who was then organizing a company of 
Southern volunteers, learning of Col. Smith's approach, determined 
not to let him pass through the county unchallenged. Although Capt. 
Gordon had no time to collect his men, he resolved to salute the 
enemy with a shot anyhow. Accordingly, just as the advance guard 
of the Federals were a]:)proaching Platte City from the west, Capt. 
Gordon rode out to meet them, and passing a short distance beyond 
the bridge he fired upon them at long range, killing oue of their 
number, their guide, a doctor from St. Joseph. The guide was 
struck sqtuire in the forehead, and was, of course, killed instantly. 

Col. Smith, supposing from this demonstration that his passage 
through Platte City would be seriously contested, and not knowing 
what Southern force was in reserve, hurried his men off and formed 
for a fight. His cannon were brought forward and directed against 
the town. Several shots were fired, but no great damage was done. 

In the meantime Capt. Carr, a coadjutor of Capt. Gordon, en- 
deavored to organize the citizens to defend the place, but the force 
of Col. Smith was too great to admit of successful resistance by the 
few men then to be collected. The citizens generally and their families 
fled from the town, and in a little while Col. Smith's forces mai"ched 
in without encountering any further op[)osition. They camped in the 
place that night, and aside from sacking stores and private houses and 
carrying ofi' considerable quantities of goods and other personal prop- 
erty, but little damage was done. 

MAJOR KELLEY'S VISIT. 

Soon after tlie departure of Col. Smith from Platte City, Capt. 
Gordon, who was quite active in this county in the early part of the 
war, went up into Chariton county with a squad of volunteers, all 

39 



696 HisTORr OF platte county. 

young men, and made prisoners of Col. James H. Birch and other 
Union men of prominence, taking them down to Gen. Price. In- 
censed by this, Col. Birch's sou, John Birch, obtained a detachment 
of Union troops, under Major Kelley, and made a descent upon Platte 
City with the avowed object of capturing Gordon. But the latter had 
not returned from his expedition South. Kelley's force remained 
here a day or two and then returned to Plattsburg. 

MAJ. Joseph's campaign — the bee creek fight. 

The next Union expedition into Platte county was in November. 
The fame of Gordon had now gone abroad, and it became a matter of 
emulation among Union liattalion and regimental commanders to cap- 
ture him. Maj. Joseph, then stationed at St. Joseph, thought he 
could accomplish that much desired object. 

Accordingly, he took a detail of about 500 men and two or three 
pieces of artillery and moved suddenly upon Platte City. He had 
heard from some one, a few miles from town, that Gordon was here. 
Quickly surrounding the place he permitted no one to pass out with- 
out apprehending and examining him. But none of them proved to 
be Gordon or any of his men. Gordon was here — in the town at 
the time — nevertheless. But he secreted himself under the Baptist 
Church until nightfall and then made his escape. 

The next day. so far from capturing Gordon, it became a close ques- 
tion whether Joseph was or was not to be captured. Gordon went 
to work collecting his men. He sent word to Capts. Carr and Stewart, 
who were also organizing Southern companies in the county, to col- 
lect their men. Runners were sent all over the county. The inten- 
tion was to invest Joseph at Platte City, and as soon as they could 
collect a sufficient force to capture him, men, baggage, cannon and 
all. They were considered a rich prize — eminently worthy the 
ambition of volunteers. Joseph was encamped on vacant lots above 
the site of the present court-house. The morning following the even- 
ing of his arrival he sent scouting parties out on the different roads 
to feel of the country and for foraging purposes. These were all 
furiously attacked and driven in at a break neck speed — every one 
for himself and the rebels for them all. One Union trooper, in his 
wild flight from the rebels, cleared the college stiles at a single bound 
of ills horse, but he was thrown heavily against the ground, and his 
teeth knocked out by the fall. Stove. Cooper, a young man of the 
vicinity, was after him, yelling and shooting like a Comanche. But 
he could not jump the stiles, and hence the panicked fugtive escaped. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. (i97 

Afterwards, four picket.s at the Paxtoii mill were attacketl ami run 
in and two of them were killed. One of the killed, Davids, was a 
Urother to Capt. Davids, who was in Platte City later along with Maj. 
Dnimhiller. 

Maj. Joseph gave it out that he expected to remain in Platte City 
for some days, doubtless in order to throw Gordon and Carr and 
Stewart otf their guard. The sec:)nd morning after his arrival he 
made ready to move down and occupy the court-house as he pre- 
tended. But instead of stopping at the court-house he ke})t straight 
on through Platte City, crossing on the i)ridge and continuing on the 
Weston road. 

(rordon and others had not yet collected a sufEcient force to sur- 
rountl the town and hold him. In fact they were not aware of his 
departure until he was out of town. Even then only Capt. Carr 
learned of it in time to attempt to intercept him. 

Sending word to Capts. Gordon and Stewart to join him immedia- 
tely at the Bee creek bridge, a few miles west of Platte City on the 
Weston road, Capt. Carr started for that point with all possilile speed 
and reached there barely in time to put his men in position for the 
fight. He formed them to the right of the creek facing east and about 
100 yards from the bridge along a field fence. His force consisted of 
about 50 men. 

In a few minutes Joseph's advance guard approached. They were 
tired ui)on by Carr's men. The advanced guard returned hastily back 
to the main body, and Josef^h formed his men at Tatraan's house. The 
fight now began, Joseph opened his artillery, and both sides opened 
with their small arms. The noise of the artillery and the crash of the 
balls in the fence corners had a very unsettling effect upon the nerves 
of some of the raw recruits of the Southerners. Nearly half of them 
lied precipitately. But the others stood their ground like old soldiers 
and fought like furies. The Federals also took advantage of the feiuse 
corners, and the battle became a regular Indian fight. 

It lasted, from beginning to end, more than an hour, and was only 
concluded even then \)y the ammunition of the Southerners becoming 
exhausted. On that account they were compelled to fall back ;uid let 
the Federals pass. 

Maj. Joseph re|)orted that his loss was only 2 killed and b wounded. 
Some of his men, however, afterwards admitted that they lost 4 
killed and that 7 were wounded. The casualties on the Soutliern side 
were 2 wounded — Capt. Carr and Joseph Bywaters. The latter after- 
wards died from the efl'ects of his wound. 



ii\)6 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

The companies of Capts. Gordon and Stewart failed to reach the 
bridge in time to take part in the fight, though Capt. Gordon, him- 
self, who happened at the time to be separated from his men and to 
be near at hand endeavoring to collect recruits, fell in with Carr and 
fought with desperate bravery until it was over. 

CAPTURE OF COL. MOONLIGHT AND MAJ. RALPH. 

Soon after the Bee Creek fight Capt. Gordon moved down to the 
vicinity of latan, and during the latter part of November stopped a 
train on the Kansas City, St. Joseph and Council Blufi's Railroad, mak- 
ing prisoners of Col. Moonlight and Maj. Ralph, of Kansas, who were 
then in the Union service, and others. They were turned over to the 
Southern authorities and were afterwards exchanged. 

MAJ. HUFF COMES TO WESTON. 

Capt. Gordon's exploits had now so incensed the Union authorities 
at Leavenworth and other garrisons in the vicinity of Platte county 
that they were determined to drive him out of the country. He fre- 
quently visited Weston, and they threatened to burn the place if he 
was permitted to go there again. Within a week or ten days after 
Moonlight and Ralph were captured Maj. Hufl" came over from Leav- 
enworth with about 400 men, threatening that if he was fired upon in 
the county or interfered with in any way, he would leave the town iti 
ashes. He had planted artillery on the opposite side of the river to 
shell the town in case he met with any demonstrations of resistance 
on this side. 

CAPT. GORDON GOES SOUTH. 

Finally several prominent citizens of the county were sent for by 
Gen. Hunter at Leavenworth, and were informed that unless Gordon 
left the county he would burn every house within its borders. This 
course of disposing of the presence of an enemy was perhaps justified 
as a war measure, but to have executed the threat would have been 
neither brave nor just to the unoffending propert}^ holders of the 
county. Capt. Gordon left the county, not through fear, but to save 
the property of the people. 

COL. morgan's ADVENT. 

The lion had now left his lair. The wolves and jackals could come 
and go at pleasure, with no one to do them hurt or make them afraid. 
And they came. 

Col. Morgan came with a regiment, but not until Gordon liad left. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 699 

He stayed until he was dishonorably dismissed from the service, for 
the cowardly murders and felonious arsons he committed. He came 
to the county early in December. Westou became his headquarters. 

Tlie Burning of Platte City. — One of the first moves he made 
was to visit Platte City. He came here on the 16th of December, 1861, 
with a strong force. That night he burnt the town. What he burnt 
it for no one knows, except from pure villainy. He had met with no 
opposition in the county. Everybody had treated him and his men 
hospitably and kindly. 

They started the fire at the dead hour of midnight, at a time whea 
people would be glad and fortunate if they escaped with their lives, 
to say nothing of homes and property. First, the flames bursting 
above Mr. Cochran's store, which had probably already been robbed, 
aroused the town. This was in block 29, just now the present drug 
store of Tully Ellifrit. The wind was from the southeast. 

Spreading rapidly, the fire soon enveloped all the row of buildings 
from Cochran's to the corner. Firebrands flew across to the court- 
house and set it on fire. Morgan now appeared on the streets and 
pretended that he did not want to burn the court-house, but only the 
other buildings. Knowing that he could not save it, he made great 
demonstrations toward doing so, but really he did nothing. It too 
went down in ashes ; and when the sun rose the next morning his 
kindly beneficent rays fell upon the ruin that an adventurer and 
scoundrel in shoulder straps had wrought. 

One of the best poilions of the business part of Platte City had 
been destroyed ; and the court-house, the public building of the county, 
that hard working, honest men and tax-payers, Union men as well as 
so-called " rebels," men of all parties, had paid for, was burnt. This 
served greatly to enthuse the people for the Union cause ! 

Tlie Murder of Triplett and Close. — But to the crime of arson 
murder was to be added. Some of Morgan's men went out to the 
residence of Wm. Kuj'kendall, near Platte City, where they captured 
two Southern volunteers who were in the county on furlough. They 
were regularly enlisted soldiers in the State Guard and had their cer- 
tificates of furlough with them. They had been guilty of no crime, 
and were charged with nothing save fighting as honoral)lo soldiers un- 
der the call of the Governor of their State. 

Both of them were of old and respected families. Black Triplett 
was a son of Capt. Wm. Triplett, one of the pioneer settlers of the 
county ; and Gabriel Close was a young man originally from Ohio, 
and of an eqn.ally good family. 



700 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

Morgan, after the harniug of Platte City, started on his retnrn to 
Weston, taiiing these young men with hi in. Arrived at Bee creek 
bridge, he ordered them out to be shot, without trial, court-martial, 
or pretense of authority of any kind. Young Triplett, brave, cool 
and heroic, faced his murderers and was shot, aud instantly killed. 
But Close, hoping against hope that he might escape *to avenge the 
death of his heroic young friend and companion, just as the order was 
given to " fire ! " dodged the discharge and fled. He ran a desperate 
race, borne, as it almost seemed, upon tlic wings of the wind and was' 
fairly making his escape when a single leap sealed his doom. Rush- 
ing headlong into the timber, noting not where he was going, only 
that he was going, and at his greatest speed, he leaped into a quag- 
mire in the creek bottom and sank so deep that in trying to extricate 
himself he floundered and struggled until his murderers were upon 
him. They attacked him, defenseless, helpless in the mud, and 
bayoneted him to death. What a sight for even soldiers to witness — 
murdering an unarmed, helpless man floundering in the mud ! That 
was true soldiery, gallantry aud heroism ! No wonder Platte City 
was burned and the whole county sacked and plundered. The only 
wonder is that all the wells in the county were not poisoned. 

Neither the decent, self-respecting Union men of the country nor 
the Union authorities of the State sustained Morgan or made ex- 
cuses for these high-handed, villainous outrages. On the contrar}-, 
he was required to step down and out from the command of his regi- 
ment, and was succeeded by Col. Miller. 

The following characterization of Col. Morgan is taken from a speech 
delivered by Hon. H. J. Wolf, of this county, in the State House of 
Representatives, NovemI)er 30, 1863: " Yes, sir; he (Morgan) is the 
man that was dishonorably dismissed from the service of the United 
States. This is the man who is brought up to testify that my constitu- 
ents, friends and neighbors who own this ferry, ^ are not loyal." 
#»*« * * * *# 

" I want to make it a part of the history of the country that Col. 
Morgan disgraced the eagle that the Government of the United States 
put upon his shoulders, and the stripes of the uniform that he wore. 
I desire to state that the Representative from Platte county requires a 
different man from this Col. Morgan as a witness against the loyalty 
of any man. 



1 Ttie ferry at Rialto, agaiust the loyalty of the owners of which Morgan had given 
evidence. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTV. 701 

" Why, sir, if he were to swear against Jeff. Davis, himself, I would 
not believe him. He disgraced the service of the United States, and 
his pistol and sword and side arms were taken from him. He was 
taken to headquarters and decapitated in a v/ay that a great many 
others should be." 

Mr. Wilson, of Platte: " I want to ask my colleague (Mr. Wolf) 
whether he was not adjutant of the regiment after Morgan was dis- 
missed ? ' ' 

Mr. Wolf: " Yes, sir, I was; and I never disgraced my shoulder- 
straps. I was willing to tight for my country. I am willing to stand 
up for the glorious institutions of the people whom I represent and 
believe to be loyal ; and when insinuations are cast against their 
loyalty I want better witnesses than Col. Morgan. 

"i/e buriied Platte City, sir! He murdered men in Platte county — • 
infamously and cold-bloodedly murdered them,, sir, witJiout trial or 
investigalion of any sort, and xoitlioiit a shadoio of authority." 

CLOUGH's raid OF ROBBERS WISCONSIN AND OHIO TROOPS. 

During the winter of 1861-62 one E. N. O. Clough came over to this 
county from Kansas with a boely of men and made a thrifty raid 
through the eastern part of the county. They returned to bleed- 
ing Kansas richly laden with plunder " pressed " from " rebels," and 
of course everybody who had anything they wanted was a " rebel." 

It now began to look as if the people were to be given over, bound 
hand and foot, to be robbed and plundered with impunity. But in 
their distress a number of leading Union citizens of the county ap- 
pealed to the Governor, to secure, if possible, the stationing of a 
force or forces of soldiers in the county, who had some character to 
cai'e for, and some regard for common honesty. 

The presence of the Third Wisconsin and the Second Ohio was 
secui-ed, the former at Weston and the latter at Platte City. These 
were honorable, self-respecting men, and while they were in the 
county peace and quietude prevailed. The people and soldiers were 
on the best of terras, and their final departure was sincerely regretted. 
The Third Wisconsin left during the latter part of February, but the 
Second Ohio remained until after spring had opened. 

OTHER TROOPS IN 1862. 

The year 181)2 was not an eventful one in the war history of the 
county, compared with other years during the Civil War. After 
the appearance of the Wisconsin and Ohio troops comparative 



702 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

peace prevailed. To be sure, other troops succeeded these, who 
were more bent on mischief and making war on non-combatants than 
in doing effective service against the armed forces of the Confederacy 
and overrunning the South where danger and death were to be faced. 
Then, also, Southern soldiers, residents of the county, wei-e occa- 
sionally returning home on furloughs or after having served out their 
terms of enlistment ; and a few recruiting ofBcers came in now and 
then. Sevei-al squads of recruits for the South were collected, as 
we have noted elsewhere, and between them and the Union' militia or- 
soldiery one or two skirmishes occurred. 

All of these circumstances occurring, one after another, of course 
kept the public mind in a state of unrest, but affairs were still not in 
a desperate condition, compared with what was to follow during the 
next and the second succeeding years. 

The Wisconsin and Ohio troops were succeeded respectively by 
Col. Charles E. Solomon of the Fifth Missouri infantry, U. S. volun- 
teers, and Maj. Wm. Drumhiller, of the Fifth cavalry, Missouri State 
militia. Provost marshals was appointed and citizens in every part 
of the country were arrested and required to take the oath of loj'alty 
and give bonds. These oaths or affidavits were triumphs of ingenuity 
and imfamy. The subscriber was compelled to swear that he had 
and would have no sympathy in the remotest degree even for those of 
his own family who might be identified with the Southern cause, and 
that under no circumstances would he give aid and comfort to them, 
or help them in any way, directly or indirectly, sick, starving and dy- 
ing though they might be ; and that he took said oath willingly and 
gladly, without mental reservation or evasion, and with an ardent and 
zealous desire to perform the obligations it imposed : in other words, 
that he could not live happy nor die happy without first taking the 
oath. 

Of course the people took the oath voluntarily — they could either 
take it and give bond to observe it faithfully or be sent off from their 
homes and families to die and rot in some loathsome prison. 

They were required to swear that they would do what the laws of 
God declare the}' should not do — turn the sick and penniless and suffer- 
ing from their door without a crumb or kind words even for poor chari- 
ty's sake, though the unfortunate were their own flesh and blood. 
With what sacredness they regarded these oaths, with what fidelity 
they observed them, can be imagined. But many a citizen was 
sent off to prison and robbed and plundered, and not a few were mur- 
dered because they failed to observe them strictly. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 703 

These thoi'oughly American patriot soldiers from Hesse-Darmstadt, 
the lineal descendants of those of the same nationality mentioned in 
the histories of our Revolution, tarried in Platte county only long 
enough to teach Americans the great and true principle of American 
liberty, and then moved on to other fields of usefulness in their work of 
political evangelization. 

SKIRMISHES AND ROBBERIES IN 1862. 

The only other occurrences in 1862, worthy of mention, besides 
the enlistment of the Thirty-ninth Missouri State militia and of a few 
volunteers for the Southern service, which have already been men- 
tioned, were the skirmishes near Parkville and at Goose Neck, and a 
raid into the county of thieves and runaway negroes from Kansas. 

The Parkville Skirmish. — In the summer of 1862 Capt. Henry 
Woodsmall enlisted a company of volunteers for the Southern service 
and was encamped about four miles east of Parkville, where he was 
engaged in drilling his men and preparing them for service in the 
Southern army. His presence was reported to Col. Penick, then with 
a regiment at Liberty. Col. Penick at once moved rapidly into the 
county and surprised Capt. Woodsmall, routing him and killing two of 
his men, James Robinson, a citizen of Parkville, and another man 
also of the vicinity of that place. Woodsmall, however, made his 
escape with the balance of his men. He continued in the South until 
the close of the war. 

Tlie Goose Neck Fight. — During the fall of 1862 several com- 
panies or squads of Southern recruits under Capts. James Sutton, 

Rucker, and others and were rendezvousing at what is called 

Goose Neck, the principal creek of the Platte river above Platte 
City, and of course the fact soon became known to the Union forces 
in the county. 

Maj. Herren, then of Weston, came out with the regiment sta- 
tioned there to surround and capture the Southerners. The latter 
were encamped under the bluff of the river, with the river bottom 
below them and a ridge above gradually rising from the embankment. 
This ridge was covered with a thick growth of trees and underbrush. 
The attacking party approached from the ridge and came upon the 
enemy before they, tiiemselves, were aware of it. Both, therefore, 
were surprised. Both stood their ground for a few minutes to ex- 
change shots and then fled. Some of the Southerners ran at the first 
fire, thinking that they were surrounded. But most of them held 
their ground until several rounds were fired. 



704 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

Finally, both sides fell back, each not knowing that the other was 
retreating, and as there were fewer Southerners than there were of 
the Union force, their number of fighting men of course gave out 
first. At last the Union force, seeing that the Southerners had beaten 
them getting away from the fight, I'eturued to the scene of battle and 
took possession of the field. 

The casualties were one Southerner, Elijah Ninemeyers, wounded 
(shot in the thigh), and four Union men killed, including David Soni- 
mers and Watt Brady, both of Weston. Several of the Union men 
were wounded. Ninemeyers layout in the brush until he was able to 
travel and was attended professionally by Dr. Johnson, now of Kan- 
sas City. 

Raid of Thieves and Negroes. — At night, during the fall of 1862, 
a negro was caught by Mr. Andrew Gutherie, residing about three 
miles northwest of Weston, in the act of stealing a horse from his 
farm. The negro was walking off with the horse, and on refusing to 
halt when commanded to do so by Mr. Gutherie, the latter fired 
upon him and shot him, but unfortunately not fatally. The negro 
escaped, but without the horse. 

The following night about 150 negroes and white thieves came over 
from Leavenworth and stole five head of horses from Mr. Gutherie, 
including a wagon and team. They also plundered the people as 
they came and went, taking horses, wagons and teams, and loading 
the wagons with plunder of every description. Stopping at James 
Schultz's, they took three fine brood mares and four mules from him ; 
and other farmers along their route suflered in like proportion. 

But while they were doing this Mr. A. E. Murdock, residing in the 
neighborhood, hastened to Weston for a detachment of soldiers. The 
troops were promptly furnished, and the thieves were overtaken at 
Kickapoo ferry, where they were fired upon and four of their number 
killed. Three horses and a Government mule — all the darkies ex- 
pected to get a Government mule and 40 acres of " Secess " land as 
soon as the war was over — wei-e recovered. 

1863 A KEIGN OF TERROR. 

Morgan had beenofBcially decapitated, dismissed from the service and 
disgraced for his high-handed crimes and depredations in this count}', 
and he had left the country. But the influence of his evil example 
lingered. His methods and practices were observed with pleasure by 
some whose moral natures and conceptions of life were of a piece with 
his, and as soon as an opportunity was oflered them they gladly im- 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 705 

proved it to copy his example, only exceeding it in villainy and brutal 
scoundrelism as their natures were baser and more criminal than his. 
Morgan's character would have made a white mark on that of some of 
his disciples in this county at a later period. 

People were robbed and plundered right and left, all classes — 
Southern sympathizers worst ; but if they were not convenient, then 
Union men were fallen upon, and occasionally a free negro, who had 
worked and saved to buy his freedom, and then worked and saved to 
provide a subsistence for himself in his old age, was filched of the 
little he had. Men were shot down in cold blood, houses were 
burned, and citizens of the highest character and guilty of no crime 
were cowhided through the public streets. "Loyal" newspapers 
were threatened and destroyed for even remonstrating in a friendly 
and conciliatory tone and a reign of robbery, arson, murder, rapine 
and plunder prevailed. No one when he retired at night had any 
assurance that he would live to see the dawn of the next morning, 
and even less that his house would not be destroyed. 

We can not hope to give anything like a catalogue of the crimes and 
depredations committed. Only a few are mentioned. 

Robbing an Old Colored Man. — Among the numerous robberies 
committed in the early winter of 1863, was that of an old colored man 
residing in the upper part of the county, not a great distance from 
Ridgely. He had worked and saved his money and bought his free- 
dom before the war. Aftei-wards he had worked and saved up a little 
means. It came to the ears of certain parties in the county, who 
were a disgrace to the Union service they were in, that the old man 
had some money about his house. They went there on the night of 
the 4th of Fel)ruary and demanded his money or his life. He gave 
of the little cash he had, $80, a small fortune to him. We learn from 
Sheriff Pack that the robbers were some of Capt. Phelps' company. 
The reputation of some of them could not very well be pleaded in mi- 
tigation of the charge. 

Others. — We take the following list of roblieries and depredations 
duringthis period, from the Platte County Sentinel, a strictly " loyal" 
sheet : — 

On Thursday night the l)arn of Capt. Wells, near Weston, was 
set on fire and entirely destroyed. The barn was one of the largest 
and finest in the county. 

George W. Robinson had his dwelling house, negro quarters and 
smoke-house burned, and a yoke of oxen stolen. 

Monday night Mr. Hunt had stolen from him six horses, an ox 
team and a large quantity of meat. 



706 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

Tuesday night William H. McFarland had a fine mare taken. 

The same night Mrs. James Rees was robbed of three horses, one 
yoke of oxen and a wagon. 

The same night Joseph Pines lost a pair of horses, a wagon and 
a pair of harness. 

The same night Mr. Cole had some property stolen from him, 
what amount we did not learn. 

The same night Mr. H. Lloyd was robbed of a fine mare. 

The premises of two citizens by the name of Hughes, one resid- 
ing near Parkville and the other near Platte City, were raided and a, 
large amount of property carried off from each. 

A number of other robberies occurred, but we could not learn the 
particulars. 

Such is life in Platte county ! Who envies us? 

The above is from a single issue of the Sentinel, picked up at ran- 
dom. We have been able to find but four or five copies of the papers 
published in the county prior to 1864, and the few we have for 1863 
are filled with accounts of roberies, murders and depredations. 

Raid on Stump Cockrill. — In the Sentinel of the 30th of July is 
the following: 

During a late hour on Thursday night of last week a band of white 
men and negroes from Kansas called on Mr. E. C. Cockrill of this 
county. Among them were negroes formerly owned by Mr. Cockrill. 
They compelled him to hitch up a team to a wagon, which they loaded 
with plunder of all kinds, carrying oft' wagon, team, plunder, the 
remainder of his negroes and all. One old darky who was helpless 
from age and decrepitude was left. On Friday night some of the 
gang returned and again raided Mr. Cockrill. They took horses, 
mules, wagons, oxen and a whole train of plunder. 

The Murder of loney Tinsley. — On the 18th of September, 1863, 
Toney Tinsley, a young man born and reared in the northeast part of 
the county, and a son of one of the old and substantial citizens of 
that vicinity, was taken prisoner by Capt. Fitzgerald and was hanged 
as a common felon. 

He was left hanging from 3 o'clock in the afternoon until 9 o'clock 
the next morning, when his body was discovered and was taken down 
by neighbors and carried to the home of his aged and grief-stricken 
parents. 

Tinsley was at the time under the supposed protection of an express 
l)ledge from the very authorities which Fitzgerald professed to be 
serving. It was, therefore, worse than murder. It was a murder 
and a shameless disregard of the obligation of a superior officer in 
the Union service. 

Young Tinsley had been in Price's army. Went out at the first of 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 707 

the war, and was third lieutenant under Capt. Rogers. By his 
bravery and personal worth he had risen to the command of his 
company. Subsequently he returned home ou furlough, and while 
here he was taken prisoner. After lying in prison for a time, he was 
released on oath not to take up arms again, and also gave bond. 

From the time of his release until Fitzgerald murdered him he had 
lived in the strictest observance of his oath and bond. He had not 
violated either in any way, and had not attempted to. 

But unarmed and defenseless, guilty of no crime, and under the 
protection of his oath and bond, he was taken out and murdered — 
not shot as a brave man would execute a spy, and as even the laws 
of war require when the death penalty is decreed by a competent 
court-martial, but hanged as a cruel, base-hearted coward would mur- 
der a personal enemy against whom he had a greater spite than even 
the life of his victim could satisfy. 

This was still worse from the fact that young Tinsley had been re- 
leased from prison for a consideration. Whilst he was confined at 
Weston it was intimated to his father and friends by several who had 
influence with the authorities, ^ that for several hundred dollars he 
would be released. The old gentleman and his neighbors raised the 
money and paid it over, and the young man was set at liberty, but 
only to be murdered a few days afterwards. 

About this time, as well as before and afterwards, as we are in- 
formed by Col. Price, of Weston, the practice of having men arrested 
who were able to pay blackmail for their release, either from their own 
means or by the aid of friends, was a regular industry. Often a false 
ciiarge would be trumped up, and a party who was able to pay for his 
release would be arrested. Then after he had paid the blackmail, the 
same parties who manufactured the evidence against him would bring 
forward testimony to clear him of the charge. Scoundrels of this 
class had the decent people of the county completely in their power. 
At the same time most of them were drawing pay and rations from 
the Government, and had drawn uniforms, arms and bounties. Doubt- 
less, since the war, they have also drawn l)ack and other kinds of pay, 
and are now drawing pensions. 

It is due to Col. Price to say, and it stands out greatly to his honor, 
that as soon as he discovered the lilackmailing practice going ou he 
summarily put a stop to it, even at the sacritice of his own popularity 
with some, who, to punish him for his decency and sense of honor. 



' The uames of these infamous characters have escaped us, otherwise we would 
have given them above. But they are well kuovvu to the people of the county. 



708 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

weut to the extent of trumping up charges against him, which, of 
course, failed for want of proof or truth. 

Kansas Red-legs — Hangings and Robberies. — From the issue of 
the Sentinel of October 1, 1863, we taiie the following: — 

On Friday night last a gang of five men visited the house of an 
old man by the name of Raff living near Farley. They took him 
from his house and hanged him until he was dead. Ratf was a Ger- 
man, a widower, who had two of his children living with him. 

The assassins then went to the house of Tipp Green, living near ' 
by, took him from beside his wife, marched him to the place where 
they had hung Raff and hanged him. Both men were left hanging 
until Saturday. 

On Saturday, the same gang went to the house of Mr. Titter 
and swung him up, to make him reveal whether ho had any projjerty 
concealed. They took him down, however, before life was extinct, 
robl)ed him of some of his goods and a horse. 

They then went to the house of Mr. Shepherd, who was not at 
home, fortunately ; they told his wife they would have hung him if he 
had been at home. 

In the meantime, a squad of Col. Moss' men had started after 
them. They came upon them just as they were in the act of hanging 
an old man, eighty years of age. His wife of about the same age^ 
had secreted herself, l)ut the old man was too feeble to make his 
escape. They were fii'ed upon and one of their number wounded. 
They succeeded, however, in getting off, i)ut fled so precipitately 
that they left ten head of stolen horses and a lot of store goods, 
among the latter of which was a l)urial suit, which Mr. Timberlake 
had kept in his house for a number of years. There were no mar- 
ble yards on their route, or doubtless each of them would have 
stolen himself a tombstone. 

They escaped into Kansas, where they reported that they had 
been driven out of Platte county because they were good, honest Union 
men, "truly lial," as it were. 

They were unquestionably 103'al. They gave the most undoubted 
proof of that fact. 

Thus affairs had gone on from bad to worse, until the organization 
of the Paw-paw militia, with Col. Moss at its head, for home protec- 
tion. The county was robbed and plundered by thieves from Kansas 
and by thieves at home — generally re[)resentatives of the lowest, 
worst class of society in the county. Everything that was stolen was 
of course taken to Kansas, for that was tlie great retreat, and in this 
way the people across the border were made to appear worse than they 
reallv were. Some of the worst scoundrels who plundered the county 
and murdered its citizens resided here, and became loyal for the 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 709 

oppoi'tunit}' loyalty gave them to plunder and gratify their malice 
against their better-to-do and more respectal)le neighbors. 

Destruction of the " Sentinel^' Office. — It was, of course, danger- 
ous for any one to say anything against the depredations and high- 
handed outrages of these scoundrels — even for decent Radicals to 
criticise them. They were loyal, and that covered all the moral 
scrofulas which humanity is heir to ; whilst to be even suspected of 
Southern respectability and decency blasted a man's chai'acter for- 
ever in the estimation of these fragrant " loyalists."- If one criticised 
them in the least he was at once denounced for disloyalty and his life 
and property considered fairly forfeited to the glorious cause of the 
Union, as represented by them. 

The editor of the Sentinel fell undei- their disfavor for remonstrating 
with them in a brotherly tone and manner, and his office was raided 
and a large part of its material destroyed. The Sentinel had been an 
extreme Radical organ up to the time that stealing became general 
ai;d without order or system, and had been instrumental in having the 
Conservator newspaper at Platte City suppressed the spring before, 
for not being loyal and hating rebels enough. 

During the war it was generally a race between rival county news- 
papers which could be the most loyal, and the one whose stomach 
proved the weaker and fell behind even for the width of a hair was 
generally suppressed with promptitude and dispatch. So in the 
spring of 1863 the Conservator went as far as it could go for loyalt3''s 
sake, but the Sentinel went a little further and won. But in the fall 
of 1803 the Border Times outshone the poor Sentinel in loyalty, and 
the latter was kicked and cuffed about and finall}' drooped and with- 
ered and died. 

But, as we have said, the cause of tlio destruction of the Sentinel 
office was that its editor gently remonstrated with some of the loyal- 
ists against unorganized, indiscriminate stealing. The following is a 
specimen remonstrance it published, for which it fell under the ban : — 

Remember This. — Every dollar's worth of property held by rebels 
is properly the property of the Government ; and when legally con- 
fiscated will go to relieve loyal citizens [save the mark !] of so much 
of the tax necessary to meet the expenses which the rebellion has 
liruught on the country. Therefore every dollar's worth of property 
sl()len from rebels is that much indirectly stolen from loyal citizens. 
Consequently, it becomes the interest, as it is the duty of every tax- 
payer, to do all that in his power lies to discountenance and put a stop 
to thieving of every kind. The more especially so, as the tine, fat 
horse of the loyal man is no more sacred in the eyes of the marauders 



710 HISTOUY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

than the poor, lean horse of the rebel and sympathizer.' — Sentinel, 
September 24, 1863. 

In other words: "Now, boys, don't be in a hurry; it isn't fair. 
Wait until there is a regular, fair divide all around, and then take 
your share like upright, good, honest, loyal men." 

If tiuit isn't an argument addressed to a constituency of thieves, who 
are assumed to be devoid of the single principle necessary among 
organized thieves — the honor among thieves — then the English lan- 
guage is a failure as a means of expressing thought, feeling and action. 

Affairs assumed the shape we have outlined above under the military 
administration of Col. Herren, who was at the head of a force of Mis- 
souri militia and was stationed at Weston. To still the voice of 
criticism and hush the whisper of censure, though to do so is to com- 
pel truth to be silent, we say nothing of Col. Herre4i's official career 
in this county. The greater and deeper the wrong endured the nobler 
and more generous is the charity that forgives if it does not forget it. 
Judge Herren had some bad men under him, and bad men of this county 
took advantage of his personal friendship and of his own antipathy 
against the South and anything Southern to casta stain upon his name. 
Too much, perhaps, he himself was driven into excesses by the souU 
less, merciless passions of the hour, and the too lax state of the moral 
code at the time ; but he suffered a rebuke severe enough for one with 
even a measurable- sense of honor to bear. His conduct was disap- 
proved by his own side and by his superiors, and his force was sum- 
marily disbanded. Other companies belonging in the county, but 
which had been identified with him, were also disbanded. 

Forces more in sympathy with the peaceable, law-abiding citizens of 
the county were required — those who would be sul)ject to no sus- 
picion of conspiring with thieves and plunderers or giving them in- 
formation or assistance. A general raid from Kansas was expected ; 
a raid of rapine, arson and murder, from which, it was believed, that 
not one stone would be left upon another, not one home to sentinel 
the desolation to be made. Lawrence had been raided in retaliation for 
Osceola, and now it was believed that Platte county and all the Missouri 
border were to be desolated in retaliation for Lawrence. The follow- 
ing from a county paper voiced the fear and feeling at the time: — 

Threatened Raid into Platte County. — We hear of projected raids 
upon Platte county. No good can come of this; but great harm. 



' The rebel's aad sympathizer's horse was always poor, bliud and lame, for he 
onildn't keep auy other kind for fifteen minutes. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 711 

greut wrong, terrible suffering, the innocent desolated, the unoffend- 
ing ruined, perhaps murdered and probably driven to be outlaws in 
a spirit of retaliation. It is true that Lawrence has been desolated, 
laid waste, swept a? with the besom of destruction ; for this let ven- 
geance sweep with the arm of extermination against the perpetrators 
and their aiders and abettors. 

But who is responsible? Not Platte county. She has not in the 
leastwise contributed to Quantrell's fiendish crusade. If she had par- 
ticipated in this horrible affair, then she should suffer her due share 
of retribution. She has not, but on the contrary, as soon as she 
learned of the massacre, she contril)uted to the relief fund. Shall 
the innocent suffer for the guilty? 

The Missouri border counties, south of the Kaw, have lurnished 
the "sinews" to the whole expedition. They, and they alone, 
should be held accountable. There is where the swift bolt of destruc- 
tion should fall — and even there, in God's name, let discrimination 
be made between the innocent and the guilty. 

The storm-cloud that now hangs with such black and threatening 
fury over this ill-fated border must be guided with a wise and an 
iron hand, or it will burst ui)on us, involving all in common ruin. 
These are not idle words, but they are solemn words, " spoken in 
truth and soberness." We are drifting between Scylla and Charyb- 
dis ! Who has the foresight and the will to save us? 

Something had to be done. A force that could be relied upon for 
home protection was necessary. By authority of the laws of the 
State and the proclamation of the Governor the Paw-paw militia was 
organized. This was in September, 1863. 

PAW-PAW MILITIA EXCITEMENT. 

Col. James H. INIoss, a prominent Union man of Liberty, and who 
had seen service in the army, was placed in charge of the sub-military 
district composed of Clay, Clinton and Platte counties. Some who 
had been in the Southern army, but had returned, became members 
of the Paw-paw organization in order to be able to protect their homes. 
A large number who sympathized with the South enlisted. 

When Col. Moss came to Platte City to swear in Capt. Johnson's 
company, a public meeting was held, of which we have the following 
account : — 

Meeting Friday. — Col. Moss has been appointed to the command 
of a sub-district in this military district, composing Clinton, Clay 
and Platte counties. 

Last Friday, in accordance with notice given a day or two before, 
he was at Platte City for the purpose of organizing into comi)anies 
and arming such men as were willing to bear arms in defense of their 
homes and property and of the National and State Governments. 

40 



712 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

The town was crowded at a very early hour in the day, not less 
than 800 men being present. Capt. R. D. Johnson reported to Col. 
Moss that he had raised a full company of men who desired to be 
sworn in and armed for home defense. About 11 o'clock the men 
were formed in double file in front of the Virginia Hotel, and the 
roll being called, Col. Moss proceeded to swear them into the service. 
Before that was done, however, he told them the Government ofthe 
State had determined to arm all loyal men who desired to defend 
themselves against the thieves and robbers who infest the country ; 
that this was a temporary organization for home defense, until the- 
militia could be organized ; that each man served at his own expense ; 
and closed by saj'iug ver}' earnestly : " Now, my fellow-citizens, before 
I administer this oath I desire to say to you that if there is, in these 
ranks, a single man who is not determined hence forth to be an active 
affirmative Union man, and a friend ofthe Government, I want him 
to step aside — we want him not." All having consented to be 
sworn, Col. Moss administered the usual oath to support the Gov- 
ernment of the United States and of the State of Missouri and to 
obey the legal orders of officers placed over them. The officers were 
then appointed, and the company was armed with United States 
muskets, which Col. Moss had brought with him from Cla}-. 

In compliance with the request of many citizens. Col. Moss ad- 
dressed the people in the Baptist Church, which was crowded to the 
utmost capacity, many being unable to get admittance. 

His speech was eloquent, manly and convincing, full of devotion to 
his country and love for the Union. He said he well remembered 
the scenes which had been enacted since last he spoke in Platte Cit}', 
and knew that many whom he saw before, had not been with him. 
That he had ever been a Union man while they had not been; but 
that no hard feelings rankled in his heart against those who, having 
gone astray, now wished to return to their allegiance ; that he wel- 
comed all such as brothers, who had erred and repented ; that the 
destiny of Missouri was fixed, that she would never desert the Gov- 
ernment our fathers established, and that the present causeless rebel- 
lion was sure to l)e suppressed. He said it was both the interest and 
the duty of the people of Missouri to render a prompt and cheerful 
support to the Government, both State and National, and aid by men 
and money to prosecute the war until the last armed rebel submitted 
to the authority of the Government, as the surest road to peace. He 
also paid a feeling tribute to the patriotism of Gov. Gamble. 

He then read his orders placing him in command of this sub-district, 
and also the order of Gov. Gamble ( which we pul)Iish in another 
column), and announced that it would be executed. 

He said tiiat his mission was to restore peace, and he would do that 
l)y a vigorous war against all who refused to submit to the law. 

That no peaccal)le, law-abiding man should be irijured in person or 
property, if he could prevent it, but that all alike should be free to 
speak and vote their sentiments. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 713 

The speech had a fine effect, and the people departed for their 
homes earnestly hoping that a better day had dawned upon them. 

Threatened Trouble at Platte City. — But on account of the fact 
that the old Thirty-ninth Platte county regiment of militia under 
Col. Price had only recently been disbanded, and other militia organ- 
izations in the county had been removed or mustered out of the 
service, much bad feeling existed on the part of many of the mem- 
bers of these forces. They felt that a grievous slight had been put 
upon them, if, indeed, a cutting rebuke had not been administered, 
by being disposed of in that way, and their feelings, already greatly 
incensed, were still more inflamed by the mustering into service in 
their stead of some whom they had regarded as Southern sympa- 
thizers and returned rebels. 

This feeling of antipathy went so far as to influence some of the 
members of the old military organizations almost up to the point of 
refusing to submit to being disbanded, and threats were made that 
the Paw-jiaws should not be armed nor permitted to organize. The 
Paw-paws, especially Capt. Johnston's company, were denounced as a 
rebel organization, and the Governor was accused oFbeing in secret 
sympathy if not concert of action with the Southerners. Counsel, 
encouragement and assistance from Kansas were sought by the mal- 
contents, and they received sympathy and advioe from that source. 

But in the meantime a number of the leading, property holding 
citizens of the county, fearing that forces from Kansas would come 
over and devastate the country, or that they might l)e induced to come 
over and attempt to disarm the Paw-paws, which would have resulted 
in a collision and bloodshed and ruin, sought to conciliate and flatter 
some of the leading and most influential men across the border, and 
to win their friendship and influence over to the side of law and order 
in this county. 

Accordingly, a very public and complimentary invitation was gotten 
up on this side — with what sincerity we shall not undertake to say — 
requesting Col. D. R. Anthony and others (and they would have 
requested Jennison and John Brown if they had been there and it 
would have done any good to do so) to come over and address the 
people of Platte county, largely slave holders, in favor of immediately 
taking the negroes away from them, for there were still a few that had 
not yet run ofi" or been stolen. 

Col. Anthony courteously I'eplied that he would come. But as the 
time approached for his coming the people I)egan to get a little nerv- 



714 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTT. 

ous. They were not exactly sure as to what he would do when he 
got here, and that it might not turn out as the invitation of the fly to 
the spider did. Their anxiety was intensified by the fact that the dis- 
affected militiamen of .the county had been in frequent consultation 
with him and that it had been given out that he was to bring a large 
force with him. 

But they had invited him here and it was now too late to bow them- 
selves out of it. They must nerve themselves up to the point of 
facing the responsibility before them — of piloting themselves and 
their constituents out of it by their tact, discretion and address. 

When the time came for the meeting, Col. Moss, as cool and brave 
as a lion, and who had had and would have nothing to do with An- 
thony nor his meeting, had his men ready for bloody work, in case it 
should be required. 

Some of the disaffected ex-militianien, on the other hand, wanted 
the Paw-paws disarmed at all regards, and were hopeful that Anthony 
would inaugurate the work of disarming them when he arrived. 

He was reported to be approaching and already near to town. 
Affairs looked critical. A few minutes more would decide what was 
to be the issue of Anthony's visit. All wore a serious expression and 
Moss' men looked sober and determined. 

Anthony's force came in sight. Now was the time for the citizens 
who had invited him to show their tact, good judgment, and 
diplomacy. They were equal to the occasion. They wanted to avoid 
a collision and save life and property, and they did it. They dashed 
gladly ( ?) forward on their horses and met Anthony before he entered 
the borders of the town. They welcomed him with ever}"^ expression 
of joy and hospitality. 

Never was a care-worn, battle-scarred soldier of the Cross, a patri- 
archal, white-haired circuit rider, more warmly welcomed to a revival 
than was Brother Anthony welcomed to Platte City. His men came 
in singing "Old John Brown," and of course the committee of citi- 
zens were not so impolite as not to join them in that soul-inspiring 
song. They, too, sang — sang as they never sang before — with 
voices of almost angelic seraphimic sweetness, beauty and modulation, 
although several of them had been present in the raid on John Brown, 
at Osawatomie, and had shot at him while he was swimming the 
Maries des Cygne river. 

After this Col. Anthony could not be made to believe that the peo- 
ple of Platte county were not the greatest and best of the greatly and 
truly loyal. The pleadings, remonstrances and all the representations 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 715 

ot" the dis.satistietl, disorganized and disarmed ex-niilitiamen were 
in vain. He was the steadfast friend of his newly discovered h)yal 
friends in Phitte. 

The people had no further fears of organized I'aids from Kansas. 
All that they now had to look after were their own thieves at home. 

The following is a report of the meeting from a Kansiis standpoint, 
taken from the Leavenworth Bulletin: — 

THE MEETING ON SATURDAY. 

A few days since we published a letter of invitation, signed by 
forty-two well known citizens of Platte, inviting Mayor Anthony, 
Gen. Delabay and jNIr. Parrot to address an immediate emancipation 
meeting, to be held at Platte City, on the 2i)th (Saturday). The in- 
vitation was accepted. 

Since then rumors of difBculties and threats against those who 
should attend were rife. The radical Union men of Weston informed 
Mayor Anthony that the call was a blind to cover the intended disarm- 
ing of the radical loyalists, and the arming of the rebel sympathizers 
and cojiperheads. On Friday information was received that Col. 
James H. Moss, of Liberty, had, under cover of authority from Gov. 
Gaml)le, to take command of the enrolled militia of Clay and Platte, 
proceeded to Platte City and organized and armed a large company of 
men, who were under bonds, and who were violently pro-slavery. 

Under these circumstances it was advisable to take a small escort. 
Mayor Anthony, Mr. Marsh, Judge McCahan, the Messrs. Palmer, 
Mr. Hinton and some twenty more citizens, left here on Saturday to 
fill the engagement. 

A couple of miles from town they wjere met by a messenger from 
Col. Price with the following missive : — 

Platte City Mo., Sept. 2C, 18G3. 
To Col. Anthony and Others : 

Dear Sirs — I am iu Phitte City, according to promise; find James H. Moss here 
with 180 butternuts. You must seud at least 150 good men here forthwith. We may 
have trouble before night. Don't fail to attend to this immediately. 

In haste, J. A. Price. 

As we came in sight of Platte City it was evident that great excite- 
ment prevailed. One company was drawn uj) under arms at one end 
of the street, and the other was forming. Judge Paxtou met us with 
representations of the excitement prevailing, and urged that every 
exei'tion be made to keep the peace. The delegation passed in singing 
John Brown, and as they passed the Weston and Parkville militia 
they were received with loud cheers. In passing the company of Col. 
Moss a few faint shouts were given for the "Union of the States," 
which were heartily responded to by rousing cheers for " Freedom." 
Stopping in front of the hotel, three cheers were given for " The 
loyal men of Missouri ;" and three more for " Immediate Emancipa- 
tion." 



716 HISTORT OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

Prior to organizing it was deemed advisable to invite Moss and his 
men to attend. So Anthony sent the following note. Norton is a 
lieutenant in the Moss troopers: — 

Sbpt. 26, 1863. 
Judge Norton: — Will you invite Col. Moss and his men to attend the meeting at 
the Reformers' Church this afternoon. I think that an exchange of opinion would 
tend to promote harmony and good feeling between Kansas and Missouri. 

Respectfully, D. R. Anthony. 

REPLY. 

Hon'. D. R. .A.mthomv: — \ note addressed to Judge Norton by yourself, inviting 
myself and men to attend your meeting, has just been handed to me. I am much 
obliged to you for your polite invitation and I would cheerfully comply with your 
request, but I think it advisable not to let my men mix with the crowd for fear some 
imprudent man should bring on a difficulty. No obstacle in the way of establishing 
good feeling between the citizens of Kansas and Missouri will be thrown In the way 
by me, but on the contrary, I shall labor for that end. 

Yours, etc., James H. Moss. 

The meeting was organized by the election of Col. J. A. Price, of 
Weston, President, and Judge Paxton, of Platte, as Secretary. 

Col. Price, in taking the chair, spoke earnestly in relation to the collision that had oc- 
curred. He denounced Moss' movements as a usurpation; declared It was calculated 
to strengthen bushwhacking and rebellion. Col. Price said that as colonel of the en- 
rolled he knew that there were but four men whose loyalty was not impeached. All 
others were suspected persons, enrolled as rebels and sympathizers. To arm such 
men was a crime at any time — worse when a Union man did not dare to poke his 
head out after dark. If these men would be killed it was their own fault. He was 
far from desiring a collision — he hoped in God's name it would be averted. But the 
Union men of Platte, who had .always been true; who, like himself, had fought the 
battles of the Union, would not always submit to the imposition of defending them- 
selves against United States arras, being put in the arms of their enemies. If Moss' 
copperhead militia got hurt in the operation, he for one would never protect them — 
never so help him God I [Loud cheers] . Col. Price continued for some time, icorning 
the men and movements under Moss. 

The Rev. Mr. Heath, having opened the meeting with prayer, it 
was declared fully organized. 

The meeing was addressed by Judge McCahan, Col. Anthony and 
R. J. Hinton, Esq., of Leavenworth, and J. N. Burnes, of Weston. 

The committee on resolutions reported ; and resolutions in favor 
of a new convention and immediate emancipation were passed, and 
denounced the action of Col. Moss in the strongest terms, declaring 
their determination to resist, if the proper authorities failed to disarm 
the rebel sympathizers he had organized. 

From the Leavenworth Conservative, we take the following in 
regard to Col. Burnes' speech : 

The speech of Col. Burnes was truly electrifying. Al- 
luding briefly and forcibly, but most handsomely, to the 
errors of the past, he claimed the privilege of being permit- 
ted to profit by experience and take part in the great struggle 
for human liberty, even at this late day. [He and others soon 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 717 

engaged in dealiug in contraband cotton and made a small 
fortune.] He said that anti-Quantrell resolutions were played out. 
That resolutions denouncing the devil would be just as appropriate. 
That such patriotism, such Unionism, was too cheap to amount 
to anything and that the people of Platte, owing allegiance 
to the Government of the United States, had no right to claim its 
protection [that is, against murder, rol>l)ery, arson and all the crimes 
known to the catalogue] unless that allegiance was such as the heart- 
service of the freeman and not the lip-service of the slave. That alle- 
giance and protection went hand in hand and he who denied the 
former had no right to claim the latter. He said that the corner- 
stone of the rebel government was negro slavery. That if the little 
stone in Missouri was instantly removed the rebel structure now 
crumbling before the mighty blows of our armies must the sooner 
fall. That slavery is a protection and shield to bushwhackers in the 
State, and the earnest Union men of Kansas, who had so long and so 
patientlv demanded its extinction, would tolerate it in Missouri uo 
longer. That it was the root of our troubles [as the traveler's 
pocket-book is the root of his troubles with the thief] and unless 
removed we could have no peace. That with its removal a spirit of 
fraternity and good-neighborhood would at once spring up between 
Kansas and Missouri and we would all shake hands in a glorious 
march to prosperity and peace. His speech was remarkably well 
received and enthusiastically cheered. The ball rolls on. Under the 
heavy blows of the Radicals slavery in Missouri will speedily cease 
and then and not till then will we have peace. ^ 

The Paw-paws did valuable service for the county and freed it of 
thieves and plunderers. Comparative peace prevailed under their sur- 
veillance until the summer of the following year, when Col. Calhoun 
C. Thornton and others came into the county recruiting for the South- 
ern service, which of course brought al)out collisions and gave the 
Kansas troops and others who were no friends to the people of Platte 
county a pretext to come in and inaugurate a second reign of terror. 

On account of the Paw-paws being composed to some extent of men 
who had served in or sympathized with the South, the Radicals made 
every effoi-t to bring discredit upon them. The Governor, as we have 
said, was strongly criticised, and a resolution for an investigation 
of his conduct in connection with the Paw-paws was offered in the 
State House of Representatives. On the consideration of that reso- 



' About this time, accorcline; to the statement of Col. Price, of Weston, Col. 
Burues, fearing that his change of heart misht still be looked at a little cross-eyed by 
the .luthorities, took a likely colored girl belonging to a Platte county farmer and put- 
ting her in his buggy, carried her safely to the border, so that she could escape safely 
into Kansas. For all this he certainly deserves a pension and back pay. 



718 HISTORY or PLATTE COUNTY. 

lutioii, the following is the speech delivered by Mr. Wilson, of 
Platte : — 

I voted for that resolution, and I did it because I want an oppor- 
tunity for an investigation. I know something about the Paw-paw 
militia, and I am proud to acknowledge here in my seat that I am one 
of them. I belong to Co. A, of seven companies raised in Platte 
county. Col. Moss was first authorized to raise these troops, and 
who are they? I will tell you, Mr. Speaker. They are citizen sol- 
diers, raised by order of Gov. Gamble under the laws of the State, 
calling upon the militia to keep the peace of the country and enforce 
the laws. I have full confidence in the Governor's action on this oc- 
casion, and I have full confidence in Col. Moss. The Governor could 
not have made a better selection in the State. 

Sir, there was a great necessity for this step. Up through our 
portion of the country, including Platte county, which I in part rep- 
resent, a reign of terror prevailed, caused by the demoralization of 
the old militia. Houses were burned, men shot down in cold blood, 
and others cowhided through the streets — some of our very best citi- 
zens — by these enrolled militia, until men were afraid to walk the 
streets. The Red-legs almost depopulated our county, committing rob- 
beries and milrders nigiit after night. It was, indeed, a reign of terror. 

Col. Pike had command at the time. He was relieved by Col. 
Moss. They disobeyed Col. Pike's orders, sir, and he was unable to 
control them. He had not sufficient force to execute his orders, and 
a reign of terror existed, brought about b}^ the Radical press of the 
State. The Radical press demoralized the old militia, and it was the 
duty of the Governor, an obligation imposed upon him by the Con- 
stitution which he had sworn to support, taeall upon the citizen mili- 
tia under the laws of the State and enforce the law and prevent honest 
people from being plundered and murdered. 

The first day that a company of these militia was organized in 
Platte county they detailed a scout at night and routed a band of ten 
Red-legs and higliway robbers. They caught them in the act of hang- 
ing an old man because he refused to give them his money. They 
routed them and cajjtured their horses and saved the old man's life. 

Now, sir, I am glad an opportunity is presented to investigate this 
matter — investigate it thoroughly throughout this whole State, and 
you will find a necessity existed for this new organization.' 



' This raid near Farley has beeu referred to ou a former page. A Leavenworth 
paper thus refers to the loyal cut-throats and thieres : " Another party of Union refu- 
gaes arrived here yesterday from Platte county, Mo. Affairs there are assuming a 
serious aspect. Every Union man receives warning to leave." 

Col. Moss, of Clay county, whose antecedents are not such as to satisfy the de- 
mand* of the conditional Union men, with authority from Gov. Gamble to command 
the enrolled of Platte, Clay and Clinton counties, has, instead of calling the enrolled 
militia of Platte county iut» service, called out the enrolled rebels, and is now organ- 
izing companies of men in every township. — Conservative: 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 719 



OTHER EVENTS IN 1863. 

The principal events in this county during the year 1863, other than 
those ah'eady referred to, may be briefly summarized. 

Early in the year Col. Price issued a military order from his head- 
quarters at Weston, as colonel of the Thirty-ninth Enrolled Missouri 
militia, mounted infantry, to the elfect that husbands and fathers, or 
male members of families, would be held accountable and punished for 
any slights or contemptuous conduct of women and children toward 
the militia or Union authorities, and that the ladies themselves would 
be punished by the military for any such offenses. 

On account of the reign of terror that obtained here during the early 
part and summer of 1863, a great many of the better citizens of the 
county left for other localities, taking with them their families and all 
the movable property they could that had not previously been 
" pressed " from them. Most of the emigrants crossed the plains 
and went to Colorado and California. 

An ordinance of emancipation was adopted by the State convention 
called })y Gov. Jackson in 1860 to take the State out of the Union. 
It formed a written compact with Lyon and the Federal authorities 
and throttled the State government, constituting itself Governor, 
legislator and everything else, and continued in session until it had 
disfranchised a large majority of the people who voted it into existence 
and delivered them over, tied hand and foot, to the very persons it 
was elected to protect the people and the State against. 

The ordinance of emancipation was to go into efi'cct in 1870. 

But the negroes and their immediate radical emancipation friends, 
here and in Kansas, could not think of waiting seven weeks for eman- 
cipation, much less seven years. The darkies began to flock across 
the I'iver into Kansas like blackbirds, organized into droves and 
guided by some of the ofBcers and privates under Col. Herren, at 
Weston. 

Enrolling oflicei's were appointed to register all the male population 
in Platte county of proper ages and physical qualifications for military 
duty, in anticipation of a draft. The enrollment showed between 
1,500 and 1,600 present. 

About this time, also, or a little before, came the notice of the 
amount of taxes due from the county to meet its share of the liabil- 
ity of the State on the Union military bonds, issued to pay the enrolled 
Missouri militia the same that was wholly or in principal part dis- 



720 HISTORY OF PLATTK COUNTT. 

banded, partly for the reasons already stated and for others. The 
amount due from this county for 1863 was $30,051.38, no small sum 
for the people to pay, for such a purpose, especially when they had 
been stripped and robbed of nearly every thmg they had to pay it 
with. 

A commutation tax of $30.00 was charged against every person 
qualified for military duty who failed to go into the service, and one per 
cent upon his taxable property. Besides a full tax of $2.00 was collecti- 
ble from each individual unable to pay a poll-tax and one-fifth of one 
per cent was charged against his property, all for military purposes 
alone. The tax payer had his other taxes and burdens to bear in ad- 
dition . 

EVENTS OF 1864. 

The year 1864 was the darkest period in the history of Platte 
county. Misfortunes came so thick and fast upon the people that 
they lost all hope and sat down, with the resignation of fatalists, to 
await their doom. No one knew whether he would be mui-dered 
within an hour, a day or a month, and none seemed to care. Death 
appeared to be inevitable to all, and the question of the particular 
time it was to come gave them but little concern. 

Nevertheless, the year opened not unfavorably. The Paw-paw 
militia had cleared the county of thieves and cut-throats, and the 
early winter and spring seemed to promise a period of comparative 
peace and quiet, considering that it was a time of war. 

But before the spring was over the prospect had began to darken. 
The Confederate armies in the South were sorely in need of recruits. 
Unless they could get them the South could not sustain herself 
through another year. It was a question of reinforcements or ruin. 

The Southern forces from Missouri had every reason to believe that 
they could supply their thinned ranks with volunteers if they 
could come up into the State to conduct them out. They resolved 
to try. It was arranged for recruiting officers to come up in advance, 
and that as soon as any considerable progress was made in recruiting, 
large relief forces were to be sent in to conduct the recruits safely out 
of the State . 

Thornton's recruiting expedition. 

Accordingly, officers in the recruiting service were sent into the 
different parts of the State. Lieut. -Col. C. C. Thornton was sent to 
Clay and Platte and surrounding counties on this side of the river. 

This was an unfortunate selection, both for the Southern service 
and for this part of the country. Whatever may have been Col. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 721 

Thornton's military record prior to his advent into Platte in 1864, 
here it was subseqnently not a good or creditable one. He showed 
that he lacked good judgment, candor and courage, three qualities in- 
dispensable to success on a mission so delicate and responsible as his 
was into Platte county. The result was that he accomplished nothing 
for the Southern service and indirectly caused the death of fifteen or 
twenty persons, and the inauguration of a worse reign of terror than 
had ever been known in the county. 

He found many of the young men of the county ready and anxious 
to enlist, and swore them into the Confederate service. They were 
told that Gen. Price would come on after a while, and that if the 
people rallied to the Southern standard as they should do, he would be 
able to hold the country. 

Collecting a hundred or more volunteers, Col. Thornton himself felt 
emboldened to assert that he could hold Platte county until the arrival 
of Gen. Price. That was a great mistake ; but many believed it to be 
true and enlisted with that expectation. 

Col. Thornton boldly took possession of Platte City. The militia 
here oflered no resistance. They were not strong enough to oppose 
him even if they had desired to do so. Nevertheless, Capt. Johnston 
tried in good faith to rally his men to prevent Thornton from taking 
the place. All but a very few answered that they were organized to 
put down thieves, incendiaries and murderers, and as long as Thorn- 
ton and his men committed no otfense they were not disposed to inter- 
fere and bring on trouble and bloodshed. 

After spending two or three days in Platte City, Col. Thornton moved 
his men up to Camden Point and went into camp. He continued 
there without concealment, although with only a handful of men, un- 
til he was attacked by a greatly superior force, 15 or 20 to one, and 
routed, with the loss of several killed and the complete breaking up 
and disorganization of his force. 

RAID OF THE BASHI-BAZOUKS. 

Thornton was camped in a pasture in the northern suburbs of Cam- 
den Point, now a part of the Robt. Hardesty farm. He had only 
about forty men with him, nearly all boys and young men, raw 
recruits in the service. Others belonging to his force were in differ- 
ent parts of the county in squads and alone. 

He had been frequently warned of the danger of his situation — 
that he was within a few hours' ride of Ft. Leavenworth and was not 
only imperilling the lives of his own men by removing there, but also 



722 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

the lives and property of the citizens of the community. He would 
listen at nothing and persisted in asserting that he could " hold the 
country." The very morning preceding the afternoon that he was 
attacked he was told that a reconuoitering party of Federals had been 
seen near the place. He paid no attention to the report, tjut collect- 
ing his men around him made a flambeauant speech to reassure them. 

Capt. Fletcher Taylor, an officer whose courage and good sense no 
one doubted, and who was present with a company at Camden Point 
in the morning, told Thornton that the place would be attacked before 
njght and that for his part he intended to take his men away. Suit- 
ing his actions to his words he left and thus avoided a disaster. 

Camden Point " Fight." — Thornton's presence at Cainden Point 
and in the county, had, of course, been reported to the authorities at 
Ft. Leavenworth, and steps were taken to capture him or drive him 
out of the country. A force of the best fighters and worst men in 
the service on the other side of the river was directed to 
make a raid into Phitte county. They were the principal parts of 
two regiments, the Fifteenth Kansas under Col. Jennison, of fragrant 
memory, and a Colorado regiment under Col. Ford, the only one in 
the service whose reputation exceeded that of Jennison's men for mur- 
ders and arsons committed, and horses, household goods and ladies' 
wearing apparel stolen. A. J. Miller's companj' and Fitzgerald's men 
of the Sixteenth Kansas were along to complete the worst body of 
cut-throats and freebooters that ever tortured a victim or looted a 
community — the scum and outlaws of society as a rule, the Bashi- 
Bazonks of the Western border. 

On the 13th of July, 1864, having reached Weston, they moved 
rapidly, but without much ado, on Camden Point, about twelve miles 
distant, and on reaching the latter place dashed upon it 700 or 1,000 
strong, driving in Thornton's pickets as they went, and taking him 
and his men completely by surprise. The Confederates were of course 
not prepared for an attack, and they had no force sufficient to i-esist 
it even if they had expected it. Their horses were not saddled, their 
arms were scattered through the camp, and few of them had theirguns 
and pistols loaded. 

Thornton himself fled precipitately as soon us the Federals came iu 
sight, notwithstanding his flambeauant speech only a few hours before, 
leaving his men to be butchered as sheep in a shamble, for all that he 
did or attempted to do. Major Thrailkill, however, an old Confed- 
erate veteran who had just escaped from Rock Island prison, and two 
or three other old Confederate soldiers, happened to be present, in- 



lIISTOltY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 723 

cliuling Ciipt. Joe M:icy and Lieut. Hardin, and they rallied the men 
who had their arms and horses in readiness and formed across the 
lane, thus checking the Federal charge until the others could saddle 
up and get an equal chance for escape. 

If the Federals had surrounded the Southern camp or even stationed 
a force in each road leading out from Camden Point — for all the roads 
were in lanes — they would have exterminated the whole Southern 
force. As it was two of the Southerners were killed outi'ight — Lieut. 
Hardin and Richard Alvis. Eol)t. McCormack was wounded and 
concealed himself in a chister of undergrowth in a fence corner. But 
his wound was so severe that he unfortunately made his whereabouts 
known by an involuntary cry of pain. At once several Federals 
climbed up on the fence over him and shot him to death. Andrew 
Smith, Peter Clements and Jesse Wytes were taken prisoners and 
were shot — murdered without even the form of a court-martial. 

All of them were regular Confederate soldiers — that is, they had 
been sworn into the Southern service by Col. Thornton, who was 
regularly authorized to recruit and swear in Confederate volunteers, 
by a commission from Gen. Price. 

The Federal loss is not probably known, but is said to have been 
four killed and eleven wounded. Their dead were taken back to 
Kansas. 

After the war the Confederate Association of Platte County, Dr. E. 
McD. Coffey, president, took up a collection and with the proceeds 
erected a handsome marble monument in the cemetery at Camden Point 
to the memory of those killed on the Southern side. On one side of 
the monument is the following inscription : " Almavine Hardin, 
July 13, 18r)4; Richard Alvis, July 13, 1864." On the other: 
" Robert McCormack, July 13, 1864 ; " on the third side : " Andrew 
Smith, Peter Clements, Jesse Wytes ; " and on the fourth : " Erected 
to the Memory of Confederate Soldiei's by their Friends. " 

Burning of Camden Point and Platte City and Murders and 
Bobberies. — After the murder of the prisoners above referred to, Jen- 
nison and Ford proceeded to burn Camden Point. They destroyed 
about twenty houses, including Skinner's, Humphrey's and Mrs. 
Morton's dwellings, Rohan's store-house, Estes' tin-shop, Williams' 
and Carson's dwelling houses, a blacksmith shop, Hale's store-house, 
warehouse and a hemp house, Park's dwelling. Dr. Thomas' 
dwelling west of town and a number of others belonging to parties 
whose names arc not now remembered. 

The same day a squad of thi-ee men, while passing the residence of 



724 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

Mr. Geo. M. McCuer, one of the oldest and most highly esteemed 
citizens in the county, a man who had taken no part whatever in the 
war, shot him down in his own door. Riding up to the house, they 
called him to the door and asked him if he had seen any rebels pass- 
ing there. He assured them he had not seen any. They then fired 
upon him. He fell back, mortally wounded, and died the next 
morning. 

Another squad passing the residence of Mr. Jack, another old citi- 
zen of the county, the father of Mr. A. K. Jack, present cashier of 
the Exchange Bank at Platte City, and treasurer of the county, 
found him at his front-yard stiles and without any ceremony or excuse 
began shooting at him. Their purpose evidently was to scare him so 
that he would run and then shoot him as a flying rebel. But he 
refused to run and told them if they meant to kill he would as soon 
die where he was as at any other place. They cursed him and 
abused him and passed on. 

Ford and Jennison, after burning Camden Point, went to Platte 
City, and burnt that place or the principal part of it left uhburnt by 
their illustrious predecessor in incendiarism and villainy, Col. Mor- 
gan. Concerning their performance there, we take the following 
from Mr. W. M. Paxton's Historical Sketch of the county : " About 
three o'clock that evening(the 14th) Swaney's block of buildings, 
which stood on the corner now occupied by the Farmer's Saving 
Association, was burned. The following morning the troops started 
for Liberty, and left a party to burn the town. The following houses 
were destroyed : The Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church and 
Masonic Hall, the Male Academy and the dwelling houses of Levi 
Likens, Wm. C. Remington, H. C. Cockrill, Howard Connelly, 
Mary A. Marsh, the Gaines Hotel, the shop of Philip Lutes, besides 
the row of buildings upon the present public square, and that facing 
the same on the south. These edifices composed the best part of 
the town, and some of the houses destroyed were the best in town." 
The Christian Church at Platte City and the one at Platte City 
were spared by the special order of Col. Jennison. He ordered that 
they should not be burnt, giving as a reason that his wife was a mem- 
ber of the Christian denomination. But he was so bad a man that 
even she, his own wife, had to part company with him. She left him 
after the war for keeping a house of ill-fame at Fort Leavenworth, 
ostensibly a restaurant or eating house, with a doggery and gambling 
(live annex. Another shining light of the loyal patriots set to rule 
over and murder and plunder decent people ! 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 725 

From Platte City this delectable band of scoundrels started to 
Liberty on a drunken saturnalian expedition of crime and villainy. 
Jennison's men went by way of Parkville and Barry, and Ford's di- 
rectly by Barry. Jennisou himself accompanied Ford's command, and 
the men, while on their Parkville detour, were under one Thompson, 
famed for his murders of unarmed citizens, and as a terror to women 
and children. 

On his way to Parkville Thompson killed three law-abiding reput- 
able citizens of the county, shot them down in cold blood on the pub- 
lic road. John Rogers and Masterson lived near Parkville, 

and were returning home from town that day when they were met 
and shot down by Thompson's men. Neither of them had ever been 
identified with the South in any way, and both were peaceable unof- 
fending citizens. They were each between 50 and 60 years of age, 
and both were men of families. Masterson was a one-legged man, 
and had been constable of the township for a nunil)er of years. He 
was popular with all classes and was elected by both political parties. 
Rogers was a quiet, plain-going farmer, fairly well-to-do, and without 
a known enemy in the world. 

A few miles further along Thompsoi; met another farmer, David 
Greeg, who had been to mill at Parkville that day, and was returning 
home with his grists in an ox wagon. He was ordered to get out of 
his wagon and was shot by the side of the road and left there a corpse. 
His ox team stood there, hitched to the wagon, until neighbors 
found him and his team that afternoon. He was a white-haired old 
man, verging on 70 years of age, and had nothing whatever to do 
with the war. 

Ford's men under Ford and Jennisou were hardly outdone by 
Thompson. On their way through the county they took a boy by 
the name of James Redman, a son of Hickman Retlman, residing near 
Barry and shot him. He was at home when taken prisoner and they 
marched him only a short distance from his father's house. His 
mother heard the reports of the pistols when he was murdered, and 
rushing out where he was, reached him just in time for him to die with 
his head in her lap. He had scarcely ever seen a Southern soldier, 
much less been in the Southern service. 

Further along on their way, beyond Barry, they murdered a Mr. 
Hall and Abram Estis, two farmers in nowise connected with either 
army. 

Thus Ford's and Jennison's men went on through the country, 
murdering and plundering. On his way to Parkville, Thompson 



726 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

burned the residence of Mrs. Hughes, widow of Judge Hughes, for 
no other reason, so far as is known, than that it was the best house 
in sight — a handsome brick residence. 

Both detachments, Ford's and Thompson's, stole every thing they 
could carry away on their routes. They took wagons and teams and 
then took the plunder to load them. Horses, wagons, harness, sad- 
dles, household goods, wearing apparel, meats, provisions of all kinds — 
everything that a foraging party of thieves would be expected to, 
lay their hands on was taken and carried away. When the two com- 
mands left the county they had over 100 head of horses with them, 
and a regular caravan of plunder. Judge Chives, near Barry, alone 
lost seven head of horses in this way, and they loaded 450 pounds of 
bacon into a wagon from Bradley Cox's smoke-house and carried it 
off to'relieve the grasshopper sufferers in Kansas. Others along their 
route suffered in like manner. 

The whole county drew a long, deep sigh of relief when they were 
known to be out of it. 

OTHER TRAGEDIES, FIGHTS AND ROBBERIES. 

Though the Kansas and Colorado raiders killed twelve men in the 
county, six of whom were in nowise connected with either army, and 
burned Platte City and Camden Point, besides robbing and plunder- 
ing far and wide as they went, their raid was by no means all that 
occurred in the county during the year 1864 to unsettle affairs and 
render it a scene of disorder and of the worst crimes of the Civil War. 

Massacre at Mrs. Bradley's. — About the time of the Camden Point 
affair, or soon afterwards, five young men who had volunteei'ed as re- 
cruits for the Southern service, but had not yet made their way South, 
were surprised and surrounded at the residence of Mrs. Bradley, a 
widow lady residing about two and a half miles from Platte City. 
They were Wm. Stone, John Thomas and Young Hines, Morehead 
and Marshfield,^ and were there getting a meal. 

The Federals were about fifty in number. They gave the South- 
erners no opportunity to surrender, but began firing upon them and 
killed Hines and Morehead in the house. Thomas, Marshfield and 
Stone attempted to escape and were killed in the orchard near the 
house. Stone was severely wounded, but succeeded in eluding his 
pursuers. Bleeding and almost dying, he secreted himself behind a 
log in a cluster of underbrush, still holding his pistols, which he had 
reloaded, with the intention of selling his life as dearly as. possible if 



Maj. Edwards' book. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 727 

he was discovered. Presently be saw a squad of Federals approach- 
ing and he nerved himself up for the death duel he felt sure was to- 
follow. But then a great firing was heard in the direction of Mrs. 
Bradley's. Stone's pursuers, unconscious of his presence so near 
them, rushed back in the direction of the firing, and thus his life was 
saved. But bis escape was purchased at the cost of the life of a 
young man by the name of Fielding. 

The latter, brother to George Fielding, who was killed in the 
Ridgely fight, was near Mrs. Bradley's when her house was attacked. 
Divining the true cause of the firing he heard when the attack was 
made, he dashed forward bravely to the relief of his friends, and 
rushed upon the Federals like a fury, shooting as he came. A squad 
of them turned upon him and a sharp, quick pistol rencontre oc- 
curred. Young Fielding was riddled with bullets and died a martyr 
to his fidelity to his friends. Maj. Edwards in his Ijook says that sev- 
eral Federals were killed. 

Taylor's Capture of ParkviUe. — During the summer of 18(54 oc- 
curred the fight at Parkville. Capt. Noland held that place with a 
company of militia between 70 and 100 strong. They used and 
liad fortified the old stone building on the river belonging to Mr. Geo. 
Park, as a fort. Suddenly and unexpectedly Capt. Fletcher Taylor, 
with a force of about 40 men, appeared before it and demanded their 
surrender. Some of the militia fled at the first approach of the Con- 
federates, but Capt. Noland, with the main body of his force, held 
the building and refused to surrender. A spirited firing was begun, 
but Taylor rushed upon the house, manned a battering ram and burstcd 
down one of its doors. His men then poured into it, and the militia took 
refuge upstairs. Below, at the foot of the stairway, Taylor com- 
manded Noland to surrendei', saying that he would immediately set 
fire to the building if his order was not obeyed. Noland, seeing that 
further resistance could avail nothing, capitulated. He and his men 
were paroled as prisoners of war, and Taylor moved on northward. 

Fir/ht at Ridgely — Murder of Geo. Fielding. — Not far from the 
time of Taylor's descent upon Parkville occurred the fight at Ridgely. 
A company, or detachment of militia, was stationed there under Capt. 
Poe, from Plattsburg, in Clinton county. While they were there a 
squad of Confederate recruits, under a Capt. Hoverson, or Huverton, 
were endeavoring to make their way South. In order the better to 
pass through the Federal lines unsuspected they had provided them- 
selves with Union uniforms. Coming on to pass through Ridgely 
they unexpectedly found Poe's command there. 

41 



728 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTT. 

At a glance the}' took iu the situation and determined to make the 
best of it. It was now too late to retreat. To attempt it would 
reveal their identity and cause them to be pursued by all the Federals 
in the country. They therefore resolved to carry out the deception 
and pass through as Union troops, or, if discovered, to Jight. Ac- 
cordingly, they rode boldly up and gave the Federals a friendly salute. 
The latter formed in the street to receive them iu military fashion, 
i)ut demanded to know what command they were. Just then one of 
the militiamen recognized one of the Confedei'ates, and cried out, 
*' Bushwhackers ! " With this the firing commenced on both sides. 

Mr. Stone who was present as a looker on and witnessed the 

whole tight (a son of John Stone, an old citizen, residing near Ridge- 
ly), says that the Confederates' horses, being raw to military service, 
took fright at the firing and could not be controlled. They scattered 
in every direction, and their riders in endeavoring to manage them 
were compelled to take both hands, so that they could do little er no 
shooting after the first volley. The few, however, who could hold their 
horses to the fight, stood their ground bravely and fought with des- 
peration. 

Capt. Hoversou, a Southern recruiting officer, was shot dead in the 
street. Capt. Robert McMillan, of Smithville, in Clay count}', killed 
him. Geo. Fielding, also on the Southern side, a brother to Thos. 
Fielding, who was killed at Mrs. Bradley's, was mortally wounded — 
shot through the neck aud shoulder — but temporarih' escaped. 
Several other Confederates were wounded, but not seriousU'. All but 
Hoversou and Fielding escaped. 

One militiaman, according to our informant, Mr. Stone, was killed 
dead, and several were wounded. 

Young Fielding, as he was escaping on his hoi-se, aud fatally 
wounded, met a Miss Berry in the road on her way to town. She 
was not aware that the fight had occurred and innocently told when 
she reached town that she had met a man on the way bleeding pro- 
fusely and apparently ver}' sick. 

A squad of Federals at once started after him. He, however, rode 
off into the roads aud eluded them. He then turned his horse loose 
and dragged himself as far as he could go — until he fainted. Recov- 
ering consciousness again, his suffering was so intense that Richard 
Marsh, who happened to be chopping wood near by, heard him groan- 
ing and went to him. He asked Marsh to let him lay his head in his 
lap, but Marsh told him it would be death to both of them if they 
were caught there toijether. Marsh cut some brush to shade him 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 729 

and then fled, leaving the poor wounded man to die alone, and with- 
out even a cup of water. It would have been better for him, and 
much better for the cowardly assassins who afterwards murdered 
him, if he had died in the woods and alone. 

A squad of Federals found him there — Capt. Fitzgerald (his 
name always appears in the war history of Platte county when a mur- 
der is to be committed or a house burned, but never when any hon- 
est, manly fighting is to bo done), Benj. Smithers, Cal. Mattox and 
others. They took him back to Ridgely. There his wound was 
examined by a physician and it was pronounced fatal — that he must 
die within twenty-four or thirty-six hours at the extreme limit. 

But his assassins, already steeped in crime, could not wait for him 
to die of his wound. A drum-head court-martial was organized 
under Capt. Fitzgerald, and young Fielding was sentenced (?) to be 
shot, wounded, helpless and dying though he already was. 

But whilst he was lying flat of his back, almost motionless from 
loss of blood, a soldier (?) by the name of Baldwin stole the boots 
off his feet, jerked them off as easily as he would rifle the pockets of 
a passer-by on the public way. They were fine cavalry boots and the 
scoundrel was afraid that if he waited till their owner was dead some 
one else would get them. This, however, was not considered fair 
and it was agreed that if Baldwin would shoot Fielding, under the 
sentence of Capt. Fitzgerald, he, Baldwin, might have the boots. He 
performed that service and was given the boots. 

The Fielding brotliers resided in Buchanan county, and were the 
sons of one of the most reputable farmers and highly esteemed citi- 
zens of that county. 

Capt. Fitzgerald was not ia the fight at Ridgely, according to tiie 
.statement of our informant, Mr. Stone. He was there when it began, 
in a saloon, drinking with two other boon companions, but both of 
them fled. The two companions met Mr. Stone (Sr.) in his field 
some distance from Ridgely, and they told him of the fight, that the 
bushwhackers were killing everybody and that they and Fitzgerald 
had escaped. Fitzgerald returned to Ridgeljs however, and headed 
the murder hunt for young Fielding. 

KilHnr/ of Phineas Wood and Young Throckmorton. — Of the 
murder in the fall of 1864 near the residence of Mrs. Skinner, 
wlio then lived in the northern part of the county, of two Confed- 
erate soldiers, at the time on furlough from Price's army, the follow- 
ing account has been received by the writer in the form of a letter 



730 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

from Mr. W. A. M. Vaughan, of Kansas City, under date of May 1, 
1885: — 

Office of Vaughan & Co., ^ 

Grain Commission Merchants, I 

Room 21, Mekchants' Exchange. (^ 

Kansas City, Mo., May 1, 1885. J 

W. W. Gatewood, Esq., 8t. Louis, Mo.: 

Dear Sir — Your letter of the 24th ult., addressed to Mrs. Skinr 
ner, Camden Point, Mo., has been forwarded to her daughter, Mar- 
garet P., now my wife, for reply. 

Mrs. Vaughan was a girl at home with her mother during the war, 
and is as conversant with the facts I'elative to the death of the parties 
as any one not connected with the murderers. Mrs. Skinner is dead, 
also two other members of her family then residing with her. 

The facts concerning this tragedy, as my wife states them to me, 
are substantially as follows : — 

At the beginning of the Civil War, Phineas Woods, then a boy, witli 
many others of his age, joined the forces under Gen. Sterling Price 
at Lexington, Mo., and remained in the army under him until the 
time of his death. During the month of November, 1864, whilst on 
Price's last campaign in this State, and when the army had reached 
this county, at Independence, Phineas Woods, young Throgmorton and 
others obtained furloughs from their respective otiScers audcommandei's 
and permission to cross the Missouri river and go into Platte county to 
visit home and relatives. Knowing the country was full of lawless 
militia, they took every precaution to avoid a collision, seeking only 
to visit their friends and homes, designing to molest no one, and to 
return quietly to their commands before they left the country. 
Young Woods, with his friend Throgmorton,' arrived at his grand- 
mother's, Mrs. S. After a hearty greeting they were warned of 
their danger ; but they expressed entire confidence in the virtue of 
their furloughs and passes, as against any violence, even if captured. 
Taking a hearty lunch with them they left to join their commands. 
When one mile from the home just left, and while seated near the 
roadside eating their lunch, they were surprised by a company of 
Federal tuilitia, commanded by one Pace, said to be a Methodist 
preacher, to whom they surrendered and delivered their papers, etc. 

That afternoon Mrs S.'s family was notified by the soldiers that 
" two men had been killed down in the i)asture." There being no 
men on the place, the females went in search and found the two boys 
dead, shot in their backs. They were removed and buried with diffi- 
culty, as men were afraid to be known as giving this much comfort 
even to the dead of the South. The murderers had robbed the dead 
of their valuables and part of their clothing, and boastingly told how 
they had accomplished their murderous work, saying that whilst the 
officer in command (and it has been always understood, that his name 
was Pace, and a Methodist preacher) was pretending to be reading 



' Doubtless the same as Throckmorton. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 731 

their papers, he gave the signal to shoot tliein, and thus were they 
murdered. 

Young Throgmorton's first name is forgotten. They were the 
only two killed at this time. We have given tlie exact facts as far as 
known. The conversations of the soldiers, or murderers, is given as 
received from parties at the time to whom repeated. 
Very truly yours, 

W. A. M. Vaughan. 

/Slash Valley and Buena Vista Flights. — Daring the exciting and 
troublous times in Platte county in 1864, occurred the affairs at Slash 
Valley and Buena Vista, in the upper part of the county. 

Capt. Fitzgerald took a body of men out into the vicinity of Jas. 
A. Rupe's " to clear out that rebel neighborhood," as he expressed 
it, and instead of finding, as usual, old men to abuse and intimidate 
and women to terrify, he found young men with guns in their hands, 
and with some knowledge of the use of fire-arms. They attacked 
him and he fled precipitately back into Ridgely, with the loss of three 
killed and several wounded, he himself and Thomas Able being of the 
latter. Those killed were Jefferson Ingram, Lewis Moore and Stan- 
ford.i The Southerners were commanded by Capt. James A. Rupe. 
They suffered no loss. 

The fight at Buena Vista amounted to nothing worthy of special men- 
tion. A company of White-String militia from Gallatin, Daviess 
county, about 100 strong, were down in this county foraging princi- 
pally for " fine fat rebel horses," as the Sentinel at Weston described 
them the fall before. The militia ran into a squad of about thirty 
3'ouug men, who were getting ready to go to the Southern army ; 
shots were exchanged, but no one hurt, except a militiaman who had 
a part of his ear shot oft'. The Southerners fled. 

Several other small aflairs occurred in the county, including one 
about four miles north of Platte City, between Maj. Stockton, at 
the head of a detachment of militia, and a squad of Fletcher Tay- 
lor's men, but none of them were of any importance. 

The killing of individuals and robbing and plundering went on with 
little or no abatement until the winter of 1864. 

Killing of Kirhpatrich, Coots and Others. — A couple of young 
men by the names of Kirkpatrick and Eugene Berry, in the eastern 
part of the county, were taken prisoners at Mrs. Greenwood's by 
Fitzgerald's men and marched over to Second Creek Church. There 
they were told that they were to be shot and to step out and pray. 



Stoue (son of Joha Stone) and others informants. 



732 HISTOKY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

Both attempted to flee and Berry made his escape, under a perfect 
hailstorm of bullets, succeeding in getting into the brush in safety. 
But Kirkpatrick, less fortunate than his companion, was shot several 
times and fell dead about a hundred yards from where he had started 
to run. 

Young Coots (Solon Coots), a boy about sixteen years old and a son 
of one of the old and respected citizens of the county, was surrounded 
in a barn about five miles west of Platte City, in company with, 
another neighbor boy about the same age, and both of them were 
killed. They had concluded to go to the Southern army and had 
started out with that intention. Stopping in the barn for the night 
in order to conceal themselves, their presence was discovered and with 
the result stated 

Up in the noi'theast part of the county a teacher who was teaching 
the Horn school was taken out liy the militia or by some of Fitzger- 
ald's men and murdered. No one ever knew why he was killed 
except his murderers, for he had no connection with the army and 
was esteemed by all, both as a teacher and a man. 

It will be remembered that Taylor, when he captured Parkville, 
took a (large number of Union prisoners. His treatment of them 
was in striking contrast to the treatment prisoners of the other side 
and citizens received. Yet under Taylor at that time were the James 
boys, 01. Shepperd, the Youngers and many of those whose names 
were used as a terror by mothers to hush their infants to sleep. They 
were desperate, bad men unquestionably, but it was not they that in- 
augurated a war upon unarmed citizens in Platte county, or shot 
down prisoners in cold blood. It required worse men than they to 
carry on that species of warfare in this county. 

No Union citizen and but one Union soldier was shot as a prisoner 
in the county during the war, so far as we have been able to learn, 
and it is not known by whom he was killed, nor in fact that he was a 
prisoner at the time.^ 

Killing of Thomas Bailey. — Young Bailey was a member of the 
Sixteenth Kansas, under Capt. Fitzgerald, and during the troublous 
times in this county in 1864 came home on a furlough. He was killed 
not far from home, in the upper part of the county, on his way there 
from Kansas. So far as known he was personally without reproach, 
and notwithstanding Southern men were beinir shot down all over the 



' Since writing the above we have learned that Isaac Burli, a member of the Six- 
teenth Kansas was killed at Parkville in the summer of 1864, when the Confederates 
took the place, but not as a prisoner. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 733 

county as prisoners and otherwise, his killini]^, if it was done while he 
was a prisoner, or offering no resistance, was wholly unjustifiable and 
a cowardly murder, by whomsoever committed. 

Murder of Dr. Joseph Walker. — One of the last murders of citi- 
zens in this county during the war, and one of the most unfortunate 
and universally regretted, was that of Dr. Joseph Walker. 

During the Kansas troubles there was a Northern Methodist preacher 
in the county by the name of Charles Morris. He was outspoken in 
his advocacy of the freedom of the negroes, and otherwise rendered 
himself very disagreeable and odious to his neighbors. He was, there- 
fore, ordered to leave the counti-y. Dr. Walker was one of the com- 
mittee appointed to notify him to quit the country. 

Subsequently, Rev. Morris moved up into Buchanan county, where 
the outbreak of the war found him. There he had succeeded in mak- 
ing himself thoroughly disliked, not less for his personal qualities than 
the violence of his political view.s and conduct. 

During the war he of course became active and aggressive against his 
Southern neighbors, and connecting himself with the militia, caused 
much trouble in the community by inciting the military to acts of vio- 
lence and all manner of excesses against those who differed from him. 
Such, indeed, was his conduct that he had no friends except among 
his own class, and many who agreed with him in politics had little 
regard for him personally or otherwise. He had become the special 
object of dislike to the generality of those around him. 

During the summer of 18(34 his house was surrounded by a squad of 
Confederates, and he was found at home. He had just come in from 
the militia headquarters, not far distant. His surrender was de- 
manded. Brave and desperate as he was violent in disposition and 
politics, he answered the demand by firing on his beleaguerers. They 
then fired in the house and a desultory firing from and upon the house 
was kept up for some time. Kepeatedly he was told to surrender, 
and he should be treated as a prisoner of war and not harmed, but 
that if he still refused they would burn the house. He persisted in 
refusing to give up and defied his assailants to do their worst. At 
last the house was fired, but he remained inside shooting all the time 
until he was driven out by the fire and smoke. He then came to the 
door and shot at the beleaguerers just as he attempted to step outside, 
but at that moment he himself was shot and fell in his own door. 
They pulled him out to prevent his body from being cremated.' 



' These facts were stated to the Informant of the writer by Mrs. Morris within an 
hour or two after her hubsaud's death. 



734 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

It was to avenge his death that Dr. Walker was killed, although 
Dr. Walker had no more to do withit, and knew nothing more about 
it, than the most innocent man and complete stranger in the State. 

Young Morris, a son of Eev. Morris, collected a baud of desperate 
men and brought them down into Platte county to murder the mem- 
bers of the committee who had ordered their father away from this 
county nearly ten years before. They visited the houses of different 
members of the committee but found none of them at home. Finally, 
they met Dr. Walker in the rqad and, without a word of warning, 
fired upon him and shot him to death. He lived long enough after 
he was found to whisper the name of John Morris as the leader of 
his murderers. He was killed the 28th of August, 1864. 

He was a man of fine literary and medical education, and came 
West to Ft. Leavenworth as a surgeon in the army. Subsequently 
he married a daughter of Judge M. M. Hughes, of this county, and 
settled on a fiirm six miles southeast of Platte City, which he hand- 
somely and tastefully imjDroved. During the early part of the war 
he resided in Chicago, but, becoming tired of an idle and costly life 
there, returned home in 1864. He was killed soon afterwards. 

Dr. Walker was an accomplished physician and refined, polished 
gentleman. Eminently successful in his profession, and progressive 
and public-spirited as a citizen, he was a man of great value to the 
community, and not less popular among all classes for the sterling 
qualities of his mind and character than he was useful to those around 
him. His death was profoundly regretted by the public, regardless 
of diflferences in regard to the war, and the manner of his taking off 
was universally condemned and denounced. 

Exodus to Montana and the West. — On account of the terrible 
state of afiiiirs prevailing in this county during the summer and fall 
of 1864, many citizens left the county for safety and went West, 
principally to Montana. Some, however, went North and a few East. 
Altogether a heavy emigration left the county. Not a few made per- 
manent homes at their places of exile. 

AFFAIKS IN 1865 THE CLOSE OF THE WAR. 

During the winter of 1864-65 and until the close of the war the 
" Peace of Warsaw " prevailed in Platte county. The people were 
completely overawed and sul)dued. They were afraid to call their 
souls their own, if they were told it would be considered disloyal to 
say so. 

Little was raised in the county that year, and comparatively noth- 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 735 

ing was mai'keted. Barely to live was more than most of the people 
dared to expect or hope. Taxes of all kinds increased, and there was 
no money in the country to pay them with. At the fall term of the 
circuit court and at the spring term thousands of acres of land were 
sold for taxes and for debts of different kinds. It really began to 
look as if the hopes of some of the extreme loyalists of the county 
or Radicals were going to be realized — that all the property in the 
county was to be confiscated, not as they expected, to be sure, but 
by virtue of inconceivable taxation and forced sales. 

But at last the war closed, and the people soon began to take 
heart again. By the beginning of the fall of 1865 many who had left 
the county began to return, and all went to work again to retrieve 
their losses caused bv the war. 




CHAPTEE XI. 

HOMICIDES, TRIALS, ETC. 

Murder of Hall L. Wilkerson — An Election Row — Affray in Platte County — Killing' 
of Wm. Callahan — Ducote killed by White — G. S. Elgin Assassinated — Nathaniel 
Daniels killed by Houston — Capt. Dan. Jenkins Assassinated — Killing of Surge 
by Johnson — Thomas Morgan killed by Israel Health and Benj. Fulcher — Alvis 
Homicide — Killing of Dr. Spencer — George Burgess Kills his Cousin — John Jones 
kills John Bone — ■ Tipton kills Woodson. 

In common with other communities Platte county has been the scene 
of a number of homicides and jiersonal difEculties. Among a people 
of spirit and courage, quick to take offense when an insult is offered 
and fearless in resenting it, this is always the case. But especially is 
it true of people of new countries and of all communities after the 
close of a Civil War, where its effects were so unfortunate as they 
were here. 

A brave people are always geuerous and great-hearted, as ready to 
forgive a wrong after it is done as to resent the commission of it. 
This chai-acteristic of the people of Platte county, together with the 
fact that there have always been some of the ablest lawyers here in 
the State, men justly famed for their eloquence, learning and ability, 
to defend the accused, accounts for the other fact that there have been 
but few convictions for capital offenses in the county. It has so hap- 
pened that in most instances of homicides committed in the county, 
the parties committing them did the killing under such circumstances 
as to raise a reasonable doubt of the act being murder or felony, as 
defined by the law, or that the accused was beyond all question the 
guilty party, and these grounds of defense have reasonably been 
pleaded with ability by attorneys for the defendants. 

MURDER OF HALL L. WILKERSON. 

One of the earlier and more noted homicides committed in this 
county was the killing of Hon. Hall L. Wilkerson by John Flush and 
four others. This was in about 1851, and the murder occurred on Mr. 
Wilkerson's farm, about three miles southeast of Weston, on the 
Weston and Platte City turnpike road. Flush lived on an adjoining 
farm east of Wilkerson, now occupied by John Williams. 
(736) 



HISTOKY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 737 

On a certain Saturday night Flush was seen taking down the parti- 
tion fence between his phice and Wilkerson's and turning his stock in 
Wiikerson's field. This fact came out in the testimony afterwards. 
Tiie next morning Wilkerson drove the stock off his field and confined 
them in his barn-yard. He sent word to Flush that he (Flush) could 
have them on payment for the damage they had done. The stock 
consisted of three or four yokes of cattle. Two or three of the teams 
of cattle belonged to a third party. 

On Monday morning Flush, with his two sons and two others, came 
over to Wilkerson's to see about the stock. Ho brought a note from 
the owner of some of the stock to Mr. W"., asking that his, the owner's, 
stock be turned over to Flush, and that he, the owner, would pay 
Mr. W. for all damage his stock had done. Mr. W. turned out the 
third party's stock to Flush, but refused to let Flush have his 
until their share of the damage was paid also. 

Flush then said to Mr. W. : "By G-dt, I haf hall dose catties or I 
kildt you ! " With that, lie and his two sons and the other two parties 
attacked Wilkerson with stones and sticks, and clubs, and beat him 
to death. 

Three of the murderers were afterwards tried for their crime and 
convicted of one of the degrees of homicide. They were sent to the 
l)eMitentiary for long terms of service. The other one was also tried, 
but being a boy under the felony age, escaped punishment on that 
plea. 

Mr. Wilkerson was from Tennessee, and came here in 1838 witii 
his family. He was a man of education and prepossessing address. 
Gov. Boggs appointed him the first county clerk of the county. Sub- 
sequently he served in the army during the Mexican War, and rose to 
the rank of major of a battalion. He also afterwards represented 
tlie county in the State Legislature and held other positions of trust 
and prominence. 

Maj. Wilkerson was a man of fine social qualities and generous im- 
l)nlses, and was greatly esteemed throughout the county. No one in 
all the county was more beloved and popular among his friends and 
acquaintances than he. 

AN ELECTION ROW. 

At the August election in 1860, a general fight took place in the 
streets of Platte City in which Martin McE nary, a blacksmith, and 
John Copeland took part. After the fight McEnary went to his shop ; 
shortly after Copeland with a number of his friends followed, and at- 



738 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

tempted to break through the door of his shop, when McEiiary stepped 
out, and with a musliet shot the top of Copeland's head entirely off. 
In the excitement McEnary ran away and has never been captured. 



AFFRAY IN PLATTE CITY. 

In the fall of 1865, a serious difficulty occurred in Platto City, re- 
sulting in three deaths and the shooting of several others. The diffi- 
culty grew out of the bad feeling engendered by the war. 

After the restoration of peace the soldiers on both sides returned 
to their homes in Platte county. Among the better class of ex-sol- 
diers there was really but little or no bitd feeling, but among the camp 
followers and worst elements the case was different. The returned 
ex-Confedei'ates were largely in the majority, and a few irrepressible 
characters on the other side, who by no means represented the feel- 
ing of the honest Union soldiers of the county, declared that the ex- 
rebels should not be permitted to live in the county. 

On Saturdays th^y had a habit of coming to Platte City and getting 
beastly drunk in order to make themselves more overbearing than 
they otherwise would have been, and to get the courage to outrage 
the citizens of the place and others who happened to be in town. 
This was continued for months and people were shamefully abused in 
the streets and in their own door-yards and houses. Ill-bred scoun- 
drels, who did more stealin gthan fighting during the war, rode into the 
doors of business belonging to those wliom they wanted to drive away 
from the county, in order to bring on a difficulty that would give them 
an excuse for shooting the occupants. This was kept up until the 
patience of the people was exhausted and they could endure it no 
longer. 

Finally, in September, 1865, the city marshal, H. T. Callahan, 
with a posse of some of the best citizens of the place, attempted to 
arrest one of the more offensive of the law-breakers who was firing 
his pistol in the public streets, and setting the authorities of the place 
at defiance. This brought on the difficulty. When the posse at- 
tempted to arrest the offender they were fired upon by the whole gang 
of ruffians, and a general fight ensued which was kept up for fifteen 
or twenty minutes. In the melee Wm. Callahan, one of the best citi- 
zens of the place, and who was not connected with the difficulty at 
all, was shot and instantly killed by the outlaws. Two of the parties 
who had helped to bring on the difficulty were killed and several of 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 739 

tliem severely wouiided. This unfortunate atFair, or rather fortunate 
but for the lives lost, was the means of restoring peace and quiet 
in the community. The laws were afterwards well respected. 

DUCOTE KILLED BY WHITE. 

In the year 1865, in Platte City, Joel White shot and killed Rich- 
ard Ducote. Both parties to the difficulty were born and raised in 
Platte county. It appears that White and Ducote had made a bet 
over something, and that White had won about $20 from Ducote. 
On the next day White was playing billiards, and Ducote stepping 
into the hall, demanded of White a return of the money he had won 
from him. White refused when Ducote immediately commenced 
shooting at him. White dodged under the billiard tal)le and kept run- 
ning around it with Ducote following and keeping up his fire until 
White, seeing that he was bound to be overtaken by Ducote, turned 
and fired on Ducote killing him instantly. The justice failed to bind 
White over to answer for the killing. 

G. S. ELGIN ASSASSINATED. 

In November, 1866, on the farm of William Tatman, on the road 
leading from Platte City to Weston, G. S. Elgin was shot to death 
by the Titus brothers from Clay county. Mo. Elgin also lived in 
Missouri City, Clay county, and was marshal of the city. He with 
some one or more of his deputies a short time before he was killed 
had attempted to arrest some of the Titus brothers for an ofiense, 
when a fight ensued, and two of the Titus brothers wei'e killed. The 
authorities did not molest Elgin for the killing, as it was done in his 
official capacity, while they were resisting him, but the Tituses, swear- 
ing vengeance, Elgin concluded to visit his father-in-law, William 
Tatman, in Platte, until the matter might quiet down. 

The Titus brothers procured a warrant for Elgin's arrest, and com- 
ing to Platte City had the same indorsed by a justice of the peace. 
They then went there, and were discovered about daylight at the barn 
of Tatman. This fact being reported to Elgin, and he supposing they 
had come to murder him, at the earnest solicitation of wife and 
relatives attempted to escape through an orchard that lay back of the 
house. Titus, perceiving his movements, immediately followed and 
shot him to pieces in the presence of his weeping friends. Titus 
came before the justice who had indorsed the writ, and he not know- 
ing anything in regard to the killing in Clay, released them or failed 
to bind them over, on the grounds that Elgin was resisting arrest. 



740 HISTOKY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

The Tituses were afterwards indicted for murder, but having fled 
the county, have never been captured and brought to trial. Elgin was 
related to the best families of Platte, and his children who have since 
grown up are universally beloved by all who know them. 

NATHANIEL DANIELS KILLED BY RICHARD HOUSTON. 

About the year 1867, in Platte City, Nathaniel Daniels was shot and 
killed by Eichard Houston. It seems that the cause of the diiBculty 
was that Daniels had been talking pretty severely about Houston, and 
upon the same coming to the ears of Houston, he called on Daniels for 
an explanation. At this Daniels, who was much the superior of Hous- 
ton in physical strength, knocked him down, and was kicking and 
otherwise using him up badly, when Houston drew his revolver while 
lying on his back and shot Daniels, killing him instantly. Houston 
was acquitted for the offense without trouble. 

CAPT. DAN. JENKINS ASSASSINATED BY A NEGRO. 

About the year 1867 Capt. Daniel Jenkins was assassinated by a 
negro at the Green Hotel, in Platte City. From the evidence adduced 
on the trial it seems that Jenkins was running the hotel and that the 
negro was working for him. Jenkins, for some cause, the evening be- 
fore he was assassinated, had given the negro a slight reprimand. It 
was Jenkins' custom to arise about daybreak and awake the hands 
around the hotel. The negro was stationed behind the corner of the 
hotel next where the help were sleeping. As Jenkins passed, the 
negro stepped out without saying a word and shot, killing him instantly. 
The negro was a few days afterward captured in Wyandotte, Kansas, 
and brought back for trial. 

Jenkins being of one of the oldest and w«althiest families in the 
county, and the murder being so cold-blooded, it was with the great- 
est difficulty that the people were restrained from lynching the assas- 
sin. But the better counsel having prevailed, the negro was taken to 
Plattsburg on a change of venue by his counsel, tried, sentenced and 
hanged. Before he was executed he made and published a confession 
of the crime in full. 

THE KILLING OF BURGE BY JOHNSON. 

This unfortunate affair occurred in the summer of 1873. Both 
parties were well respected citizens of Platte City. Addison Burge, 
the deceased, was a successful druggist, and was engaged in the drug 
l)usiuess at the time. F. M. Johnson was a prominent physician. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 741 

The difficulty grew out of a differeuce between the parties over the 
use of a spring belonging to Mr. Burge. On account of some feeling 
between the parties, Burge had notified Johnson to stop using water 
at his (Barge's) spring. Dr. Johnson probably failed to inform his 
wife of the notice he had I'eceived from Burge, and Mrs. Johnson 
took a horse of hers to the spring to water him. 

Mrs. Johnson afterwards reported to her husband that Mr. Burge 
had met her at the spring and insultingly told her to stop using the 
water, using coarse, profane language at the time, such as no lady 
should hear. 

The same day Dr. Johnson called on Mr. Burge at the latter's drug 
store to demand an apology. Hot words ensued, and the evidence at 
the preliminary examination which followed after the killing showed 
that Burge attempted to assault Johnson. The latter defended himself 
with a knife and stabbed Burge to the heart, killing him instantly. 

At the preliminary examination a few days afterwards the court, 
consisting of Justices Beery, Perrine and Kuykendall, after a full in- 
vestigation of the case, decided that the homicide was committed in 
self-defense. 

THOMAS MORGAN KILLED BY ISRAEL HEALTH AND BENJ. FULCHER. 

This occurred in the spring of 1879. All the parties were citizens 
of Lee township. Morgan was a young married man and a farmer. 
He was full of life and spirit, and had the reputation of being a very 
dangerous man when mad. He had had some small difficulty in the 
community a short time before the killing occurred, and a warrant 
had been sworn out for his arrest. The warrant was issued by Israel 
Health, justice of the peace, and placed in the hands of Constable 
Fulcher for execution. Justice Health volunteered to accompany 
Fulcher in making the arrest. They went to Morgan's house, arriv- 
ing there just liefore dinner. Morgan invited them to stay for dinner, 
and Mrs. Morgan busied herself preparing it. 

There was already bad feeling between Health and Morgan, though 
there had been no open rupture. While Mrs. Morgan was preparing 
dinner Health remarked to Morgan that he, Morgan, " had a devil of 
a pretty wife." Morgan believing that this was intended as an insult 
took it as such, and in a heat of passion and indignation he raised a 
chair to strike Health. Fulcher came to Health's assistance, and in 
the difficulty Morgan was shot and killed by Fulcher. Both Health 
and Fulcher were acquitted of responsibility for the killing on the 



742 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

gro'uud, we understand, that Morgan was said to have been resisting 
the officers of the law at the time the killing occurred. 
This, to say the least, looks a little bad. 

ALVIS HOMICIDE. 

In the fall of 1880 George Chance shot Thomas Alvis in Baker's 
billiard hall, in Platte City. It being election day, a large number 
of people were in town, waiting for returns, and otherwise enjoying- 
themselves till late in the evening. Chance and Alvis had some words 
over a game of billiards; and while talking Alvis thi-ew a rock and 
struck Chance on the head, knocking him around and stunning him 
severely. So soon as Chance could recover he pulled his pistol and 
fired, the ball striking Alvis in the eye and ranging around next the 
skull to his right ear. Alvis lived in great anguish for about thirty 
days and died from the wound. Chance waived examination and was 
never indicted for the killing. Both of the unfortunate young men 
were born and raised in the county and of good families. 

KILLING OF DR. SPENCER. 

Dr. Spencer was a dentist at Platte City at the time of his homi- 
cide and for some time before. Mrs. Stallard, wife of Wiley Stal- 
lard, a young farmer residing in the county, came in to have a tooth 
extracted. When she returned home she reported to her husband that 
Dr. Spencer had attempted to violate her while she was in his office. 

This of course greatly outraged and mortified Stallard. He seemed, 
however, to take it coolly, had but little to say and wore a look 
of determination and desperate fixedness of purpose. 

A day or two afterwards he rode into Platte City. Hitching his 
hoi'se, he walked hurriedly down Main street and came upon Dr. Spen- 
cer sitting in front of one of the stores on the street. Without say- 
ing a word he drew a pistol and began firing at Spencer. The first 
ball fired took effect and inflicted a mortal wound upon its unfortunate 
victim. Spencer, however, fled from before his infuriated assailant 
and rushed through the store followed by Stallard, firing as he pur- 
sued. Spencer fell dead in the store. 

The trial of Stallard followed at the next term of court. Mrs. 
Stallard testified to the attempted criminal assault. Her evidence was 
accepted as conclusive of the fact and her husband was acquitted. 

If she testified to the truth, and there was no evidence to the con- 
trary and nothing concerning her to cause her word to be doubted. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 743 

the jury did riirht. To have punished her husband, under the circum- 
stances, would have been a crime second in enormity only to the 
outrage attempted upon his wife. 

There are some things that the law is inadequate to puuish and in 
such cases it is cowardly and contemptible to appeal to the law. 
Chief among these are offenses against the sanctity of female virtue, 
tiie innocent and pure. God nerves and speeds the arm of the 
avenger of his family's honor. 

Both parties were highly esteemed and well connected. Stallard 
was a son of Randall Stallard, in the northern part of the county. 
Dr. Spencer also came of highly respected parents. He left a 
most estimable family, loved and respected by all who know them. 

GEORGE BURGESS KILLS HIS COUSIN. 

In the winter of 1879 George Burgess shot and killed Caples Bur- 
gess at Camden Point, under the following circumstances : The old 
and the young had met at the Female Orphan School of Camden 
Point to enjoy a literary treat by the young ladies of the school, just 
prior to the holidays. After the entertainment a few of the young 
men lingered in the town awhile before attempting to start home. Just 
as all were starting to their horses some one called out: "George, is 
tiiat you?" when Caples said: " Don't call me George." At this 
George responded : " That is a good name," when Caples turned 
around, and George seeing something shining in his hand fired his 
pistol twice. Caples ran about twenty paces and fell dead. No pistol 
was ever found about Caples. 

George was tried and found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced 
to the penitentiary for five years. The prosecution and defense were 
well represented in the trial ; the case going to the Supreme Court 
and being reversed, necessitated a second trial, which resulted in the 
same verdict. 

The two young men were the sons of brothers, and had inherited 
the dislike for each other from their fathers, who were of the first 
families of Kentucky; both of which seemed to have a world of 
friends. 

JOHN JONES KILLS JOHN BONE. 

In the year 1880 John Jones shot and killed John Bone al)out two 
miles south of Platte City. Jones had married Bone's sister a short 
time before, to which Bone had seriously objected. Jones was living 
on the home farm of his wife's father and mother, who were also liv- 
ing. Bone resided on a farm near by. It seems that Jones had been 

42 



744 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

abused several times by Bone prior to the time of the killing. On the 
day of the killing Jones was plowing near the pasture, when Bone 
rode in and attempted to turn his cattle out of a field to water. Jones 
went toward him and forbid him turning the cattle in, saying there 
was no moi'e water than his own stock needed. Bone thinking hard 
of the man who would order him away from the home of his child- 
hood, rode towards Jones, calling him to task for his peremptory 
orders, dismounted from his horse and threatened to blacksnake Jones ' 
with his whip if he did not keep his lip out of his business. At this 
instant, for it seems all was said and done iu a very short time, Jones 
fired, when Bone ran, Jones again firing, at which Bone dropped dead. 
Jones was captured the same night, tried at the next term of the court 
and acquitted. Both parties to this afl'air stood well in the com- 
munity; and it was universally regretted. 

TIPTON KILLS WOODSON. 

In the year 1883 Thos. Tipton shot and killed John Woodson at 
Camden Point. 

Woodson was deputy sheriff of the county and had occasion for 
arresting Tipton and several others for some trivial oflense a short 
time before the killing. After the parties had been tried Tipton had 
used some rough remarks about Woodson, which had come to his ears. 
In a few days after Woodson and several others were sitting in a store 
at Camden Point, when Tipton walked in. He passed the compliments 
of the evening to some one present and started out, when Woodson 
got up, drew his pistol, and said : " Tipton, I got your message and 
am ready for you." At this Tipton made a lunge for him, grabl)ed 
the pistol, when a scuffle ensued for a few seconds. Both being pow- 
erful men, the bystanders stood in awe, when Tipton drew his pistol, 
fired and all was over. Woodson only lived a few hours after. There 
never has been such a trial in the county before. The State was rep- 
resented by the very best of legal talent, backed by the powerful in- 
fluence of Woodson's relatives and friends throughout the State, who 
left nothing undone to convict Tipton. On the other hand Tipton 
was DO less represented, and his friends and relatives, who are of the 
best families in this State and Kentucky, did all in their power to vin- 
dicate his action in the matter. After a three days' trial Tipton was 
acquitted. The alfair was universally regretted, and has cast a gloom 
over two of the leading families that can only be obliterated by time. 



CHAPTEK XII. 

BENCH AND BAR. 

Introduction — Promiuent Members of the Bar Originally from Missouri — Circuit 
Court — Prominent Attorneys — Personal Sketches — Members of the Bar of 
Platte Couuty, Mo. — County Court Judges — Probate Court — Court of Common 
Pleas, Weston. 

Without question, affairs of government effect more vitally the wel- 
fare and the progress of society than any other public interest. A 
people unwisely and badly governed can at best hope for little 
advancement or improvement in their condition, whilst those whose 
laws are wise and just, and whose civil administration is pure and 
honorable, invariably stand among the first in prosperity and intelli- 
gence and in every desirable feature of civilization. Government, 
then, or the system of laws and their administration, which control 
the affaii's of the people, are of the first importance. This has been 
so recognized among all nations, even among those only approach- 
ing civilization, and the legislator and the judicial magistrate, or 
the law-giver and the judge, have always been honored as among 
the first personages of the State in dignity and importance. 

Nor is it a fact less beyond dispute that the profession of law, in 
itself a profession of the highest character and usefulness, has ever 
been the great school in which the wisest and best legislators and 
judges have received their training. Who can point to a law of any 
importance or value in the history of any country, not drawn by the 
hand of a lawyer, either a regular licentiate of the profession, or one 
skilled in legal science by long study and investigation ? In all times 
the great law-givers and magistrates have almost invariably ranked 
among the greatest lawyers of their day, and, on the other hand, 
there can scarcely be mentioned a great lawyer who has not left the 
impress of his genius upon the legislation and the judicial affairs of 
his time. Whatever improvement, therefore, that has been made in 
civil government, whatever advancement in defining and protecting 
the rights of man in a state of civil society, whatever progress in civ- 
ilization indeed — for good government is the handmaid of civiliza- 
tion — is very largely due to the legal profession. 

Draco, who gave to the Athenians their first great code of laws, 

(745) 



746 ■ HISTORT OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

was the greatest lawyer of his day ; Solon, nearly two hundred years 
later, and a man of unrivaled wisdom and purity of character, was 
the second great lawyer at Athens ; and he, too, left a code of laws 
that have made his name immortal. And what schoolboy is not 
familiar with the name of that other great Athenian lawyer, states- 
man and orator, Demosthenes? These and hundreds of others, 
only less eminent and distinguished, were given to Greece by the pro- 
fession of the law. And in Rome, under both the Republic and the 
Empire, the legal profession gave to that mighty city the laws which 
governed the world — laws whose influence is yet felt by the great 
nations of the earth, more than a thousand years since the fall of 
Rome herself. The Pandects and the Code of Justinian stand out 
everlasting monuments to the wisdom and far-sighted statesmanship 
of the great lawyers of that Imperial City. To-day they are the 
bases of the jurisprudence of all the Latin nations, and many of their 
wisest and best provisions have been engrafted into the systems of the 
laws of other countries. 

So, every people have produced their great lawyers and magis- 
trates, men whose names are illustrious in their country's history. 
The Germans point with pride to their great advocates and jurists of 
to-day and of the past ; and France and Spain and Italy and all the 
nations boast the names of men in the legal profession which were 
not born to die. What would English jurisprudence have been with- 
out the Bacons, the Burleighs, the Hardwiclies, the Blackstones, the 
Cokes, the Currans, the Erskines and the Mansfields of that country — 
what would English ideas of liberty, and, indeed, American hopes 
and aspirations have been without them? In our own country the 
brightest names that adorn our national history are those of the great 
luminaries of the legal profession — the Websters, the Choates, the 
Marshals, the Taneys, tlie Wirts, the O'Conors and hundreds of others. 

Nor is the history of Missouri barren of great names at the bar and 
on the bench. Uriel Wright was a lawyer whose learning and ability-, 
and whose genius and eloquence would not have paled by comparison 
with those of any member of the bar in this country, or elsewhere. 
Then there was Edward Bates, originally of St. Charles county, and 
Mathias McGirk ; and also Rufus Easton, and Henry S. Geyer; and 
James B. Gardcnhirc and Blennerhasset ; Field and Rol)crt Stewart, 
and Gamble and a host of others — all men of the first order of 
ability and learning, and lawyers who have left names which will 
grow brighter and more illustrious as they are handed down from 
generation to generation. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 747 



CIKCUIT COUKT. 



Of the Hi'st circiiil court in Platte county we have already spoken. 
Austin A. King was the judge, Jesse Morin the clerk and Jones H. 
Owen the sherifl". 

In 1840 the Legislature made a change in several of the judicial 
circuits of the State, including the one to which Platte county had 
been attached. This count}' was placed in the Twentieth Circuit. 

David R. Atchison was appointed judge by the Governor. He con- 
tinued to discharge the duties of the office until October, 1843, when 
he was appointed to the office of United States Senator, by Gov. 
Reynolds, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Dr. Lewis F. Linn. 

Henderson Young succeeded Gen. Atchison as judge, and he held 
that office until the first of May, 1845, when he resigned. Gen. Solo- 
mon L. Leonard was appointed to fill out Judge Young's unexpired 
term. He continued in office until June, 1851. 

In the meantime the Legislature having changed the mode of se- 
lecting the members of the State Judiciary from an appointive to an 
elective one, at the fall election of 1850 Hon. Wm. B. Almond was 
elected circuit judge. He resigned in 1852 and Judge E. H. Norton 
became his successor. Judge Norton continued in office until 1860. 
Being a candidate for Congress he also resigned, and was elected and 
took his seat. 

Hon. Silas Woodson succeeded Judge Norton, and he was succeeded 
by Judge Wm. Herren. After the latter had held a few terms of 
court the circuit was changed so that Platte county came under the 
jurisdiction of Judge Walter King in a circuit composed of Platte, 
Clay, Clinton, and Ray counties. 

During the turbulence of the times caused by the war, Judge King 
was impeached by a violently partisan Legislature (the majority of 
whom were elected by about one-third of the voters of the State), for 
the reason that he could not conscientiously uphold some of the ex- 
treme measures adopted at that time. His retirement illustrated with 
singular aptness and force the truth of the distitch of Addison : — 

"When vice prevails and impious men bear sway, 
Tlie post of iionor is the private station." 

Public life is like sweet milk — when it begins to spoil the whey 
comes to the top. The men who rose to the surface in this State 
during the war — excepting always the brave, self-respecting, faithful, 
conservative citizens, who stood up like soldiers and heroes to fight 



748 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

back the social and political wolves of the time — were, as a rule, 
persons who had rarely or never been heard of before in public affairs 
and who have never been heard of since, notwithstanding many of 
them obtained the shoddy respectability which suddenly acquired 
wealth bestows. 

Judge King was succeeded by Philander Lucas. 

But by-and-by affairs assumed a more favorable aspect. Judge 
Geo. W. Dunn, one of the able jurists and upright men of the State, 
was elected to the office of judge. Such have been the ability and 
purity of his judicial career and such his character as a man and citizen, 
that he has been continued in the office by the free voice of the people 
from that time to this. 

PROMINENT ATTORNEYS PERSONAL SKETCHES. 

To Judge W. M. Paxtou, of Platte City, the Nestor of the legal pro- 
fession in this county, and a man whose learning and culture and un- 
tiring industry are only equaled by his kindness of heart and public 
spirit, we are indebted for the following tersely written and short 
sketches of members of the legal profession practicing in this county 
during one or more of the years since the time of the organization of 
the circuit court : — 

Wm. T. Wood— Enrolled March 25, 1839; resided in Liberty. 
Never a citizen of Platte; still lives in Lexington, Mo; was cir- 
cuit judge for many years. 

David R. Atchison — Enrolled March 25, 1839. Resided in 
Liberty to about 1848 ; removed to Platte City and continued a 
citizen of Platte; was elected Senator from Missouri, and served 
two terms President pro tern of the Senate ; represented Clay county 
several terms in the House of Representatives ; was the first judge of 
this court after the I'eorganization about 1840. Before the war, re- 
moved to Clinton county, where he now resides, enjoying olium coin 
dignitale. 

Alexander W. Doniphan — Enrolled March 25, 1839. Resided 
in Liberty until his removal to St. Louis in 1862, and Richmond, Mo., 
in 1868, where he now lives ; an orator, jurist, statesman and soldier; 
was in the State House of Representatives terms, 1836, 1840 and 
1852, from Clay ; never I'esided in Platte ; attained his title as 
General of militia during the Mormon war ; as Brigadier-General of 
volunteers he led a l)rigadc in the Mexican War from Fort Leavenworth 
to Santa Fe, N. M., and thence by El Paso and Chihuahua to the Gulf. 
This famous expedition entitles him to the title of the American Xeno- 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 749 

phon. Shortly after this, his children all died, and he retired to 
private life. But at the beginning of the war his patriotic zeal caused 
him to accept the office of delegate to the Peace Convention of 1861, 
also Slave Convention 1861. He still lives at Richmond, Mo., to 
give his patriarchal counsel to his beloved people. 

Amos Rees — Enrolled March 2.5, 1839. Lived in Ray county; 
was one of the original founders of Camden, in that county ; re- 
moved to Platte City about 1848 ; was an active and zealous Metho- 
dist and a whole-souled Christian ; went to Kansas about 1855. 
Laid off an addition to Leavenworth ; practiced law until age and 
blindness required him to retire. He still dwells in darkness and 
seclusion in that city, supported by his sons. 

Petee H. Burnett— Enrolled March 25, 1839. A native of Ten- 
nessee ; came at an early age to Clay county, Mo., and settled near 
Barry ; engaged in the mercantile business at Barry ; failed ; studied 
law ; was the first circuit attorney of the Platte circuit ; lived a 
short time in Platte City ; about 1844 led a company of emigrants 
to the then new Territory of Oregon ; went to California on the first 
news of the discovery of gold ; became the first Territorial Governor ; 
acquired a fortune ; paid off his old debts ; became a Catholic ; 
published a volume giving his reasons for so doing ; published his 
life and adventures ; is now a citizen of San Francisco, and is en- 
gaged in banking, and studying the evidences of Christianity with a 
view to another volume. 

Andrew S. Hughes — Entered March 25, 1839. A native of Ken- 
tucky ; came at an early day ; more remarkable for his genial 
humor and anecdote than for his legal abilities ; was highly esteemed 
as a friend and companion. 

James S. Thomas — Entered March 25, 1839. Came a youth to 
Martinsville, in 1838; was a young man of intelligence and mod- 
erate education ; practiced here until about 1845 ; commanded the 
steamboat Haidee, owned in Platte City ; went to California in 1849 ; 
through the patronage of Gov. Burnett, got an appointment as a 
justice or alcalde ; made money; returned and settled in St. Louis, 
where he died. 

Alex. E. Cannon — Entered March 25, 1839. A rough back- 
woodsman ; a loud and persistent talker ; very little education ; 
never read law, but picked up all he knew ; a genial nature and 
warm friend. 

William B. Almond — Entered March 25, 1839. A native of 
Virginia; a graduate of William and Mary College; came to Lex- 



750 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

ingtou, Mo., and was a clerk for Aull & Co. ; about 1836 visited the 
Rocky mountains on business for the fur trader, Sublett, of St. Louis ; 
married about 1838 and came to Platte, settling near the Blichanan 
line ; was a man of literary taste and ability as well as of judicial 
accumen ; a desultory reader, a fluent talker and a brilliant orator ; 
went to California in 1849 ; was appointed United States Circuit 
Judge ; returned home ; was judge of the Platte circuit ; went to 
Kansas ; died at Leavenworth in 1860 ; buried at Platte City. 

Solomon L. Leonard — Entered July 22, 1839. A native of 
Tennessee; settled three miles east of Platte City in 1839; a man 
of sound judgment, strong prejudices and modei'ate education ; honest 
and conscientious according to his convictions ; was circuit at- 
torney and afterwards judge of the Platte circuit ; went to Buchanan, 
and was drowned in Texas in 1860. 

William M. Paxton — Entered March 24, 1840. A native of Ken- 
tucky ; educated at Center College, Ky. ; came to Martinsville in 
1839 ; married in 1840 and went on a farm ; in 1860 resumed 
practice in partnership with Joseph E. Merryman; dissolved the 
partnership in 1874 ; has become hard of hearing, and devotes 
his attention chiefly to the examination of titles of real estate ; 
broad views, strong and generous friendship, and devoted Christian 
character. 

C. P. Brown — Entered March 22, 1841. Came to the county in 
1837 ; studied law and settled in PUitte City in 1841 ; remained a 
year or two and went West ; now lives at Dixon, Cal. 

James H. Baldwin — Entered March 22, 1841. A native of Ken- 
tucky ; educated at Center College, Kentucky ; an early companion 
and fellow-student of Mr. Paxton ; they studied law and practiced 
together, both in Kentucky and Missouri ; was a brilliant orator 
and a profound lawyer ; was fast rising to eminence when he died ; 
he married in Clay county, and his last years were spent there. 

Richard R. Rees — Entered July 13, 1841. Started life in Inde- 
pendence, Mo. ; came to Platte City about 1853 ; spent several 
years there and went to Leavenworth, Kan., where he died; he 
was an enthusiastic Mason ; indeed, his whole life was a gushing 
stream of cordiality, zeal and earnestness in everything hc took hold 
of; he was always on the side of truth and progress. 

John Wilson — Enrolled July 13, 1841. Born in Kentucky; 
came from Howard county in 1841 ; represented Platte county sev- 
eral terms in the State Legislature; was county attornev ; a man 
of legal mind and fine judgment; a staunch Whig and a zealous 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 751 

politician; when excited was an orator; liis voice was loud and his 
manner commanding; he was liither of Hon. R. P. C. Wilson. 

Prince L. Hudgens — Enrolled July 13, 1841. Lived in Savan- 
nah, Mo., and afterwards in St. Louis ; was a preacher as well as a 
lawyer; possessed great persuasive powers in private conversation 
as well as at the bar or in the pulpit; died in St. Louis. 

John R. Hardin — Enrolled July 21, 1841. Came a youth from 
Kentucky and spent several years in Platte City ; in 1849 went to 
Oregon and was killed by Indians. 

Isaac N. Jones — Entered March 28, 1842. Spent several years 
in Platte City without succeeding; was county attorney for a time; 
died in California. 

Lorenzo D. Bird — Enrolled March 28, 1842. Lived in Weston ; 
a good lawyer; accumulated considerable property; died before 
the war ; on account of unsuccessful speculations it was supposed his 
estate would prove insolvent ; but all debts were paid and a large 
sum was received by his heirs ; graduated at Harvard ; accomplished 
scholar; settled at Atchison, Kan ; was a free soiler. 

WiLLAED P. Hall — Enrolled March 28, 1842. Born at Harper's 
Ferry ; when a youth he came to Platte City and started life ; suc- 
ceeded ; was elected Lieutenant-Governor and during a year or two 
in the war was acting Governor ; removed to St. Joseph ; became 
one of the most distinguished lawyers of the State ; died a few years 
ago. 

R. P. Clark — Enrolled March 29, 1842. Brother-in-law of Hon. 
John Wilson ; came to Platte with him ; a fine lawyer ; an excel- 
lent advocate and with less timidity and more perseverance would 
have been a success ; ho is still ))racticing law in Wyandotte, Kan- 
sas. 

John R. Ttlee — Enrolled July 13, 1842. Lived in Weston ; a 
man of ability ; died young. 

B. F. Loan — Enrolled October 9, 1843. Came to Platte with his 
parents in 1838 ; taught school ; studied law ; went to St. Joseph ; 
was brigadier-general during the war ; a strong Union man ; was 
elected to Congress three terms. 

E. H. Norton — Enrolled April 15, 1845. A graduate of Center 
College, Ky. ; was quite a youth when he came to Platte ; 
was a member of Congress during the early years of the war; judge 
of the Platte circuit for a number of years ; at the end of his term 
he resumed practice ; was then elected Supreme Judge, which office 
he still holds ; Judge Norton is the favored son of Platte county. 



752 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

and no man possesses more the coufidence and esteem of the people ; 
a sound and able jurist. 

Solomon P. McCurdy — Enrolled April 15, 1845. Came with 
Judge Norton from Kentucky ; they were partners for a few years ; 
McCurdy removed to Weston, and thence West, where he at one time 
was a United States Judge; living now in Salt Lake. 

Wm. B. Smith — Enrolled October 7, 1846. Came from Richmond, 
Ky ; practiced law five or six years and returned to Richmond,, 
where he now resides. 

John Doniphan — Enrolled March 5, 1849. A nephew of Gen. 
A. W. Doniphan : born and reared in Bracken county, Ky. ; resided 
in Weston for many years, now living in St. Joseph. Represented 
Platte county in the Legislature ; opposed secession, and was a Union 
man in the war. A scholar, statesman and jurist ; a deep thinker, 
and polished gentleman ; a brilliant orator and a successful advocate. 
He stands among the foremost lawyers of the State. 

Thomas Herndon — Enrolled September 5, 1849. Reared in Madi- 
son county, Ky. ; lived in Platte City, where he died in 1876. Opposed 
secession, and advocated conciliation during the war. Kind-hearted, 
generous, hospitable, hilarious and genial ; droll, witty and humorous — 
he was the life of the circle in which he moved. 

Wm. C. Baker — Enrolled March 3, 1852. A graduate of Center 
College, Ky. ; lived in Platte City ; wrote in the clerk's offices ; an en- 
cellent lawyer ; a pure, high-minded and honorable citizen ; a polished 
gentleman, a diligent student, a great reader and a pleasant com- 
panion. For several years he has been confined to his room by 
chronic rheumatism. 

H. C. CocKRiLL — Enrolled December 6, 1853. A native Missou- 
rian ; a youth of brilliant talents, handsome person, social habits and 
an ambitious spirit, he started life in Platte City ; edited paper for 
several years; was probate judge, and was fast rising to distinction 
when the war broke out, and he removed to Howard county. He 
still lives, but has not fulfilled the expectations of his friends. 

Col. James N. Burnes — Enrolled September 6, 1853. Came 
when a child with his father to Platte county, and was reared in Buena 
Vista; a graduate of Yale College ; a polished scholar, a profound 
jurist, an able statesman, an active and zealous politician ; a success- 
ful banker, and one of the most prominent and honored men in 
the State. He resided in Weston ; was a judge of the common pleas 
court of that city ; at first a wild Secessionist, and then a zealous Union 
man ; a brilliant and impassioned orator and accomplished gentleman. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 753 

He is now banking in St. Joseph, and has proved himself one of the 
ablest financiers of the country. He now represents the Platte district 
in Congress. 

William McNeill Clough — Enrolled March 21, 1854. Came 
with his parents to Parkville ; was an energetic and successful business 
man ; speculated freely in all kinds of pi'operty ; an' excellent account- 
ant ; a shrewd manipulator, and an excellent lawyer. He removed 
during the war to Leavenworth ; did an immense practice, and died 
insolvent, in 1883, of a chronic disease. 

Henry J. Wolff — Enrolled September 8, 1854. Piesided in 
Weston ; was for a time a partner of Col. J. N. Burnes ; judge of the 
Weston court of common pleas ; a talented lawyer, a finished scholar, 
a good practitioner and an amiable gentleman. 

J. E. Meeryman — Enrolled July 26, 1856. Born and reared in 
Estill county, Ky. ; a partner of James G. Spratt, and afterwards of 
W. M. Paxton ; removed to St. Louis in 1878 ; is one of the pro- 
foundest lawyers and the most successful practitioners in the State ; 
a chaste orator, a successful advocate and an agreeable gentleman. 

L. M. Lawson — Enrolled November 17, 1856. A brilliant and 
highly educated youth he came to Platte City, removed to Weston, 
thence to St. Joseph, and is now a citizen of New York. His literary 
acquirements, natural talents and brilliant oratory gave him reputa- 
tion at home and abroad. 

K. P. C. Wilson — Enrolled March 4, 1859. -A graduate of Cen- 
ter College, Ky., started his professional life in Texas; settled for 
several years in Leavenworth ; was a member of the Kansas Legisla- 
ture as a Democrat ; came to Platte City just before the war ; opposed 
secession ; elected to the Legislature, and chosen Speaker of that 
body ; proved himself an admirable presiding officer ; twice chosen 
State Senator; an able statesman, a profound jurist, a successful ad- 
vocate, an active politician and a fiery, finished orator ; a perfect 
gentleman, but under excitement impressive and always fearless ; in 
face of opposition a Hercules and a Sleulam. 

W. H. Eoney — Enrolled November 13, 1866. Lived in Weston ; 
was successively marshal, clerk and judge of the Weston court of 
common pleas ; is now clerk of the Platte circuit court. There is 
no more polite, accommodating and urbane officer, or more genial com- 
panion in the State ; much loved and trusted ; not now practicing law, 
but when he offers his services, will find ready clients who know and 
will trust him for his experience and familiarity with forms and records, 



754 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

as well as for his thorough acquauitaiice with tlielaw and the practice 
in Missouri. 

James W. Coburn — Enrolled November 14, 1866. Born and 
reared in Mason county, Ky. ; of finished education and superior liter- 
ary attainments ; formed by nature for tlie law ; profound judgment 
and industrious habits; bold, self-reliant and independent ; has been 
twice elected prosecuting attorney for the county, and his friends are 
hoping for his advancement to the highest positions in the State. 

Wm. C. Wells — Enrolled December 4, 1871. Born in Ken- 
tucky ; came as a child with his parents to Parkville ; engaged in the 
mercantile business in New Marlvet ; removed to Platte City ; per- 
formed the duties of sheriff and collector; is now engaged in banking. 
Mr. Wells does not do much practice, owing to the extensive and 
confining financial business in which he is engaged, having three banks 
under his charge. He twice represented the county in the Legisla- 
ture, and is now public administrator. There is no better accountant 
nor more prudent financier in the State. 

James F. Pitt — Enrolled April 11, 1874. Was a native of Platte 
county ; a diligent, laborious student ; taleuted, self-reliant and 
trustworthy ; he is now one of the rising young men of St. Joseph. 

J. F. Merryman — Enrolled April 11, 1874. Reared in Platte 
City ; well educated and thoroughly grounded by his learned father, 
J. E. Merryman, in the principles of the legal science ; he settled in 
St. Louis ; was sent thence to the Legislature, and is now a hard work- 
ing and thorough going young lawyer, whose future advancement is 
confidently predicted. 

John L. Carmack — Enrolled April 17, 1878. A resident of 
Platte City, and a iiartuer of N. B. Anderson ; well educated and 
endowed by nature with the qualities necessary to success ; he served 
two years as prosecuting attorney ; is now mayor of the city ; active, 
persevering and reliable, he must rise to distinction. 

The following are members of the Bar of Platte county. Mo., with 
the date of their enrollment : — 

Wm. T. Wood, March 25, 1839. 
David R. Atchison, March 25, 1839. 
Bela M. Hughes, not enrolled. 
Amos Rces, March 25, 1839. 
A. W. Doniphan, March 25, 1839. 
Russell Hicks, March 25, 1839. 
John A. Gordon, March 25, 1839. 
Peter H. Burnett, March 25, 1839. 
Andrew S. Hughes, March 25, 1839. 
James A. Thomas, March 25, 1839. 



HI.sTOItY OF PLATTE COUNTT. 755 



A. E. Cannon, jNIarch 25, 1830. 
W. B. Almond. March 25, 1839. 
Theodore D. Wheaten, March 25, 1839. 
Solomon L. Leonard, July 22, 1839. 
Benjamin Havs, Novenii)er 25, 1840. 
W. M. Paxton, March 24, 1840. 
Jame.^ Foster, March 24, 1840. 

Geo. W. Dunn, March 25, 1840. 
Philip L. Edwards, July 27, 1840. 
Kobert C. Ewinff, July 27, 1840. 
William M. Kincaid, julv 27, 1840. 
C. P. Brown, March 22, '1841. 
James Baldwin, March 22, 1841. 
Frederick Grecnoush, Julv 13, 1841. 
Richard R. Rees, July 13,' 1841. 
John Wilson, Julv 1.3, 1841. 
Prince L. Hudgens, July 13, 1841. 
James B. Gardeuhire, July 13, 1841. 
Samuel R. Campbell, Julv 13, 1841. 
John R. Hardin, Julv 21,' 1841. 
Isaac N. Jones, March 28, 1842. 
L. D. Bird, March 28, 1842. 
W. P. Hall, July 29, 1842. 
R. P. Clark, March 29, 1842. 
J. Hall, July 13, 1842. 

B. R. Martin, Julv 13, 1842. 
John R. Tvlee, July 13, 1842 

E. M. Rvland, October 26, 1841. 
Joshua W. Redman, July 20, 1843. 

B. F. Loan, October 9,"l843. 
Gus. A. Everts, October 11, 1843. 
R. T. Barrett, October 19, 1844. 
Charles F. Ruff, October 14, 1844. 
Colin Bland, October 8, 1845. 
Georize R. Gibson, April 18, 1845. 
J. M. Jaco!)s, April 15, 1845. 

E. H. Norton, April 15, 1845. 
S. P. McCurdy, April 15, 1845. 
W. Turner, April 15, 1845. 
H. M. Vories, April 15, 1845. 

C. C. Tebbs, April 23, 1845. 
William Smith, October 7, 184(5. 
Levi T. Carr, October 16, 1846. 
James H. Baldwin, October 16, 1846. 
James Davis, March 2, 1847. 

Jacob B. Hovey, September 8, 1847. 
James A. Owen, September 9, 1847. 
Silas H. Woodson, March 4, 1847. 
John Doniphan, March 5, 1849. 



756 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTT. 

Thomas Herndou, September 5, 1849. 

Broadhiirst Thompson, September 5, 1849. 

Shubael Allen, September 21, 1849. 

Henry Tutt, September 21, 1849. 

N. B. Giddings, March 3, 1852. 

H. Miles Moore, March 3, 1852. 

William C. Baker, March 3, 1852. 

William Chrisman, December 9, 1852. 

Henry Slack, March 7, 1853. 

E. S. Wilkinson, March 7, 1853. 

W. C. Toole, March 7, 1853. 

James H. Connelly, March 18, 1853. 

William H. Miller, September 6, 1853. 

James Winston, September 6, 1853. 

Benjamin F. Stringfellow, December 5, 1853. 

Austin A. King, December 6, 1853. 

H. C. CockriU, December 6, 1853. 

Henry C. Hayden, September G, 1853. 

James N. Burnes, September 6, 1853. 

Calvin F. Barnes, September 6, 1853. 

Robert W. McDaniel, September 6, 1853. 

James Doniphan, March G, 1854. 

W. M. Clough, March 21, 1854. 

W. O. Watts, September 6, 1854. 

H. J. Wolf, September 8, 1854. 

George W. McLane, November 27, 1854. 

E. N. Clough, March 6, 1855. 

GordenRuby, March 5, 1855. 

J. W. Russell, March, 22, 1855. 

W. T. Withers, March 7, 1855. 

W. S. Carroll, July 3, 1855. 

A. H. Vories, July 2, 1855. 

John Wilson, of St. Joe, July 7, 1855. 
H. B. Branch, March 10, 185G. 
J. E. Merryman, July 21, 1856. 
L. M. Lawson, November 17, 185G. 
Samuel Hardwicke, March 4, 1857. 
Thomas C. Booth, November IC), 1857. 

Lykins, November 16, 1857. 

Benjamin Franklin, November 24, 1857. 
Saunders W. Johnston, November 18, 1857. 

B. L. Henry, July 24, 1857. 
John R. Bo'yd, February 24, 1858. 
Henry Ensworth, February 25, 1858. 
JohnD. Hudson, February 25, 1858. 
John W. Ross, September 1, 1858. 
Lewis Burnes, September 12, 1859. 
Thomas B.King, September 5, 1859. 
William Moore, August 30, 1859. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 757 

Thomas Thoroughmau, August 30, 1859, 
R. P. C. Wilson, March 4, 1859. 
Burton H. Phelps, June 9, 18(iO. 
E. O. Sale, March 14, 1860. 
Moses H. Burton, November 28, 1860. 
E. G. Heriott, November 29, 1860. 
Charles B. Wilson, December 10, 1860. 
S. D. Fulton, December 11, 1860. 
Joseph P. Grubb, May 26, 1862. 
James M. Carpenter, May 26, 1862. 
C. M. Boyd, August 5, 1862. 
W. P. Ga'mble, August 5, 1862. 
S. S. Ludlum, August 5, 1862. 
James M. Murray, August 6, 1862. 
J. C. Greenawalt, December 9, 1864. 
James Durbin, December 13, 1864. 
Henry Shutts, September 4, 1865. 
J. C. Hemingray, September 6, 1865. 
A. G. Beller"^ September 9, 1865. 
J. D. Hines, November 14, 1865. 
John W. Myers, March 5, 1866. 
Hiram Griswold, March 13, 1866. 
W. H. Roney, November 13, 1866. 
J. W. Coburn, November 14, 1866. 
Melville Smith, November 16 1866. 
H. M. Aller, November 19, 1866. 
J. W. Jenkins, November 23, 1866. 
Skinner Rush, November 14, 1866. 
Joseph E. Shaw, November 15, 1866. 
Geo. M. Smith, November 15, 1866. 

A. M. Sawyer, November 23, 1866. 
Norton B. Anderson, November 11, 1867. 
Louis Georgens, November 12, 1867. 

H. K. White, November 12, 1867. 

B. F. Cates, November 20, 1867. 
T. W. Park, December 16, 1867. 
H. A. B. Anderson, April 7, 1868. 
Jas. L. McCluer, April 12, 1869. 
T. V. Bryant, April 15, 1869. 
Henry N. Ess, April 6, 1869. 
Larkin Fleshman, April 14, 1869. 
W. B. Watts, April 5, 1869. 
Wm. Forman, October 4, 1869. 
Jeff. Chandler, October 4, 1869. 
Sam. C. Woodson, October 4, 1869. 
Byrou Sherry, December 6, 1869. 
H. T. Green, December 10, 1869. 
L. T. Oliver, December 13, 1870. 
Thos. J. Porter, April 3, 1871. 



758 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

W. C. Wells, December 4, 1871. 
William Carpenter, October 6, 1872. 
Stephen A. Peery, October 15, 1872. 
J. H. Shanklin, October 15, 1872. 
J. L. Farris, October 17, 1872. 
W. J. Stone, October 21, 1872. 
W. T. Hughes, October 23, 1872. 
J. W. Tavlor, November 24, 1873. 
J. F. Pitt, April 11, 1874. 
J. F. Merryman, April 11, 1874. 
M. A. Low, April 13, 1874. 
H. H. Hodges, April 14, 1874. 
B. J. Woodson, October 17, 1874. 
J. T. Eeynokls, April 9, 1875. 
W. P. Chiles, October 14, 1875. 
P. T. Gallagher, October l(i, 1875. 

D. D. Bnrn'es, October 15, 1875. 
Archaiuus Woodson, Septeml)er 18, 1877. 
J. L. Carmack, April 17, 1878. 
Charles Hayden, September 27, 1878. 

O. D. Guthrie, March 26, 1879. 
H. F. Simrall, March 21, 1879. 
J. M. Sandusky, March 21, 1879. 
T. M. Humphrey, July 10, 1879. 
H. W. Ide, September 25, 1879. 
J. F. Thomas, October 1, 1879. 
T. F. C. James, March 20, 1880. 
Vinton Pike, March 24, 1880. 
James F. Thomas, March 24, 1880. 
T. P. Fenlon, September 22, 1880. 
John A. Hale, September 22, 1880. 
John W. Norton, September 30, 1880. 
W. S. Herndon, April 4, 1881. 
John W. Coots, September 24, 1881. 
Robert T. Holt, September 24, 1881. 
James T. Clayton, March 20, 1882. 

E. S. Gosnev, September 19, 1882. 
Geo. F. BalUngall, March 21, 1883. 
H. C. Ellis, March 28, 1883. 
Jarret W. Todd, March 28, 1883. 
W. A. Bannister, March 31, 1883. 
J. H. Chinn, March 31, 1883. 

S. B. Green, March 19, 1884. 

H. C. Timmouds, September 16, 1884. 

J. T. Craig, March 23, 1885. 

COUNTY COURT JUDGES. 

The first judges of the county court, as we have stated, were 
Judo'es Byrd McCaflFerty and Collier. Their successors have been 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 75!l 

Daniel P. Lewis, James Kuykcndali, Matthew M. Hughes, H. B. 
Mayo, Jno. Freelaiid, James H. Laytoii, James B. Martin, Thompson 
Ward, Wra. D. Baruett, Edward P. Duncan, Peter Rogers, Lewis 
Wood, Jno. Broadhurst, Preston Duulap, Samuel M. Hays, Noah 
Beety, A. G. Brown, Jacob Hamm, Benjamin R. Martin, Thomas H. 
Talbott, Henry M. Allen, John S. Brastield, Wm. E. Cunningham, 
George W. Noland, Jos. E. Ireland, Jas. S. Owen. 

PROBATE COURT. 

Up to March, 1849, by act of the Legislature of 1848-49, a probate 
court was established. The following have been the judges: James 
Kuykendall, Jas. G. Spratt, Robert P. Clark, H. Clay Cockrill and 
Samuel A. Gilbert. Judge Wm. P. Chiles is the present judge. He 
has served several consecutive terms. 

COURT OF COMMON PLEAS AT WESTON. 

In 18 — a court of common pleas was established at Weston. It 
had concurrent jurisdiction with the circuit court in civil cases. 

By an act of the Legislature the act authorizing this court was 
abolished. The judges in the order named were as follows : L. D. 
Bird, Sol. P. S. McCurdy (former law partner of Judge E. H. 
Norton), James Doniphan, H. J. Wolf, James N. Burnes, John 
Doniphan, Samuel A. Gilbert and Henry W. Roney. Judge Roney 
is now the circuit clerk. 

43 




CHAPTER XIII. 

POLITICS AND PUBLIC MEN. 

First Electioa, 1833 — Sacceedin? Elections — Votes of the County Since 1856—^ 
Public Officials. 

From the time of its organization to the present Platte county has 
exercised an influence of marlced weight in the public affairs of the 
State. Not a few of the leading men of Missouri have been citizens 
of this county. From David R. Atchison and John Wilson, in 
the early history of the county, to E. W. Norton and E. P. C. Wilson 
of to-day, representative men of Platte county have occupied enviable 
positions among the foremost of the State. Besides the four already 
mentioned, the names of Solomon L. Leonard, William B. Almond, 
Peter H. Burnett, James W. Denver, Willard P. Hall, Bela M. 
Hughes, Benjamin F. Stringfellow, Benjamin F. Loan, E. H. Norton, 
John Doniphan, James M. Burnes and L. M. Lawson are recalled. 
Sketches of all of these are given in the preceding chapter — the 
Bench and Bar. 

From the beginning the county has been uniformly Democratic, 
generally by very large majorities. 

FIRST ELECTION 1838. 

The first election worthy of mention iield in the territory now 
included in Platte county was in 1838, the general election for State 
and county officers. It was then a part of Clay county, or was at- 
tached to that county, by act of the Legislature, for civil and military 
purposes. 

Clay county proper was strongly Whig at that time, but it was 
confidently l>elieved that a large majority of the settlers in the new 
country attached to Ciaj'' would be for the Democrats. Much interest, 
therefore, was felt in the result and strenuous efforts to carry the 
election as a whole were made by both sides. The contest was one of 
much warmth and e-xcitement. 

The chief interest taken in the election was directed to the race for 
the Legislature — the Senate and the House. For this senatorial dis- 
trict — Clav, Clinton and the Platte Purchase^ — the Democratic candi- 



' Possibly other counties also. 
(760) 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 761 

dates were James T. V. Thompson, of Clay, and Cornelius Gilman, of 
the territory attached to Clinton county. David R. Atchison, James 
M. Hughes and Jesse Morin were the Democratic candidates for the 
House from Clay county, the latter of the annexed territory to Clay.^ 
On the Whig side but two of the candidates are remembered. Judge 
W. T. Wood, lately judge of the Lafayette circuit, but at that time 
a citizen of Clay county, and David D. Moore, of the annexed ter- 
ritory. 

The Whiijs carried everything with a rush across the line in Clay 
and east of the Purchase, but when the new settlements on this side 
wore reached a Democratic bulwark was encountered, upon which they 
could hardly make an impression. They had received nearly every 
vote before they reached the line that they were destined to receive. 
Here the people proved to be Democratic with almost unparalleled 
unanimity, and the result of the election depended not on the relative 
strength of parties here but upon the number of voters in the new 
territory. The majority with which the Whigs came across the line 
was soon overcome — and the Democrats of the Platte were still voting. 
At last the polls were closed with the setting of the sun, and the day 
had been won by the Democrats by an overwhelming majority. All 
five of the Democratic candidates for the Legislature ( Senate and 
House) were elected and their general county ticket was successful. 
This was a great surprise to the Whigs of Clay and hardly less a sur- 
prise to the Democrats, but as gratifying to the latter as it was dis- 
appointing and mortifying to the former. Coming thus at a time 
when the field seemed lost, and winning so decisive a victory, the 
Democrats of Platte were given the name of " The Tenth Legion of 
Democracy," after that puny legion of old that came on a losing field 
and wrenched victory from the very jaws of defeat. 

Gen. Atchison made some of the greatest speeches of his life dur- 
ing this campaign, and by his ability and eloquence attracted atten- 
tion throughout the State. The foundation of his subsequent success 
and prominence in public life was laid : the people of the State were 
introduced to the David of Democracy who was to slay the political 
Goliah of the State — Benton, a man with less real Democracy than 
any one else could have maintained himself in public life with for half 
the period he flourished among a people so thoroughly Democratic 
as those of Missouri were at that time. 



Geu. AtcUison moved ta Platte couuty soou afterwards 



762 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 



SUCCEEDING ELECTIONS. 



By the time the next general election occurred — the election of 
1840 — I'hvte county had been organized. This was a Presidential 
year, the year when " Tippecanoe and Tyler, too " (not " Me Too," 
of New Y'oik), swept the country. It was a great AVhig revival and 
hard cider flowed freely in every log cabin of the Whigs, and every- 
where on the hustings. 

In Platte county a full corps of county officers, excepting a few 
officials who held over under the law, were to be elected. The county 
being conceJedly so largely Democratic, the election here was a very 
quiet one. The Whigs made a very poor showing of strength. Maj. 
Wm. H. Spratt says that of 1,500 and more votes cast, but 25 were 
Whig votes, and that his was one of the 25.' 

The following county officers were elected : James R. Holt, rep- 
resentative ; Jones H.Owen, sheriff; Jesse Moriu, circuit clerk; 
James H. Johnson, county clerk; Frederick Marshall, treasurer; W. 
C. Remington, assessor, and James Kuykendall,- Daniel P. Lewis 
and Matthew M. Hughes, county court justices. 

The most noted man brought to the front by this election was Dr. 
David R. Holt, elected to the State House of Representatives. He 
was a man of collegiate education and varied attainments. After 
graduating at Washington College he took a course in theology and 
was ordainet- a Presbyterian minister. Subsequently he studied med- 
icine and became a regular practitioner of medicine. He was a man of 
fine natural ability and of a most amiable character. Both in the 
pulpit and as a physician he took rank among the foremost in this 
pai-t of the State. 

Dr. Holt came to Platte county from Boone county in 1837. He 
was originally from Tennessee, but came to Missouri from Virginia. 
Following his election to the Legislature he was a prominent candi- 
date for Speaker of the House. He died, soon after taking his seat. 
Holt county, this State, was named for him, in honor of his memory. 
His loss was profoundly deplored. 

Hon. D. A. Sutton was elected to fill out Dr. Holt's unexpired term. 

Gen. David R. Atchison was appointed judge of the Platte circuit 
by the Governor. He served until 1843, when he resigned and was 



• Up to 1856 there are no records in the county clerk's office of votes cast. 
2 Brother to Col. KuykenJall, one of the hero patriots of the Republic of Texas. — 
Youakim^s History of Texas. 



HISTOUY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 7()3 

succeeded l)y Henderson Young. Gen. Atchison had been appointed 
United States Senator from this State. 

The elections from 1840 to 185(5 created no unusual excitement. 
However, the Whigs gradually increased in numbers and influence 
and several times candidates of their party, men of special personal 
popularity, were successful. The growth of the Whig party in this 
county was largely due to the ability and leadership of a few promi- 
nent citizens who were members of that party. Chief among them 
were Hon. John Wilson and Hon. John Doniphan. The former was 
the recognized leader of the party and one of the foremost Whigs in 
the State. Hon. John Wilson was a man of commanding ability 
and strict integrity. He squared his life according to what he be- 
lieved to be right and he was politically as honest and true as he was 
in ])rivate life. Of positive character, outspoken and manly, there 
was nothing of the time-server, the trimmer or political weather-cock 
in his nature. With him fidelity to the Whig party was felt to be one 
of the highest of moral obligations, and whenever its intei'ests were 
Jit stake there was no service for it too great for him to undertake, no 
sacrifice too great to make. It is little less than inspiring to read the 
ringing declarations of this gallant old leader of the Whig party in 
Platte county proclaiming, long after his party as a State and Na- 
tional organization was dead and buried, that he would still hold its 
banner aloft and fight its battles, though he stood single-handed and 
alone in the conflict. 

When he came to this county from Howard county, in 1841, there 
was practically no Whig party here. But by his exertions, elo- 
quence and good management he succeeded in building up a strong 
party, and in 1856, in a total vote in the county of nearly 2,500, he 
came within about 200 of carrying it. The vote stood: Buchanan, 
1,263; Filmore, 1,040. In 1860 the vote on Governor was: C. F. 
Jackson, 1,056; Sample Orr, 1,005; Hancock Jackson, 338. 

Col. Wilson had able lieutenants around him as a political leader. 
John Doniphan was young and brilliant, full of enthusiasm, and a 
natural orator. Politically and personally he was devotedly attached 
to his always faithful and fearless leader. Then there was Judge W. 
M. Paxton, a man whose indorsement of any party or individual was 
and is a certificate of character that goes without question wherever 
he is known. He was a zealous Whig through defeat after defeat of 
his party, as he would have i>een modest and magnanimous if every 
defeat had been a victory. Like Wilson and Doniphan he was a 



764 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

Whig, not as a means of obtaining prominence and position, but be- 
cause he believed the Whig party to be right. 

Besides these there were others not less active and useful in the 
Whig party. Hon. L. M. Lawson, now of the banking firm of Don- 
nell, Lawsoii & Co., New York City, was a tower of sti-ength to the 
Whig party. He was one of the finest speakers in Western Missouri. 

Opposed to these and others whom space forbids us to mention 
were Gen. Atchison, Gen. Denver, Col. Stringfellow, Col. Sutton, - 
Hon. Bela M. Hughes, Col. James N. Burnes, Col. Morin and several 
more on the Democratic side. Col. Atchison was the recognized 
leader and Col. Morin was regarded as an organizer of superior ability. 

Of the elections between 1840 aud 1856, the most exciting one by 
far was the election of 1844. The Whigs adopted the " passive pol- 
icy," or refused to make nominations, hoping thereby to divide the 
Democrats, which they succeeded in doing. Two Democratic tickets 
were run. One called the " Hards " (regulars) and the other the 
" Softs " (the irregulars or independents j. The Whigs quietly sup- 
ported the latter and the " Softs" succeeded. Bela M. Hughes and 
Achilles Jasper were elected to the Legislature. 

Hughes was a son of Gen. Andrew S. Hughes, of Clay county, and 
a nephew of Gov. Metcalf of Kentucky. He afterwards went West 
and attained eminence at the bar. In public affairs his reputation 
became national. 

Probably, doubtless, the best speaker on the Democratic side was 
Col. Burnes. He is now the I'epresentative of this district in Congress, 
and is always a psychological study. A volume could be written of 
him, all of it interesting, and none of it displeasing, notwithstanding 
the many inconsistencies of life and of everything else it would neces- 
sarily present. He is always pleasant, agreeable, cordial, overflowing 
with courtesy, consideration, and warm, personal solicitude for those 
around him. In his presence one feels, every one near him feels, that 
he has no such friend on earth as Col. Burnes. In conversation, 
manners and conduct he is fascinating and ca])tivating. To dislike such 
a man, it matters not what he may do out of your sight, or to think 
that everything he does is for self, is impossible. He may regard those 
around him as creatures to bo played upon as instruments, to be used 
by an able and ambitious man for his own advancement, but if he 
uses them he does it so kindly and pleasantly, and with such touching 
and eloquent protestations of fidelity and love — devotion true and 
unfaltering — and always not for himself but for their welfare and 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 7G5 

happiness, that they feel it a pleasure to be deceived and imposed 
upon — it is like the spell of a delightful di-eam. 

Col. Buvnes is in Congress now, and one of the leading men of the 
nation. If the South had succeeded, and established her independence, 
witli Missouri included, be would now be the representative of this 
district in the Confederate Congress, and would vote for such pensions 
to the Confederate soldiers, and for appropriations for sucli monu- 
ments, as wei'e never heard of befoi'e. It would be touching and 
overcoming to read his wonderful eulogies on Lee and Stonewall 
Jackson, delivered in the Confederate Congress. 

But if, on the other hand, all the Southern men of Missouri and 
all the Democrats had been exterminated and their lands and prop- 
erty given over to the truly loyal ; if Missouri and this district were 
as thoroughly Republican as they are Democratic, he would still be 
the representative of the district in Congress. There is no such 
thing as keeping such a man down. He lives for the time in which 
he lives and for the people among whom he lives, let them be Gi'eeks, 
Mohammedans, Missourians or Hottentots — it is all one to him. He 
is for the people and for whatever they want — Democracy or Radi- 
calism, the Dred Scott Decision or the underground railroad, the grape- 
vine or tlie Marseillaise of John Brown ; he has been for each in turn in 
the past when the exigencies of the times seemed to demand it, and it 
need not be proved that he will prove unequal to any future emergency. 

Col. Burnes looks on differences in politics with the same broad 
philosophy and libei'ality that he regards difierences of religion with ; 
he thinks they are matters of education and prejudice more than any 
thing else, and that a man has not advanced far in Darwin's series of de- 
velopment who can not look upon them all and with philosophic indiffer- 
ence and smile, adjust himself and his interests to any political faith 
or religious creed that may be uppermost in the bailiwick where he 
resides. 

VOTES OF THE COUNTY SINCE 1856. 

In 1860 the leading candidate for office in this county was Judge 
Norton, who ran for Congress and was elected. The vote in Platte 
county stood, Norton, 1,788; John Scott, 812. Judge Norton received 
the Douglas and Breckinridge vote. 

L. M. Lawson and J. P. Dorriss were elected to the Legislature, 
the former a Whig or Bell and Everett candidate, and the latter a Doug- 
las Democrat. Their election was accomplished by a combination of 
the friends of both. Lawson received 1,960, G. P. Dorriss, 988, Mil- 
ler, 620, and Dr. Coffey, 637. 



766 HISTORY OF PLATTE COIINTY. 

The election being the one just preceding the war was character- 
ized by great excitement, and a full vote was polled. 

At the Constitutional Convention election of Februar}^ 1861, the 
county voted largely for a compromise for the pi-eservation of the 
Union. This election is cited further in the chapter ou the Civil War. 

In 18(>2 James H. Birch, for Congress, received 877 votes, and 
Austin A. King 583, the vote showing a falling off about 1,000, on 
account of the war ; John Douiphan, for the State Senate, received' 
1,157 votes, no opposition. For the House, John Wilson received 
881 ; Col. Wolf, 1,002 ; W. S. Briggs, 611 ; A. G. Brown, 434. Wilson 
and Wolf were " Conservatives," as were also Birch and Doniphan. 
The others were Radicals. 

In 1863 the county went for the Conservative ticket for Supreme 
Court judges by an overwhelming majority, the vote standing: Bar- 
ton Bates and his associates on the Conservative ticket, 1,329. 
Arnold Krekel and the other Radical candidates, 412. 

In 1864 McCiellan carried the county by a vote nearlj' double that 
of Lincoln's vote, namely: McCiellan 882; Lincoln 488, in the lat- 
ter of which was the vote of Phelps' company of militia at 
Sedalia, in the Fourth Missouri State militia. For Governor, Thomas 
Price received 960, Thomas Fletcher, 507. For Representative, Wil- 
son received 908; Brown, 444. 

In 1866 John H. Williams, Democrat, for Congress, received 781, 
and Jas. H. Birch, 653. In the meantime, the war had closed, and 
a large percentage of the Democratic vote of the county had been dis- 
franchised. But little more than half of the full vote of the count}' was 
cast, on account of disfranchisement. 

In 1868 the same state of affairs existed, and only about 1,300 
votes were cast, of which Phelps, Democrat, for Governor, received 
790, and McClurg, Republican, 543 ; Grant, Republican, for Presi- 
dent, received 792 ; Se\'mour, Democrat, for the same office, received 
756. 

In 1870 tiie voters of the county generall}' were permitted to vote. 
The result stood Brown, Liberal (or Democrat), 2,160; McClurg, 
Radical (or Republican), 493. This was the election at which the 
repeal of the disfranchising clause of the so-called Constitution of the 
State was voted upon. But si.x votes in the county were cast for con- 
tinued disfranchisement. 

In 1872 Greeley received 2,148 ; Grant, 936, and O'Conor, 264. 

In 1874 Hardin, for Governor, received 2,127, and Gentry, 727. 

Two years later (1876) Tilden received 2,648 ; Hayes, 864. 



HISTORY or PLATTE COUNTY. 7(37 

In 1878 the Democnitic vote was 2,680 ; the Republican vote, 758. 

Ill 1880 Hancock received 2,()!)3 ; Garfield, 945. 

lu 1882, 2,385 votes were cast for the Democratic ticket, and 854 
by the Republican. The vote of 1884 was substantially the same as 
that of 1880. 

PUBLIC OFFICIALS. 

Following is a list of the pu})lic officials having to do with Platte 
county : — 

Judges — Austin King, David R. Atchison, Henderson Young, Sol- 
omon L. Leonard,' W. B. Almond, E. H. Norton,- Silas Woodson, 
William Herren, Walter King, P. Lucas, Geo. W. Dunn, present in- 
cumlient. 

Prosecuting AUorneys — W. T. Wood, Jas. Craig, James M. Bas- 
sett, Thos. Thoroughman, Joseph P. Grubb, Isaac P. Parker, ' E. F. 
Esteb, John G. Woods, S. C. Woodson, J. L. Carmack, JohnE. Pitt, 
J. W. Coburn. 

Sheriffs — Jones H.Owen, James Kuykendall, M. N. Owen, L. 
Shepard, W. H. Spratt, W. K. Bryant, G. W. Hood, W. T. Woods, 
N. P. Ogden, George W. Belt, E. McD. Coffey, W. H. Hunt, W. J. 
Overbeck, R. W. Pack. 

Circuit Clerks — Jesse Morin, Ira Norris, W. C. Remington, Geo. 
AV. Belt, F. M. Tufts, R. L. Waller, W. H. Roney. 

Probate Court — Up to March, 1849, the county court had pro- 
bate jurisdiction, when, by act of the Legislature, the system was 
changed and a probate court established. James Kuykendall was 
first judge ; James G. Spratt, second ; Robert P. Clark, third ; H. 
Clay Cockrill, fourth; Samuel A. Gili)ert, fifth; William P. Chiles, 
sixth and present judge. 

Representatives in the Senate — Capt. Andrew Johnson, Col. Lewis 
Burnes, Dr. A.M. Robinson, Jesse Morin, John Doniphan, George S. 
Park, John R. Keller, R. P. C. Wilson. 

Representatives in the Lower House — Dr. David R. Holt, Col. D. 
A. Sutton, Bela M. Hughes, Achilles Jasper, Bethel Allen, John A. 
White, Thompson Ward, James B. Martin, Hall L. Wilkerson, Dr. A. 
M. Robinson, D. D. Burnes, E. P. Duncan, C. A. Perry, L. M. Law- 
son, Geo. P. Dorris, John E. Pitt, Dr. McGuire, Henry Brooks, John 
W. Forbes, John Wilson, John Doniphan, H. J. Wolf, R. D. John- 
son, Adison Burge, Thos. Quinn, Wm. H. Ballard, R. P. C. Wilson, 
James Adkins, Wm. C. Wells. 



' Circuit Judge in Buchanan. 

- Now U. S. District Judge, Federal District of Arkansas. 

' Now U. S. District Judge in West District, Arlsansas. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES AND LITERARY CULTURE. 

Public School System of Missouri — Public Schools ia Platte County — County Com- 
missioner's Report for Year ending June 30, 1884 — Private Schools and Colleges — 
Camden Point Female Academy — Historical Sketch — The Institution at Present 
— Female Orphan School — Conditions of Admission — Male Academy at Camden 
Point — Platte City Male College — Pleasant Ridge Academy — Platte City Female 
College — Weston High School — Mental Culture and Literature. 

That Missouri has l>eeii grossly misrepresented as to her attitude 
towai'd public education, does not admit of question by those who are 
informed of the facts of her history. It is represented upon one 
hand that she is indifferent, and upon another, that she is hostile to 
this great vital interest. Yet nothing is hazarded by the statement 
that notwithstanding her grievous failures to accomplish what ought 
to be done, and what no good citizen can cease to desire or labor for, 
she stands among the foremost, if she is not the first of the States, in 
her devotion to the cause of popular education and the provisions 
made for its mainteuance. 

The Constitutions of 1820, 1865 and 1875 all make this subject one 
of first importance, and guard the public school funds with zealous 
care, while the Constitution of no State contains more liberal provis- 
ions for popular education than the Constitution of Missouri, adopted 
in 1875. 

Not a sentiment inimical to the cause can be found in any of her 
statute books for the sixty-four years of her existence. No political 
party has been in the ascendancy in all her history which has arrayed 
itself against free schools, and her Governors, from 1824 to the pres- 
ent time, have been earnest advocates of a broad and liberal system 
of education. In 1839 she established a general school law and sys- 
tem, and in 1853 she dedicated one-fourth of her revenue annually to 
the maintenance of free schools. 

Her people have taxed themselves as freely as the people of any 
State, and much more liberally than the people of a majority of the 
States. 

In the amount of her available and productive permanent public 
school funds she surpasses every State in the Union, with the single 
(768) 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 769 

exception of Indiana ; and if those funds had been managed as the 
Constitution and laws require, it is demonstrable that to-day she 
would have the largest in the Union. 

The State of Indiana levies a tax for school purposes of 16 cents on 
the hundred dollars of taxable values, and does not permit a local tax 
exceeding 25 cents on that amount.^ 

The State of Missouri levies a tax of 5 cents, and permits a local 
tax of 40 cents, without a vote of the people, or 65 cents in the coun- 
try districts and $1.00 in cities and towns, by a majority vote of the 
tax-payers voting. 

For the year ending last April, only two counties in the State 
reported a less rate of local taxation than the maximum allowed in 
Indiana, only one the amount of that maximum, and the average rate 
of all the counties reported was about 39 cents, or 14 cents more than 
the possible rate of that State. 

Missouri has more school houses to the population than Massachu- 
setts. The amount she exjiends annually for public education is 
nearly double the rate on the amount of her assessed valuation that 
the amount expended by the latter State is on her valuation; while 
our public school funds exceed those of Massachusetts $5,405,127.09. 

PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN PLATTE COUNTY. 

The first immigrants of Platte county were sturdy pioneers. They 
brought with them the ax and the primitive plough. The forest had 
to be felled and the prairies broken. The settlers were a hardy race, 
and the luxuries and refinements of society were almost unknown. 
Their cabins had to be made conifoi-table before school-houses could 
be built. The boys had heavy work to do upon the farm, and the 
girls found no time nor opportunity to enjoy society. There were no 
means of mental culture, and even the rudiments of knowledge were 
but little sought. There was scarcely a school house in the county 
prior to 1844. Religious meetings were held chiefly in groves. A 
rude platform was constructed for the preacher and logs were dragged 
together for seats. After the lands were entered in 1843 and 1844, 
hundreds sold out and removed to newer countries, and those who re- 
mained had to erect comfortable buildings and open their farms. But 
in 1845-46 school-houses of logs covered with clapboards arose in all 
parts of Platte county, and the youths of the land were instructed in 



' From an article in the Cyclopedia of Education, written by Hon. J. H. Smart, 
State Supt. 



770 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

the rudiments of an education. The towns were the first to build 
school-houses. In Weston, Parkville and Platte City small houses 
were erected. 

Before the close of 1846 the I'eports of directors showed that there 
were twenty-seven school districts organized, in all of which schools 
were kept for from three to ten months. The average terms were 
nearly six months of the year. The reports of the directors also 
showed that, as a rule, a good class of teachers were employed, and - 
that the progress of the pupils was satisfactory. The text-books used 
were Webster's Spelling Book ; McGuffey's First, Second, Third and 

Fourth Readers ; Pike's Arithmetics; Smith's Grammar, and 

Geographies. The salaries of teachers were low, some not exceeding 
$13 per month. 

The organization of school districts, which commenced in 1843, 
though but little progress was made for two or three years after- 
wards, was continued, as population increased, until in 1854 there 
was hardly a neighborhood without one, where there were enough 
children to form a school. 

As the building of school-houses in the county followed the build- 
ing of houses for the people to live in, so with the progress and pros- 
perity of each community within the borders of the county the cause 
of education has steadily advanced. The class of school-houses has 
greatly improved, and the grade of teachers and of the studies 
taught is much higher than in former years. Population considei'ed, 
no county in the State has a better class of public schools than this 
one has. 

The following report of the count}' commissioner of schools for the 
year 1884 shows the condition the schools were in at that time: — 

COUNTY COMMISSIOXER'S REPOKT FOR YEAK ENDING JUNE 30, 188-1. 

Male. Female. Total. 

Number of white persons in the count}' under 6 and over 20 

years old 3,026 3,450 5,416 

Number of colored persons in tlie county under 6 and over 

20 years old 251 233 490 

Number of white persons attending; the schools during cur- 
rent year 2,600 2,800 5,400 

Number of colored persons attending the schools during cur- 
rent year 70 80 150 

Total number of days' attendance by all pupils . . 228,660 

Average number of days' attendance by each pupil. . 41 1-5 

Total number of days schools have been taught! ^"'"™®'" ^^'^"^ ' ' ^'*^°^ 

\ winter term . . . 8,000 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 



771 



Average munljer of pupils atteuding each day i 

\ female 

Number of teachers employed during the year-! 

I female 

Average salaries per mouth i ™''' "^ .... 
\ female .... 
Number of pupils that may be seated iu various schools 
Number of white schools in operation. 
Number of colored schools in operation 

.\verage cost per day of tuition 

Value of school property iu county .... 
Assessed valuation of property in county . 
Average rate per $100 levied for school purposes 

Amount on hand at beginning of school year 

Amount received for tuition fees 

Amounts received from public funds, State, county and township 
Amount realized from taxation 



51 
39 

50 
30 

^57 00 

39 00 

o,G90 

7+ 

3 

S .053 

36,100 00 

4,280,595 00 

40 



8 


4,^03 


07 


(not stated) 




C,332 


30 




22,536 


44 


$ 


33,731 


81 



Amount paid for teachers' wages in the county .... 

Amount paid for fuel for schools in county 

Amount paid for repairs or rent during year .... 
Amount paid for apparatus and incidental expenses . 
.Imount paid for erection of school-houses or purchase of sites 
Amount paid in defraying past indebtedness .... 
Amount paid as salaries for district clerks 



Amount of unexpen<led school fund in county at close of year . 



. $ 23,255 75 

1,100 00 

2,000 00 

900 10 

1,800 000 
350 00 

$ 29,305 75 
4,426 06 



The annual receipts of the county for school purposes, aside from the 
amounts raised hy local district taxation, are as follows : — 



From the State .... 
From the county permanent fund 
From the township fund 
From tax on railways . 
From county tax .... 



$4,G26 95 

206 61 

1,514.68 

3,135 72 

19,982 31 



Total 



$29,466 27 



The largest schools in the county are the ones at Weston, Platte 
City and Parkville. 



PRIVATE SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES. 



Soon after the inauguration of the public school system in this 
county attention began to be directed to the necessity of providing 
facilities for the higher education of the youth of the count}'. Be- 
tween the beginning of 1849 and the close of 1860 a number of 



772 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

excellent private schools and higher iiijititutioiis of learning were estab- 
lished in different parts of the county, some of which have survived 
the vicissitudes of time, even including the shocks and misfortunes of 
war ; and they to-day hold enviable and useful positions among the 
successful and popular schools of the State. 

The following are the names of the principal institutions established 
in the county during the period named: The Camden Point Female 
Academy, by H. B. Todd, in 1849 ; the Weston Male and Female 
High School, by J. Scott, in 1849 ; the Camden Point Male Academy, 

by Donnelley and Farnum, in 1850 ; the Platte City 

Male Academy, by Prof. Gaylord, in 1850; the Pleasant Ridge Male 
and Female College, by A. L. Allen, in 1852 ; the Weston High 
School, by A. C. Kedman and C. C. Huflaker, in 1854 ; the Platte City 
Male Academy, by H. B. Todd, in 1857; the Young Ladies' Select 
School at Weston, in 1858 ; and Union College at Weston, by P. R. 
Kendall, in 1860. 

All of these, with perhaps one or two exceptions, had prosperous 
careers until after the outbreak of the war, and each of them per- 
formed a service of inestimable value to the public. As we have said, 
several of these schools sui-vived the misfortunes of the war, and two 
of them are still in flourishing conditions. 

The Camden Point Female Academy. — This institution, now 
known as the Female Orphans' School, was established in 1849. Wm. 
M. Kincaid is entitled to the honor of taking the lead in founding it. 
Some ten leading citizens subscribed each $200, and smaller amounts 
were collected in all parts of the county. The original projectors and 
the most liberal subscribers, were Phineas Skinner, Wm. M. Kin- 
caid, A. L. Perrin, Wm. Perrin, John W. Forlns, Frank Forbis, Wm. 
M. Paxton. 

The institution was to be placed under the control of no denomina- 
tion, and no minister of the gospel was to be allowed to have charge of 
the school. These terms are found in the original deed. A fine two- 
story brick house wasbuilt and placed under the charge of Prof. H. B. 
Todd, who taught a flourishing school for several years, when the 
academy was burned. Through the untiring industry and the indom- 
itable zeal of Prof. Todd a new and superior house arose out of the 
ashes. After Prof. Todd resigned the school it was placed successively 
under the charge of Profs. Campbell, Lard, P. K. Dibble and Wm. 
C. McKinnis. 

Some sixteen years ago the trustees transferred the property to the 
Christian Church, and it was turned into a denominational Orphan 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 773 

School. All endowment of some $10,000 was raised, and under the 
successive superintendence of Prof. Broadhurst. 

The following historical sketch of the institution is taken from one 
of its early catalogues. 

RISE AND PROGRESS OF THE INSTITUTION. 

For a number of years it had been in the hearts of quite a number 
of the members of the Christian Church to establish a school for the 
education of the destitute female orphans of this State ; therefore, 
at the State meeting held at Columbia, in the year of 1868, a commit- 
tee, consisting of Elders Francis B. Palmer, Thomas M. Allen, Allen 
B. Jones and Joseph J. Wyatt, was appointed to select a site for the 
school, and take the preliminary steps towards founding it. After 
viewing the various localities throughout the State, the}^ had a con- 
ference with Elder P. K. Dil)ble, who then owned Camden Point Fe- 
male Academy, and for a stated sum verbally purchased the buildings 
and grounds. 

In the ensuing October a meeting was held at Camden Point, and a 
Ijoard of incorporators was elected, consisting of the following per- 
sons : Elder Thomas M. Allen, Elder Alexander Proctor, Elder 
Joseph J. Wyatt. Elder Allen B. Jones, Dr. Thomas Beaumont, John 
M. Railey, James J. Hitt, Aytchmond L. Perrin, William F. Perrin, 
Miles Harrington, James W. Steele, John C. Harris, Joseph E. Mer- 
ryman, Andrew Tribble, William C. Wells and Archie T. Leavel. 

Articles of association were drafted, and duly tiled, as the law 
directs, and a meeting was appointed to be held by the board of incor- 
porators at Weston, on the first day of June, 1869, at which meeting 
the articles of association were unanimously adopted, and the first 
election of oflicers made, viz. : Dr. Thomas Beaumont, president ; 
Aytchmond L. Perrin, treasurer ; William C. Wells, secretary ; John 
M. Railey, James W. Steele, William F. Perrin, Archie T. Leavel, 
directors. This completed the organization of the association. 

The board of incorporators ofiicially instructed the board of direc- 
tors to confirm the action of the committee by purchasing the 
Camden Point property, which they did for the sum of five thousand 
dollars. 

The directors then took possession of the building and put it in a 
proper condition for conducting the school. 

The directors, as soon as practicable, secured the services of Elder 
Thomas P. Hale}', as solicitor for the endowment of the institution, 
and on the first day of November, 1869, he entered upon the discharge 
of the duties of his office. 

Considering the circumstances, he met with remarkable success, 
and by the next annual meeting of the incorporators he had raised 
sufficient means to satisfy every one that the enterprise was a success. 

The second annual meeting of the incorporators was held at Camden 
Point, on the first day of June, 1870, and the officers were all re- 
elected for the ensuing year. At this meeting a resolution was unan- 



774 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

imously adopted, requesting the directors, if within th"ir power, to 
open the school in September for the admission of orpij;iu giris ; con- 
secpiently, the directors determined to open the school on the third 
Monday of September, 1870, and admit such a number of destitute 
orphan girls as they or. their friends were able to procure means to 
support. 

A question arose as to who sliould be selected to take charge of tbo 
school, it being peculiar in its nature, so that every one qualified t(; 
teach was not prepared to take charge of a school of the kind ; h.if 
after considerable correspondence with brethren throu:rhout the 
country, and especially with Prof. Robert Augustus liioadhurst, 
of the Kentucky Female Orphan School, at Midway, Mias Talitha 
Burnes, of Cynthiana, Ky., was elected as princi[)al for the first 
scholastic year, and Prof. Broadhurst was elected as principal, to take 
charge at the expiration of that time, which position he now occnpie.j. 
Elder James Randall was employed to assist in soliciting '\inc'.s for 
the endowment, and his wife, sister Elizabeth Randall, was elected as 
matron. 

The third meeting of the incorporators was held on the firs*: day of 
June, 1871, and at this time the success of the enterprise wa- i>eyoiid 
the expectations of its most sanguine friends. Under a provision oi 
the charter it was necessary to raise and invest a certain sum, or the 
enterprise was to be abandoned and the amounts donated to be refunded ; 
but the report of the treasurer showed that the sura had been fully 
raised, and duly invested, and that there could be no longer any 
doubt as to the " Female Orphan School, of the Christian Church, of 
Missouri," being a success, for the practical work of the school 
wiis such as to convince those who, at the first, were doubtful 
as to the propriety of such an institution in our State. At this 
meeting the officers we:'e, in tiie main, re-elected for another year, 
Miles Harrington taking the place of John M. Railey in the board of 
directors. 

At that time the board of incorporators were James W. Steele, 
Joseph J. W3'att, Thomas M. Allen, John M. Railey, A3tcinnond L. 
Perrin, Miles Harrington, Joseph E. Merryman, William C. Wells, 
Alexander Proctor, Allen B. Jones, Thomas Beaumont, James J. 
Hitt, William F. Perrin, John C. Harris, Andrew Trible, Archie T. 
Lcavel. The board of officers were James W. Steele, president ; 
William F. Perrin, Archie T. Leave!, Miles Harrington, directors ; 
Avtchmond L. Perrin, treasurer, and William C. Wells, secretary. 

Tfie Institution at Present. — The present board of incorporators 
are James W. Steele, Weston ; W. A. Gardner, Oregon ; John M. 
Railey, Weston; Aytchmond L. Perrin, and Miles Harrington, Cam- 
den Point ; A. R. Masterson, Ridgely ; William W. Wells, Platte 
City ; George Dawson, Plattsburg ; John Owens, New Market; John 



HISTORY OF I'LATTE COUNTY. 775 

Balliiiger, Gi'llatin ; Alexander Proctor, Iiidcpendcnce ; John W. 
Mouiitjoy, Pu-is; Thomas P. Haley, St. Louis ; William F. Perriu, 
Camden Point ; John C. Harris, Woston ; E. O. Waller, Platte City ; 
(i. W. Lonjijan, Plattsburg; M. G. Roseberry, Maryville ; J. R. Es- 
till, New Franklin; James Randall, Holden ; Asa L. Smith, Camden 
Point ; Stephen C. Woodson, Platte City; Alexander Breckinridge, 
Grayson ; A. B. Jones, Liberty; R. T. Miller, Sedalia ; T. R. Maupin, 
Camden Ijint. 

The oxeci'tive board of officers is as follows: president, Aytchmond 
L. Perrii; ; directors, A. P. Masterson, Joim Owens, James W. Steele 
i'.nd T. R. Maupin ; secretary, Asa L. Smith, Platte City, Mo. ; treas- 
urer, John M. Railey, Weston, Mo. 

The fitulty for 1884-85 consists of Wiley Mountjoy, president, 
Mor-il a- I Mental Philosoph}' and Logic ; Miss L. Florence Berry, Rhet- 
oric and Literature ; Miss Lutie C. Palmer, Mathematics. Prepara- 
tory an 1 Physical Science — Miss Temple Perrin, Painting and 
Drawing Miss Grace D. Matthews, Vocal and Listrumental Music. 
Domesl J Economy — Wiley Mountjoy, Mrs. Wiley Mountjoy and 
Mrs. U. E. Henderson. 

SITUATION AND SURKOUNDINGS. 

The college is situated on a beautiful, elevated site, half a mile from 
the Camden PoiutDepot, and 16 miles from Leavenworth, Kas. From 
the observatory a scene of varied and surpassing beauty presents it- 
self, embracing a large area of the finest countr}' in the West. The 
grounds are large and beautifully ornamented with shade trees. The 
institution is surrounded by a refined ami cultivated society for which 
Platte county has long been famed. 

CONDITIONS OF ADMISSION. 

Four classes of young ladies are admitted into the school. 

First Class — Destitute orphans, who have no relatives or friends 
to aid them. 

Second Class — Orphans destitute of means, who have relatives, 
churches or l)euevolent societies to aid them, and are willing to sus- 
tain them at school. 

Third Class — Orphans who have some means, but not enough to 
ipiiort them. 

Fourth Class — Young ladies who have parents that desire to assist 
in our benevolent work. 

Precedence is given to the first class, and as many of them are re- 

44 



776 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTy. 

ceived as the uet income derived from day pupils, and the proceeds of 
the endowment, will justify. Out of the other three classes —giving 
precedence to the second over the third, and third over the fourth — 
the school will be filled to its capacity. Every application for the 
admission of a beneficiary should be presented in the form of a writ- 
ten petition, and should be made to comply with the following 
rules : — 

First. No beneficiary will be admitted who is under 14 years of 

age. 

Second. No young lady will be admitted as a beneficiary unless 
some respectable physician shall certify, in writing, to the soundness 
of her constitution and her freedom from hereditary disease. 

Tliird. No young lady will be admitted as a beneficiary unless some 
responsible person, °chui-ch or corporation shall enter into written obli- 
<Tation to receive her when dismissed from the institution. 

Fourth. The charter constitutes the directors the legal guardian of 
a beneficiary, therefore no interference of friends will be allowed during 
the time such pupil remains at school. 

Fifth. The directors claim, and will exercise the right to dismiss 
any pupil at any time, if, in their judgment, the interests of the school 
require it. Parties becoming responsible for the reception of a bene- 
ficiary wheu dismissed, whether the dismission be regular or irregular, 
must clearly understand this condition and acquiesce in it. 

Sixth. Every pupil, wheu she enters the school, will be required to 
pay the secretary all charges for a term of five months, or she 
will not be admitted into classes of the school. Pupils entering after 
the term has commenced will be charged from the beginning of the 
month in which they enter, to the close of such term. 

Seventh. A blank agreement will be furnished each young lady who 
receives the benefits of this school, which she will be expected to 
sign, with the person who becomes responsible for her, and return to 

the board. 

The number of orphans admitted free as day pupils during the past 
year was 3; number of orphans admitted as beneficiaries, 5; number 
of orphans admitted as half beneficiaries, 19 ; number of orphans with 
some means (2nd class), 42; number of young ladies who have 
parents, 3.3 ; number of day pupils, 28 ; total number of matriculates, 

130. 

The graduates of 1884 were Miss Mattie Dodson, Rocheport ; Miss 
Mattie Dykes, King City; Miss Rebecca Grimes, Paynesville ; Miss 
Lizzie George, Camden Point; Miss Lida Powell, Paris; Miss Claudia 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 777 

Triplett, Pajnesville, Mo. Painting and drawing— Miss Emma Rob- 
inson, Miss Adah St. John, Miss May Eliner, and Miss Claudia Trip- 
lett. Wax work — Miss Louise Rourke and Miss Minnie Todd. 

MALE ACADEJrr AT CAMDEN POINT. 

The founding of the Female Seminary of Camden Point, in 1851, 
for the higher education of the daughters of the county, gave rise to 
a move, resulting in the erection of a commodious building in 1852 
for a male academy at the same place. This school opened under the 
most favorable auspices. Prof. Donnelly having charge of the scientific 
department and Prof. Yonley, the classical. There was a reo-nkr 
attendance of some one hundred and fifty students from this^and 
adjoining counties. The school under this able management furnished 
such a thorough course of study as to contribute several honored 
members to the different professions in northwest Missouri. 

The fourth year of the college's existence brought a chancre in the 
teachers, Prof. Yonley yielding to Prof. Daniel R. Wood, a o-ntduate of 
William and Mary's College. This change enlarged the" course of 
study and secured an increased attendance. The college enjoyed a 
widespread reputation and patronage up to 1857, when the distin- 
guished teachers were offered greater inducements elsewhere and the 
school was then placed under the management of Prof. Howel 
It finally deteriorated to a high grade school and suspended at the 
outbreak of the war. 

The Platte City Male Academy.— The building of the Platte Citv 
Male Academy was put up by subscription of stock. It was erected on 
lots 11 and 12, block 30, in Platte City. Elisha Green was the pro- 
jector, and other liberal subscribers were Dr. Wm. Baldwin, Amos 
Rees, Capt. Andrew Johnston, Dr. H. Bleallahan, Moseby N. Owen 
AVm. M. Paxton. The house erected was 25x50 feet, two stories' 
high and of brick. This house was burned in the war. 

Pleamnt Ridge Academy.— Th\s was erected by Prof. Brice Vin- 
yaid. It was a large brick building, and for several years he had -i 
fine school of both boys and girls. Prof. H. M. Allen and his brother 
succeeded Prof. Vinyard and up to the war kept a fine school. Since 
the war it has not been resuscitated. 

Platte City Female College. — In 1857 Prof. H. B. Todd left Cam- 
den Point and offered to keep a female boarding school near Platte 
City if the people would erect a house. The people resi.onded readily 
and raised $10,000. Prof. Todd had a large school, consisting sonie' 
sessions of over two hundred young ladies. In 1861 Mrs. Todd died 



778 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

and Prof. Todd resigned his position. Prof. A. B. Jones taught dur- 
ing the war and Prof. McKinnis followed. The academy was then 
piu-chased by Prof. P. G. Gaylord, who still maintains a fine school 
under the name of Daughters' College.^ 

THE WESTON HIGH SCHOOL. 

About the same time that the Platte City Female Academy was 
erected the Weston High School was built. This fine house was sold 
to the city and has been used for the public school for many years. 

MENTAL CULTURE AND LITERATURE. 

In this county there have been but few or no candidates for the 
learned professions or for distinctions in any of the departments of 
letters or the fine arts who were natives of the county. The county 
is yet new and it is hardly to be expected that within so short a time 
it should have built up a literature of its own or brought forward rep- 
resentatives of the learning and literary progress ot the age. 

But unquestionably the day is coming when the people may hope 
for hi-her attainments. At first they were without the means of edu- 
catincT their sons and daughters ; and when in 1861 they had made 
some°progress, their young men were all called to arms. In the long 
and bloody contest which followed the means of educatmg the youth 
of the county were swept away, and when peace again smiled upon' 
the land the cause of education and of letters had to be re-entered up- 
on at the beginning. 

But already some progress has been made. An appreciable literary 
■itmosphere is formed at Camden Point and Parkville and Platte City 
•uid Weston, and several other localities in the county have telt the 
breeze Among those of the generation now just entermg or soon to 
enter upon the activities of life, there are not a few whose future 
seems bright with promise. But of these it is y^ too soon to speak. 
Amon- the senior residents of the county, those who although not 
natives to the soil have been identified with the community tor years, 
•md are as much its citizens and representatives as if the accident ot 
birth had made them such, there are numbers whose names justly de- 
serve a place among those of the learned of the State in their respec- 
tive spheres — in law, letters and statesmanship. 

We may mention a few whose names occur to us as we write. But 

there are others equally worthy, with whom, however, we have not 

sufficient acquaintance tJ enable us to speak of them with intelligence. 

Judge William B. Almond was educated at William and Mary Lol- 

1 See biography of Prof. Gayloicl in Carroll Township. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 779 

lege in Virginia, and received the highest honors of the institution. 
H.sattaniments secured for him a place on the bench, both in Cali- 
tornia and at hon:e. He was a fluent sj.eaker and a chaste writer. 
His Excellency, Peter H. Burnett, the first Territorial Gov- 
ei-n<,r of California, started his professional career in Platte county 
He has already published two volumes, which place him in the forel 
most rank of American authors. His first book was a lawyer's 
reasons for joining the Catholic Church. He subsequently published 
the recollections of a pioneer. Not only the logic of the firJt volume 
demanded attention from the theological world, but its literary excel- 
eiicies ..ere much admired. His reminiscences possessrare interest, 
and the style ,s as much approved as its details are applauded. Mr 
Burnett is now engaged on the great work of his life, and is expected 
to soon publish a book on the evidences of Christianity. His writ- 
ings suit the ordinary capacity, and for clearness and force are scarcely 
equaled. ■^ 

Hon. John Gardenhire commenced his professional career in 
Platte county. He died young, and crushed the hopes of frieluls 
who expected him to attain the highest round of the ladder of success 
As an orator he was unrivaled. His earnest and irresistible appeals 
carried conviction to the candid and confusion to opponents. His 
conscientious regard for truth inspired confidence and disarmed doubt. 
He had already anseu to eminence ere he had attained the noon of 

Hon Willard P. Hall came to Platte City as a vouth, and lived 
there for some years. His superior judgment and" clear reasoning 
powers soon called him to a wider stage of usefulness. He reached the 
gubernatorial chair at a time of our greatest need, and his wise coun- 
sel saved the State from disaster. As an orator and jurist he had no 
superior ui the State. We may here remark that Platte county has no 
arge cities, and nearly all our rising young men, as soon as they at- 
tained distinction, left us for richer fields of usefulness. They be 
come eminent, and for this very reason leave us 

aJ™^" •,^.'''' ^- '^"'^'^ '^™" *" ^'""^^» P«i"t about 1850 
After building up that noble institution, he gave Platte City the bene- 
fit of his labors. In energy he had few equals. His persuasive 
powers in public amd private, and his fascinating manners charmed 
our people, and for years he wielded almost regal power As a dis 
ciplinarian he was unrivaled. He ruled not only his schools, but the 
whole community. Whatever he asked for was bestowed. There 
was a charm m his manner, and a witchery in his address that won all 



YgO HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

hearts Our people have never done Prof. Todd justice for the 
b r sin. he bestowed on the county. Prof. Todd yet lives n, Kentucky 
Prof F G Gaylord has done much for this county. He came to 
PHtte county about 1853, and built up the first academy m Platte 
Ctylfter' teaching here a few years he was called to Camden 
PoTnt, and thence returned to Platte City. He is now the prn.cipa 
of Dau^^hters' College at Platte City. No one has done more work fox 
the education of the youth of our county than the venerable and be- 
oved President of Daughters' College. He is still labonng tor the - 
enlhtenment of our youth, and in his old age and bereavment we 
acknowledge the great debt of gratitude that is due hmi. 

Prelident John A. McAfee is one of the most eminent and success- 
ful ducators and disciplinarians on earth. Through h,s energies, 
upp tions and prayers he has built up Park College and made it a 
2 le of success' His undouhtable faith and irresistible earnestness 
Tave fathered 225 youths, of both sexes, at Park College ; and w,th- 
oulone dollar of endowment, his institution is doing more for human- 
•ty -and religion than the colleges endowed with millions. He ,s mdeed 
he Amevicln MuUer, and his school is builton faith, hope and chanty. 
vTi A. F. Smith, late principal of the Camden Pon.t Orpban 
School," is a chaste and agreeable writer ; his -"gj-^-f ^f^^'^; 
est Lei^hton," Christian Publishing Company, St. Loms 1881, ,s 
chaste in diction, pure in morals, and interesting m its detai s By 
thifwo"k Prof. Smith has shown himself possessed of rare literary 

"j^d'e Elijah H. Norton enjoys more of the love and esteem of 

the people of Platte county than any man that ever resided on this 

0^1 H has represented her in Congress, has served a term on the 

circuit bench, and is now a Supreme Judge of the State. As a law- 

ver he has en oyed a larger and more lucrative practice than any mem- 

Co ou^ Z- Indeed! we doubt whether there is another man in 

th State that can rival him in the affections of the people of Mis- 

soud If we examine his decisions with the enlightened eye of the 

urilt th discriminating and pondering balance of the logician, or 

the init nt ng attention of the literary critics, we must pronounce 

ht a master in thought and diction. Judge Norton is one ot the 

cleues" reluers of the day, and our system of jurisprudence owes 

much to his inteUigence, purity, judgment and integrity. 

Norton B. Anderson came to Platte City a y^^^^JT^J^^Z 
become a permanent citizen ; he is yet young, and a field ot usetul 
uessTnAonor are before him. In purity of thought and chasteness 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 



781 



of diction, he is the first writer of the county, if not of the State. His 
classical education and varied reading give him a command of words 
and thoughts which few attain. He has always been a student, and 
a constant contributor to the periodical press ; he seldom puts his 
name to an article, but the authorship is exposed by its excellencies • 
he writes deliberately, and weighs every word ; he polishes every sen- 
tence, and every phrase is a gem of thought ; he has not ventured into 
the fragrant fields of poetry, but when he makes an effort his produc- 
tion is a garden of flowers. There is no one in the county that is 
such a master of rhetoric. But Mr. Anderson's powers are not con- 
fined to beautiful phrases ; he is a lawyer well grounded in the prin- 
ciples of jurisprudence, and prepares his cases with the utmost care ; 
he is learned in the Masonic art, and a favorite speaker at the celebra- 
tions of the various orders of Masonry and Knighthood. 

Mrs. Swaney is a native of Platte county, ^daughter of Hilaman 
Hurlbut. She has published in the Landmark two continued stories 
that were highly complimented ; she is much admired, and stands at the 
head of female writers in Platte county. Her style is easy and nat- 
ural, without any attempt at ornament, her diction is elegant and her 
stories meet with great favor. Her friends and admirers predict a 
bright future in her career as a novelist. 



CHAPTER Xy. 

HIATERIAL PROGRESS SINCE THE WAR— 1865-1885. 

Assessed Valuation in 1865 — Platte County Fair Association — Its Officers — Bridges — 
Weston and Platte City Turupike — Valuation and Tax for 1885 — Description of 
Platte county. 

Capital, all property and values are sensitive to the touch of public 
aflairs. They rise and fall, improve and depreciate with the variations 
in the political condition of the country. 

So, early in 1861, on account of the excitement of the times, and the 
manifest approach of war, property at once began to depreciate in this 
county, as it did in all the Border and Southern States. 

The assessment of the county in 1861 showed a depreciation in the 
value of slaves alone of $115,000, as com))ared with the assessment 
of 1860. Other property had depreciated to the amount of $586,853, 
or in all, $701,853. 

But the worst was to come. From 1855 to 1860 property increased 
in value nearly 30 percent. From 1860 to 1865 it decreased nearly 
53 per cent ; or, not even counting what it would have increased but 
for the war, there was a clear falling off of $3,815,925, or largely 
over half the valuation of the property of 1860. 

In the chapter on the " Progress of Twenty Years," from 1841 to 
1861, we have given the assessment valuation of 1860. That com- 
pared with the following, will show the depreciation during the war 
more clearly than we have explained it. 

1865. 



WHAT RET0RNED. 


NO. 


VALUATION. 


TAX. 


Polls .... 


2,127 


« ... 


$ 2,127 00 


Lands 


Acres 
243,594 


2,431,870 


12,159 35 


Town Lots . 


1,810 


301,020 


1,508 10 


Stocks, Moneys, etc. 




329,806 


1,669 03 


Other Property 




393,598 


1,967 91 


Total 




3,456,819 


19,431 39 



(782) 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 783 

While the war was in progress of course all kinds of industries 
were paral3^zed. Little or no improvements were made or attempted. 
But little was produced, hardly enough to sustain even those who re- 
mained at home. The male population fit for military duty, or most 
of them, were in one army or the other. Others, who desired to take 
uo part in the war, left in large uumbers. Hundreds and thousands 
of families also left. 

Besides, large quantities of stock and other personal property and 
effects were stolen and taken into Kansas. The county was virtually 
stripped of live stock. Household goods, farming utensils, every- 
thing, that a pilgrim from the land, whose motto is — "Through 
Difficulties to the Stars," needed was seized upon and carried away in the 
name of loyalty. Even ladies' wire skeleton hoops and hair-pins 
were carried off. Horses, cattle, grain, etc., were taken out in whole 
trains. Wherever a pilgrim from Bleeding Kansas passed he left a 
trail of destitution, and too often of death, like the wandering Jew. 
It is estimated that they stole and carried out of this county over 
$1,500,000 worth of property, not counting the negroes. They even 
did worse with other counties along the border — all from the Indian 
Territt)ry to the Iowa line suffei'ed. It is said that after the Nile 
overflows Egypt is rich for years. K;insas was in fine thrift after the 
war. 

But with the return of peace the people of this county went to work 
again. Few of them had any ready means, and generallj^ they were 
without stock with which to resume farming. Most of them were in 
debt, for during the war their property had been taxed to pay for the 
imaginar}- destruction of the still more imaginary, hypothetical estates 
of loyalists in the county indefinite. They had also been taxed to 
pay bounties and commutation taxes and various other claims with 
strange and ingenious names, gotten up more to confiscate their pro- 
perty by indirection than for anything else. But those of the tax- 
payers who survived the war went to work to repair their farms and 
pay their debts, and they worked faithfully and hard, economizing at 
every point where a cent could be saved. Generous soil and favor- 
able seasons were on their side, and. Phoenix-like, they soon rose out 
of the ashes of their ruin prosperous again. The waste places of the 
county were made to smile with abundant harvests, and an air of 
thrift was felt on every hand. Within eight or ten years the county 
had made good most of the losses caused by the war, except the loss 
of negro property, and since that time its progress has been one of 
substantial thrift. 



784 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

Wheat growing and stock raising have bgen the principal industries. 
During this period the major share of the attention of farmers has 
been directed to raising wheat. But now, and for several years past, 
stock raising has steadily increased, and it promises to become the 
leading interest of the county. There are as fine wheat lands here as 
are to be found in the whole country, if they are even equaled else- 
where. But the price of wheat has showed such a downward tendency 
in recent years that farmers have been gradually withdrawing from 
raising it and converting their farms into stock farms. 

All the grasses do well, especially blue grass, which covers all the 
uncultivated lands of the county. Springs are numerous in all parts 
of the county, and a glance at the map shows great multiplicity of 
water courses, which not only afford an abundance of stock water, 
but thoroughly drain the lands. In a word, no county in the State is 
better adapted to stock raising. In the township chapters, further 
along, we give a moi'e particular description of the county — the 
topography of each township and the character of its soil and products. 

The stock principally raised are hogs and beef cattle, which are 
fatted for the markets. This has already grown to be an important 
industry, bringing into the county hundreds of dollars annually. 

Fine stock are also receiving mifch attention. There are several 
handsome herds of registered Jerseys in the county, the best of which 
is probably the herd of Hon. R. P. C. Wilson. 

Thoroughbred short horns are I'aised iu every township and in nearly 
every neighborhood. Among the leading short horn raisers and 
dealers are called to mind at the moment Capt. Wm. Chesnut, A. D. 
Blythe, R. F. Duncan, James C. Alderson, Thomas Stone, John W. 
Jack, Philip Robertson, Thomas Cockrill, B. F. Risk, Sidney Risk, 
Simpson Park, Jefferson J. Park, M. C. Park, James W. Hardesty, 
Robert Hardesty, the late Hon. James Adkins, Dr. A. T. Gutherie, 
E. Dillingham, Oliver Swaney, Wm. Tatman and W. J. Miller. 

The raising of fine horses and of mules has also long been an im- 
portant industry of the county. Even before the war this county was 
one of the large mule-raising counties of the State, and continually 
large numbers of mules were shipped to St. Louis and the Southern 
markets. The county having a heavy percentage of Kentuckians 
among its settlers, the raising and herding of fine horses of course 
became a favorite interest. When it was commenced there were some 
of the best horses here in the State, and since the war interest in fine 
horses has revived. Several noted horses, or horses that afterward 
became noted throughout the United States, were raised here. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 785 



NOTED HORSES 

The following are some of the noted horses contributed by Platte 
county: "Rich Ball," raised by James Dye. This horse, "Rich 
Ball," was sired by " King Pharoah." He was a pacer, and became 
the next fastest horse in that gait in tiie world. His best time was 
2 :12, and his highest sale $10,340. 

"Pineleaf," " Rich Ball's " brother, and raised by H. Swaney, also 
became a famous horse. His best time was 2 : 27. He was sold to 
Mr. H. Tinsley. Price not known. 

" Mary Lee " is a tine mare raised in this county. She is now 
owned by J. Elgin, of this county. Her best time is 2.18; she is 
valued at $5,000. 

"Medley" is a noted racer owned by Elliott Miller. He is a 
thoroughbred, and is valued at $2,500. His time is 1.45. 

" Lucy Johnson," another fine Platte county flyer, is now in New 
Orleans, La., for the spring races ; her time is half a mile in 48V2. 

" Jennie L." was raised by Judge Norton. She made her debut on 
the turf at Kansas City in 1881 ; her time was a mile in 2.28. She is 
now owned by Mrs. Rosa Mattox. 

" Bullet " belongs to W. T. Patton. He is a flyer of great promise ; 
his l)est time thus far is three-quarters in 1.17. He is 17 hands high 
and weighs 1,200 pounds. Recently he made a half mile in 50 
seconds. Size and weight considei-ed, he is the fastest horse in the 
world. Mr. Patton has been ofi'ered $1,000 for his horse but ever 
afterwards has refused to speak to the misguided unfortunate who 
thus off"ended him. " Bullet" was sired by " Orphan Boy," and the 
latter by the famous " Australia." 

THE PLATTE COUNTY FAIR ASSOCIATION. 

As remarked in a former chapter, the Platte County Agricultural 
and Mechanical Association was organized in 1858. 

The ofiicers of the association were Jefferson Williams, president ; 
A. Tribble, vice-president; Wm. M. Paxton, treasurer; N. D. Short, 
secretary, and Wm. B. Smith, corresponding secretary. The board 
of directors consisted of J. F. Porte, G. W. Jones, Simpson Park, J. 
W. Steele, Clinton Cockrill, W. K. Faulkner, Thos. Dorriss, R. D. 
Johnson, L. M. Penc6, W. A. Fox and Levi Hinkle. The price of a 
life membership was fixed at $25. Life members could exhibit stock 
free of charge ; others were required to pay five dollars for each fair. 
Admission was fixed at 25 cents for footmen, 30 cents for horsemen, 



786 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 



day, with au additional charge of 20 cents for each passenger. The 
grounds, still used by the Fair Association, in the edge of the present 
town of Tracy, were bought and improved for the purpose. 

The first year temporary buildings were put up, and the first fair com- 
menced in October and lasted five days. It was attended by stockmen 
from different parts of the State, and $3,000 worth of premiums were 
distributed. It proved a great success. 

During the first day of the fair an incident occurred worthy of men- 
tion. Temporary seats for visitors had been put up, and they were sup- 
posed to be strong enough to sustain any weight that might be placed 
upon them. Among the other visitors were the young ladies from 
the Platte City Female Academy, a hundred or more of the fairest 
flowers of all the field. They were invited to the seats, and a few 
minutes after they had ascended them and seated themselves, all un- 
expectedly a crash occurred, and down came' the seats, young ladies 
and all. They were not so heavy, although, as a rule, they were not 
kittens ; but the trouble was the seats were wrecked, like many a 
young masculine heart that was all broken up that day. Fortunately 
none of the fair ones were hurt. They had only made a mash; that 
was all. 

The fair of 1860 was another success. The grounds had been bet- 
ter improved by this time. It was attended bj' stock from other 
States, notably Kentucky, and proved one of the finest fairs in the 
State. Premiums in cash were awarded. Several thousand dollars 
were distributed. 

From 1860 to 1866, on account of the war, but three terms of the 
fair were held. In the meantime a reorganization had been effected. 
In 1866 the officers of the association were David Johnson, president ; 
Andrew Tribble, vice-president; J. C. Greenawalt, secretary, and 
Addison Burge, treasurer. The directors were Levi Hinkle, Green 
K. White, Miles Harrington, Asa Smith, Jesse Miller, Samuel Pepper, 
H. M. Allen, William Siugletou, W. K. Faulcouer, J. W. Steele and 
Alfred W. Hughes. 

The fair of 1866 commenced September 25, 1866, and continued 
four days. This was one of the most successful fairs in the history 
of the association. Some of the finest horses in the United States 
were exhiljited. Stock from Kentucky and the Eastern States was 
present, and from Illinois, Kansas and the other Northern States. 
From that time on, for a number of years, the fair increased in repu- 
tation and success. It is still in existence and has survived all of its 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 787 

competitors in this part of the couiitrv, outside of .1 hxrge city. It is 
one of the oldest fairs in the State. 

But in hite years the tendency of fairs as well as everything else in 
the way of public exhibitions and enterprises of importance to center 
at large cities has been a great drawback to the Platte county fair. 
All around it are the fairs at Kansas City, Leavenworth, St. Joseph, 
Hannibal and St. Louis, and by the time these are all visited by stock 
men there is not much left for the Platte county fair. Still it' is 
going ahead with courage and resolution and the following fall it will 
hold its twenty-third annual exhibition. It has a fine race track and 
otters liberal premiums in cash for all classes of stock and goods. Its 
premiums range from $.3.50 cash down and all premiums, except 
diplomas, are in cash. 

The officers of the association arc James Adkius (recently de- 
ceased), president; James Dye, vice president; W. F. Norton, 
treasurer, am] E. C. Cockrill, secretary. 



It has always been the policy of Platte County to make substantial, 
creditable public improvements whenever any at all are made. As 
with her court-house, so with her l)ridges. The bridges spanning the 
streams in this county are of a superior class, and especially is this 
true of the iron bridges across the Platte at Platte City and the Bee 
creek bridge on the road between Platte City and Weston. There is 
the bridge at Smith's Fork, the Live creek bridge, the one across the 
Platte at Union Mills and the New Market bridge. All are fine iron 
l)ridges and each is a credit to the county. Besides these there are a 
large number of combination bridges in the county, iron and wood. 

WESTON AND PLATTE CITY' TURNPIKE. 

The Weston and Platte City turnpike was made in about 18(58. 
For several years toll gates were established on the road and tolls 
collected ; but the road was not a financial success, and it was aban- 
doned by the company. As a matter of fact turnpikes, as constructed 
here, are not successful or popular as roadways. The soil is too loose 
and loamy to sustain the stones above on the road, and it soon be- 
comes disfigured with innumerable depressions, presenting a rough 
surface that no one will travel on if he can avoid doing it. 

The Weston and Plattsburg road also proved a failure. 

Good dirt roads, however, tessellate every part of the count}', and 



788 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 



in many places where it is necessary causeways are made over marshy 
lands to prevent teams from miring. 

The public improvements of the county, as a whole, will compare 
favorabl}' with those of any of the western counties of the State. 

Since the war many handsome and commodious private houses have 
been built, and the whole face of the country has undergone a marked 
change, indicative of the steady advancement of the people in wealtl^ 
and culture. Lands have advanced in value and all the varied inter- 
ests of the county have improved. 

The following table shows the valuation of the county and the 
amount of revenue paid in 1885 : — 

VALUATION AND TAX FOR 1885. 



Class of Pivperty. 


No. Acres. 


Value. 


State Eev. 


State Int. 


County Tax. 


Land. 


258,080 
3,790 


$3,000,705 00 

85,803 00 

693,335 00 

25,790 00 

4,727 00 

925,243 00 


$6,001 42 

171 60 

1,186 67 

51 58 

9 46 

1,851 29 


$6,001 42 

171 CO 

1,186 67 

51 58 

9 46 

1,851 29 


$32,849 96 

891 94 

6,526 70 

257 90 











47 27 












$4,639,951 00 
796,292 00 


$92,722 02 
1,592 59 


$92,722 02 
1,592 59 


$52,860 31 
15,973 59 














$5,436,243 00 
54,362 43 


$94,314 61 


$94,314 61 


$68,833 90 


RECAPITULION. 




Total Tax 








257,463 12 















We conclude this chapter with a description of the county, prepared 
b}' a committee of the Council of Patrons of Husl)andry, which is in 
all respects truthful, succinct and in no wise over-wrought. 

Platte county is the most southerly of the six counties of Northwest 
Missouri, known as the "Platte Purchase." It is bounded on the 
u(»rth by Buchanan county, of which the city of St. Joseph, with a 
population of 40,000 inhabitants, is the chief commercial town ; and 
on the east by the counties of Clinton and Clay; while on the west and 
south it has for its boundary the Missouri river. It lies inside the tri- 
angle formed by the Missouri river, where it is deflected from its south 
crn course and flows eastwardly. Therefore its entire western and 
southern boundaries are swept by this not)le stream. 

By virtue of its geographical location, the character of its soil, 
which in the bottom is entirely alluvial and in the uplands the richest 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 789 

marl underlayed by a clayey formation, by its favorable topography 
and its climate, it is justly known as the " Garden of Missouri." 

Platte county is nearly immediate between Arkansas on the south 
and Iowa on the north, and lies between those parallels of latitude 
which constitute the great routes of travel from east to west. It is, 
in fact, the most delightful halting place on our international highway. 
By reference to the map, it will be observed that the belt between the 
thirty-eighth and forty-second degrees of north latitude, tracing it from 
the Atlantic to the Pacific, embraces within its limits more wealth, more 
population, more enterprise and more large cities and towns than any 
other corresponding geographical division of the American continent. 
Along this highway flows the emigration of the world, which, reaching 
the great Platte Pui-chase, must find the center to which it gravitates. 

Occupying the intermediate geographical position north and south 
that it docs, Platte county naturally enjoys the equal)le climate peculiar 
to its location. It is exempt from the rigor of Iowa and Nebraska 
winters which make agricultural pursuits unremunerative and ex- 
tremely uncertain. It likewise experiences none of the parching suns 
and winds of the less favored States South. We are, therefore, 
exempt in a remarkable degree from the epidemic diseases that prevail 
in the extremes of climate, and no equal area on the habital)le globe 
can truthfully be said to be more healthful. Such a consideration 
should have no little weight with those who are seeking homes and 
fortunes in the Great West. 

The soil of Platte is peculiarly adapted to the growth of the cerea.ls 
and grasses. Its depth and dural)ility of soil are well nigh unlimited, 
and can not become exhausted or barren for hundreds of years to come. 
The extensive bottom lands of the Missouri and Platte rivers, it is safe 
to sa}% produce more corn per acre than can be produced on any other 
equal area on the globe. The uplands and prairies are scarcely infe- 
rior in their adaptibility to the growth of wheat, oats, barley and rye. 
All the nutritious grasses flourish and do well all the year round, and 
especially is the blue grass as much at home here as in the famous Blue 
Grass regions of Kentucky. It readily usurps the place of our 
native grasses and furnishes excellent grazing even during the winter 
months. 

Wc believe that with equal care and attention our l)lue grass will 
not only rival that in Kentucky, but will excel it in the luxuriance of 
its growth. 

Timothy 3'ields throughout the country not less than two tons of 
hay per acre. Our soil appears to be the native home of the clover. 



790 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

Under the most unfavorable circumstances its yield is wonderful. 
Millet, Hungarian, orchard grass and " red top," as well as all other 
varieties, flourish finely. In a brief word, Platte county defies com- 
petition in respect to all the desirable grasses. 

All kinds of fruits peculiar to the climate flourish without a rival. 

In fact, fruit growing is rapidly becoming one of the chief in- 
dustries of the county. 

The apple crop never fails. And the perfection this fruit has at- 
tained in Platte county was fully demonstrated in the year 1872, when 
our apples successfully competed with the far-famed California fruit 
region, and were awarded the first premium at the California State 
Fair for the same year. Not only are all the standard varieties of 
this fruit successfully cultivated, but many new varieties already 
world-renowned have had their origin in this county. 

Peaches, being less hardy, do not thrive so well, but still they are 
a successful crop under ordinary circumstances, and attain a remark- 
able size and rare flavor. 

Grape raising is destined at no distant day to become one of our 
principal industries and one of our best paying crops. Quite a goodly 
number of vineyards are already noted, and their profits are encoui'- 
aging. All the varieties do well, but the Concord appears to be the 
most hardy and prolific. All the native fruits grow spontaneously, 
and our nut-bearing trees comprise all those that are peculiar to our 
latitude. 

Platte county has a diversity of timber and prairie, timber predom- 
inating largely. We have here in their sturdiest development all the 
varieties of white oak, burr oak, pine oak, hickory, maple, linn or 
basswood, hackberry, pecan, sycamore and the finest walnuts on the 
continent. Of the latter thousands of feet are annually exported to 
Eastern markets and manufactured into an endless variety of furni- 
ture and shipped back to us for sale. In a word, as regards our tim- 
ber for purposes of manufacture, we defy the world to successfully 
compete with us. 

The principal of our building stones is the limestone and sandstone, 
extensive quarries of which are almost everywhere accessible. 

Our extensive pastures make this a county peculiarly well adapted 
to the raising of cattle and sheep. Especially is its capacity for cattle 
raising almost unlimited, and from this source is derived a great part 
of the. wealth of the county. Our breeds of cattle, horses, sheep 
and hogs are yearly being improved, until we already enjoy a reputa- 
tion for such stock equal to the older counties of Kentucky, Ohio and 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 791 

Illinois. Large numbers of cattle are annually fattened on our ex- 
tensive pastures and shipped to the Eastern markets. 

Formerly Platte county was the greatest hemp growing county in 
the State, and according to the census of the United States and the 
statistics bearing thereon for the year 1860, it produced more hemp 
than any other equal area on the globe. 

This county is highly favored with water courses, furnishing an un- 
limited amount of water power and superficial drainage. Little Platte 
river flows almost directly through the center of the county from north 
to south, furnishing an absolutely unlimited water power for purposes 
of manufacture. 

No county in the world oflers better inducements to the employment 
of capital in manufactories. To those who desire to engage in such 
enterprise the amplest encouragement and pecuniary inducements will 
be extended. 

At present, aside from flouring mills at Weston, Platte City, Wal- 
dron, Parkville, latan and on Bee creek, and a pork packing establish- 
ment and furniture factory^ at Weston, there are no extensive manu- 
facturing establishments in the county. The field is therefore open 
and inviting to the employment of capital in this direction. The falls 
of Platte river, at Platte City, is without question naturally the most 
desirable site for manufacturing establishments in the State of Mis- 
souri. The water power is inexhaustible andsuiEcientto supply large 
quantities of machinery. Especially would a woolen manufactory 
and a manufactory of agricultural implements be vastly })rofitable and 
meet with strong encouragement from the people. Likewise would 
an establishment for the canning of fruits and vegetal)les be highly 
remunerative to those who would engage in such an enterprise. 
A pork packing establishment would be a mine of wealth to those 
embarking in it, and would be backed by the capital of the county. 

The Kansas City, St. Joseph and Council Bluffs Railroad runs 
along the entire southern and western boundaries of the county, passing 
through the towns of Parkville, Waldron, Beverly, East Leavenworth, 
Weston, latan and Sugar Lake, connecting those towns with Kansas 
City, Leavenworth, Atchison and St. Joseph. The Chicago, Rock 
Island and Pacific Railroad bisects the county from northeast to south- 
west, passing through the towns of Edgerton, near Ridgely, Camden 
Point and Platte City. The Atchison branch of the same road runs 
east and west through the northern part of the county, passing near the 
once flourishing village of New Market and connectinii with the main 



' This latter has recently been tliscoutinuetl. 

45 



792 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

line at Edgertoii Junction. The projected Parkville and Grand River 
Railroad, yet in an inchoate condition, will at no distant day be com- 
pleted, the road-bed being already graded, and will furnish ample 
facilities for transportation for all the eastern part of the county. 

The population of the county is about 18,000, and is cosmopolitan, 
being made up of emigrants from every State and foreign government. 
Theljulk of the population, however, originally emigrated from Vir- 
ginia, Kentucky and Tennessee. Several flourishing German settle- 
ments are notable features, and have added materially to the general 

wealth. 

Our society is in all respects equal to that of any county in the State. 
Nearly every religious denomination boasts its churches, which are well 
sustained. Puldic schools flourish in every school district in the county. 
There are four banking establishments — one at Platte City — the 
bank of Wells & Co. — the banking house of the same firm at Ed- 
gerton, one at Parkville, under the presidency of W. J. Fulton, and 
one at Weston— the Weston Savings Bank and the banking house of 
Messrs. Railey & Bro. 

Many of our largest land owners are desirous of selling their sur- 
plus lauds and to the thrifty immigrant they will be sold at prices 
ranging from |10 to $35 an acre, depending upon location and im- 
provements. The industrious farmer can actually pay for his lands 
from the products thereof in from three to five years; therefore we 
offer unparalleled inducements to this class. 

Aside from the Chicago and St. Louis markets, with which we are 
directly connected' by rail, we have also the ready markets of Kan- 
sas City on our southern, and Leavenworth and Atchison on our west- 
ern, and St. Joseph on our northern boundaries. The markets of these 
cities furnish a ready sale for everything grown in our county, and 
besides these markets and the railroad lines running through the county 
we have within easy access the Burlington and Missouri River, Central 
Branch, Atchison and Nebraska, Kansas Pacific, Wabash, St. Louis 
and Pacific, and Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroads so near our doors 
that the whistles of their locomotives almost reach our ears. 

In conclusion we only say to the immigrant that no county in Mis- 
souri boasts a better soil, more healthful climate, favorable society, more 
accessible markets and more natural advantages than Platte county. 
And especially would we cordially invite those desiring to engage 
in manufactories to examine our natural facilities, convinced that they 
will then be anxious to avail themselves of the opportunity and the 
favorable condition for investing capital in enterprises that will meet 
with amide pecuniary rewards, as we are to have them come. 



C PI AFTER XYI 

RAILRODS AND BONDED DEBT 

'''SLnoh'pv'"''^""' ''"•''''■ •'"^^•^'^ ^"^' ^-'""' Bluffs Railroad -Southern 
Rockt, r^^'i"""' '''""' •■'"' ^''''"' R-lroad- Atchison Branch cSar 
nessof te r'"' Pactlc Railroad -Parkville and Grand River Railroad- In;rt:d: 
Ra IroL P '^'^""^y-P'*'-'^^"'^ '^"'l Grand River Railroad Companv-PiatteCounty 
RaUroad Company- Weston Railroad Bonds -Court-House ludebtednes -Green 
Township Strip Bonds -Recapitulation. "eanes* t.,ten 

The river early afforded the people of the county cheap and reason- 
ably expeditious communication with the South. But with the xNorth- 
east and East there were no means of transportation, except by the 
slow and expensive process of stage travel or wagon freighting from 
and to points m communication with the businees centers of those 

SGCtlOUS. 

The more sagacious and public-spirited citizens of the county, appre- 
ciating the great disadvantage which this imposed upon them all is a 
community, set about with commendable enterprise and liberality to 

■ nd"? T .T "'°'' '''''■°'^' """"'^^ *° '^"^ '"^"■k«t« «f the Northeast 
and East. Various railway enterprises were set on foot, and althou-h 
some of the earlier ones assumed to be of only a local character, 
they were all intended to be the beginning of more extended lines 

The lollow.ng are some of the earlier charters obtained from the 
l.eg,s ature for railroads in the county : the Weston Railroad in 1850-51 

«l7.'f T, '"i ^^'"' ^''^ '^'' "^'"'^ >'^'"' '^' PJ='tte County in' 
1802-53,^ the Parkville and Ridgely in 1854-55, the Weston and 
Clinton County the same year, the Weston and Randolph the same 
year the Parkville and Grand River in 1856-57, the Platte City and 
DesMomesin 1859-60, the Weston and St. Joseph the same year 
The charters of several ,,f these were afterwards merged into the 
charters ot others, and two of the roads were ultimately built. 

KANSAS CITY, ST. JOSEPH & COUNCIL BLUFFS RAILROAD. 

This railroad, now one of the most important lines in the State i. 
the outgrowth of several consolidations. 

February 24, 1853, the Legislature of Missouri granted a chart.., 
ior a road to extend from St. Joseph to Kansas City. This, under 

(793) 



794 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

the name and style of the Phitte County Railroad, was organized in 
1857, by William Osborne, Davis Carpenter, M. Jeff. Thompson and 
others. 

Under the auspices of this company, a line was surveyed from St. 
Joseph southward through DeKalb, in Buchanan county, Platte City 
and Parkville, in Platte count\', to Kansas City. 

The Legislature of 1856-57 granted aid to this road in the sum of 
$700,000. A subsequent act provided that none of the bonds of this ' 
road should be available till the year 1859. The charter also author- 
ized the extension of the road to the northern boundary of the State, 
under which provision it was completed to Savannah in 1860, and 
graded to Forest City. 

December 11, 1855, the Atchison and St. Joseph Railroad was in- 
corporated. The articles of association provided that Benj. String- 
fellow, John H. Stringfellow, Peter T. Abell, John Doniphan, 
Stephen Johnson, Elijah H. Norton, Harvey Collier, Robert W. Don- 
nell, Reuben Middleton, Bela M. Hughes, James H. Lucas, John 
Simon, or auy five of them, constitute the first board of directors. 

In the summer of 1858, Gen. Benjamin Stringfellow, Dr. J. H. 
Stringfellow, Peter T. Abell, Harvey Collier, Reuben Middleton, John 
Doniphan and Robert W. Donnell met in St. Joseph, in the Metho- 
dist Church, which then stood on the northeast corner of Third and 
Felix streets, the present (1881) site of the National Bank of St. 
Joseph, and there organized the company. At this meeting, Sam- 
uel C. Pomeroy, of Atchison, was elected a director and president of 
the company. Charles West, of St. Joseph, was also at this meeting 
elected a director. 

Stock was taken by the parties present, and, in a short time after, 
the city of Atchison subscribed $100,000; Abell and Stringfellow, 
$10,000; John Doniphan, $1,600, and Samuel C. Pomeroy, $10,000. 
Other parties contributed li])erally, swelling tiie aggregate of subscri[)- 
tions over and above the city stock to about $60,000. 

Contracts for grading were immediately let along the entire line of 
the road, and work commenced at Winthrop, opposite Atchison. By 
July 1, 1859, this grading was completed between St. Joseph and 
Winthrop, a distance of 20 miles. 

In March, 1859, the Weston and Atchison Railroad Company was 
incorporated under the general laws of the State. The officers of 
this corporation were John Doniphan, president ; James N. Burnes, 
vice-president ; Fielding H. Lewis, secretary, and Daniel D. Burnes, 
treasurer. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 795 

Private subscriptions were fortiiwith made to the road to the 
amount of $44,000, and the city of Weston issued her bonds to the 
amount of $50,000 in aid of the building of the same. 

Ground was broke at Weston in the presence of a vast concourse 
of people, April 27, 1859. The occasion was one of singular re- 
joicing, and grand civic and military display, in which the cities of 
Atchison and Leavenworth, as well as other neighboring towns, also 
largely participated. 

.July 15, 1859, the Weston and Atchison and Atchison and St. 
Joseph Companies, finding that their means would be inadequate to 
accomplish more than the work of grading the road, for the purpose 
of an early completion of the same made a contract with the Platte 
County road, by wl^ich they transferred to that corporation the road- 
bed, franchises and right of way from St. Joseph to Weston, which 
company was enabled on the work so done, during the year 1859, to 
draw most of the State aid, and in January, 1860, the road was com- 
pleted and in operation from St. Joseph to Atchison. 

In December, of the same year, the road was finished to Litan, and 
by April 4, 1861, trains were running through to Weston. 

In 1863, the name of this road was changed, the style " Platte 
Country" being substituted for the original, " Platte County." 

In 1864, the road was seized by Gov. Hall for non-payment of in- 
terest on State bonds. 

Immediately the Weston and Atchison and the Atchison and St. 
Joseph Railroad Companies commenced suits for their road-bed, on the 
ground that the original contract was illegal. 

The Legislature of 1867 released this road to the Weston and Atchi- 
son and Atchison and St. Joseph Railroads, on condition of a re-organi- 
zation of the same under the name and style of the Missouri Valley 
Railroad Company, and a completion of the road from Savannah, 
through Alaryville, to the northern boundary of the State. 

Under this act, the road was completed to Hopkins in 1869. 

The road from Council Bluffs to Hamburg, Iowa, fifty-two miles in 
length, was built by Willis, Phelps & Co., and completed in 1867. It 
was styled the Council Bluffs and St. Joseph Railroad. Hon. James F. 
Joy and his friends then came to the front, and built the road from 
St. Joseph to Hamburg, 79 miles long, opening it for the traffic of 
1868. This road was called the St. Joseph and Council Blufis Rail- 
road. . 

Next in order came the consolidation of the St. Joseph and Coun- 
cil Bluffs and the Council Bluffs and St. Joseph roads, in 1868, under 



796 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

the corporation uuuie of St. Joseph and Council Bluffs Railroad Com- 
jiany. 

In 1870, the Missouri Valley Railroad and St. Joseph and 
Council Bluffs Railroad were consolidated, bringing the entire line 
from Kansas City to Council Bluffs under one management. Out of 
this union was born the present (1881) Kansas City, St. Joseph and 
Council Bluffs Railroad. J. F. Barnard is the present general mana- 
ger. 

THE SOUTHWEST BRANCH OF THE CHICAGO, ROCK ISLAND AND PACIFIC 
RAILROAD. 

This road grew out of the old enterprise for building the Platte 
City and Ft. Des Moines Railway, which was chartered in 1859-60, as 
we have stated. 

Among the leading men in the old enterprise were Judge James G. 
Spratt, Judge H. M. Allen, of Leavenworth ; Hon. Thos. Ewing, also 
then of Kansas, but now of Ohio, and Col. Durbin. 

Private citizens in the county and all along the line subscriiied 
quite liberally for the building of the road, and the survey of the 
route was made by Col. Durbin. But the war came on soon after- 
wards and nothing further was done with it until some years after the 
war had closed. 

But with the renewal of railroad buikling following the return of 
peace, attention began to be directed to this enterprise as one of evi- 
dent public utility and, if properly managed, profit. It was taken 
hold of and built, and after passing through different hands became 
the property of German capitalists wlio still own it. It is leased to 
the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Company for a period of ninety- 
nine years. 

The right of way for the road was obtained for the company before 
the original building of it by Col. James N. Burnes, formerly of this 
county but now of St. Joseph, and the member of Congress from 
this district. 

Maj. Ogden was the contractor for l)uii(ling it and it was comi)leted 
in about 1870. 

Under what was known as the strip township law. Green township, 
through the county court, subscribed $50,000 for building the road, 
or, rather, it was claimed that the township subscribed that amount, 
but the bonds issued were afterwards held to be invalid by the U. S. 
Supreme Court, and the debt or alleged debt was thus wiped out. 



HISTORY OF I'LATTE COUNTY. 797 



THE ATCHISON BRANCH OF THE CHICAGO, ROCK ISLAND AND PACIFIC 
RAILROAD. 

This I'oiid was built between Atchison Junction, in this county, iinci 
Atchison, Kansas, as a "feeder" to the main line by way of the 
Southwest l)ranch. It is a road of local importance, and was built 
nearly altogether or quite without public aid. The Atchison branch 
gives the people of the n orthwest part of the county an outlet to 
Atchison, Kansas, and puts them in connection with railroads en- 
tering there, thus affording them competing lines in ev^ery direction. 
It is operated by the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacitic. 

THE PARKVILLE AND GRAND RIVER RAILROAD. 

The Parkville and Grand Eiver Railroad, as already stated, was 
<;hartered in 1856-57. Its original terminal points were to be Park- 
ville in the southwest, and a poiut on the State line in the northeast 
part of the State, running there by way of Plattsburg in the general 
direction of Chicago, with that city as a final termination. The county 
court voted aid to the road amounting to $100,000, and $75,000 of 
that amount were issued prior to the war. The building of the road 
was thereupon commenced, and the line was graded to Plattsburg 
ready for the ties. But its funds became exhausted, and the war came 
on so that nothing further could be done at that time. 

After the war the enterprise was revived, and it was hoped that the 
road would be completed. Judge Allen, the sole judge ot the county 
court at that time, issued the remaining $25,000 of the original sub- 
scription of $100,000. But little or nothing was done to build the 
road. W. K. Faulconer, of Kansas City, now owns the right of way 
and the grade. From the foregoing it is seen that there are three 
lines of railroad in operation in the county, and one which is not yet 
completed, but which will unquestionably be built sooner or later. 
The county is well supplied with railroad facilities in all directions, 
andjbesides it has its fine river transportation right at its doors. With 
Kansas City, Leavenworth, Atchison and St. Joseph close at hand, 
and with its superior transportation facilities, both by water and rail- 
way, it is favored above most of the counties in the State. These, 
with the fertility of its soil and the excellence of its seasons, make it 
a locality of great desirability to farmers and to all classes. 

INDEBTEDNESS OF THE COUNTY. 

ParhviUe and Grand River Railroad Company. — The first indebt- 
edness of the county, worthy of mention, was that to the Parkville and 



798 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

Grand River Railroad Company. It was contracted in 18130. The 
county, through the county court, couisisting of Judges Broadhurst, 
Dunlap and Hayes, subscribed $100,000 iu aid of the building of the 
road. 

The subscription was made on the condition that the bonds were 
not to be issued until the eastern route of the road lying in the county 
was graded. The grade was made and the bonds were issued. Noth- 
ing more has ever been done towards making or completing the road. 

There was strong opposition against the issue of the bonds. Not 
less than two-thirds of the people opposed the issue, and Judge Hayes 
protested against it. J. E. Merryman, county attorney at that time, 
and a prominent lawyer, led the opposition to the issue. But Judges 
Broadhurst and Dunlap, constituting a majority of the court, issued 
them nevertheless. Both, we understand, resided on the line of the 
proposed road. 

A part of the $100,000 subscribed was not issued ( $25,000) until 
June, 1866, when the court consisted of one judge, Judge Allen. 

The validity of these bonds was afterwai'ds contested in the 
coui'ts, but were finally held to be binding on the county. They were 
funded with accrued interest in 1869 at seventy-five cents on the dol- 
lar into 20-year bonds, with interest at the rate of 10 per cent per 
annum, semi-annual payments. This measure was forced upon the 
county court by not having the money to pay them, and in order to^ 
raise it on the bonds this court had to submit to a rate of interest and 
manner of payment that would break any private individual in the 
world. The court refunded the debt in 1880 at six per cent annual 
payments. 

Platte County Bailroad Company. — The next subscription was 
the Platte County Railroad Company. This was for $50,000. The 
Platte County Company was subsequently known by dift'erent names 
including Weston and Atchison, Weston, Atchison and St. Joseph, 
Missouri Valley, etc., etc. It is now a part of the Kansas City, St. 
Joseph and Council Bluffs Railroad. 

The $50,000 worth of stock in the above company, paid for by the 
county with its bonds, was afterwards, in August, 1870, sold for $2,850, 
which amount was applied as part payment on the bonds of $50,000 
with which the stock had been paid for. Thus the county virtually 
lost its stock and still owed over $40,000 of the debt. But wiien the 
stock was sold it was considered little better than worthless. Now, 
however, it is quoted at nearly par, we understand. 

Union Bounty Warrants. — During the time of the threatened draft 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 799 

in the county in 1864-65, the county court, in order to fill out the 
quota of volunteers required ot the county, offered a bounty of $300 
in warrants to each person qualified for military duty who would come 
forward and volunteer, to the credit of the county, up until its quota 
was furnished. The law authorized this, and public sentiment sus- 
tained the court in giving the bounty. The great majority of the 
people would have voted any endurable tax on themselves in prefer- 
ence to going into the Union army. Warrants to the amount of 
$25,000 were issued on this account. 

Weston Railroad Bonds. — Weston subscribed, or some of its 
officers attempted to subscribe, to the Platte County Railroad 
Company to the amount of $50,000, for which bonds were issued upon 
the municipality. They were afterwards held not to be binding upon 
the place. 

Court-Hoiise Indebfedness. — In 1866 the court-house and jail were 
built at a cost of $88,500. The court-house yard was improved and 
enclosed, and other things done — largely " the other things " — which 
run the cost up to about $120,000. This sum, with some outstanding 
warrants and other liabilities, made a debt of $146,210.44. 

Grveen Tow>isliip Strip Bonds. — After the war an enterprise was 
set on foot to build a road through this county and through the State 
in a northeast direction, with Chicago as its ultimate termination. It 
was called the Chicago and Southwestern Railroad. The work of con- 
structing it in this county was carried forward to the extent of making 
the road-bed through Preston township. 

But the company expected aid from that township, and when the 
election was over, at which they expected to have $50,000 voted to 
them, but which resulted in a refusal to extend them any aid at all, 
the}' were greatly disappointed. Many of the voters were opposed to 
issuing bonds under an}' circumstances, and not a few voted against 
the proposition, thinking that they would get the road anyhow, for 
the reason that it was already graded and could not be changed ; and 
hence, to vote the bonds would simply be paying for something that 
they could get without paying for it. 

Seeing how this election resulted, some of the leading men of Green 
township began to coquet with the railroad company to get the latter 
to change the location of the road into their township. They 
promised that they would guaranty a vote for $50,000 aid if the com- 
pany would make the change. The company, in no good humor with 
Preston township anyway, agreed to it. The vote was taken and a 
majoi'ity of those voting favored the issue of the bonds. But the 



800 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

trouble was that there were scarcely more than a baker's dozen who 
voted. There were also informalities and irregularities iu the pro- 
ceedings which finally had the effect to invalidate the bonds. 

But, in the meantime, the county court was called upon to issue the 
bonds. Some doubt arose about the right of the court to issue them, 
and Judge Norton was employed by James N. Burnes, on behalf of 
the company, to secure the issue of the bonds. The court issued 
them. Afterwards the county court, Hon. James S. Owens, sole 
judge, contested their validity, and employed Judge E. H. Norton and 
Gov. Willard P. Hall to resist them. For a fee of $5,000 paid by the 
county on the order of Judge Owens, they defended the township, in 
which Judge Owens resided, in the fight against the bondholders, and 
finally in the Supreme Court of the United States, won the case. The 
bonds were held to be invalid. 

Recapitulatioii. — Thus the debt of the county in round numbers 
was : — 

Parkville and Grand River Railroad Company $100,000 00 

Platte County Railroad Company 50,000 00 

Court-house, etc 146,200 00 

Union bounty .... 25,000 00 

$321,200 00 

By the year 18G9 the Platte County Railroad, the Court-house, and the 

Uhion Bounty indebtedness, with accrued interest, amounted to . . $200,314 92 

By the same time the Parkville and Grand River Railroad debt, with in- 
terest, amounted to ... • 132,050 65 

Total §338,365 57 

Both .soon afterwards were funded into 10 per cent 20-year bonds, 
as follows : — 

The first (1st series), after the principal had been reduced, some at . . $203,000 00 
The second (2d series), on compromise pending litigation . . . 109,000 

Total $312,000 00 

These bonds continued to draw interest at ten per cent, semi-annual 
payments, until 1880, when they were again funded, in order to get a 
lower rate of interest and annual payments, by which time the prin- 
cipal of each had l)een apprecially reduced so that the funding resulted 
as follows : — 

1st series $194,300 00 

2d series 94,000 00 

Total . . . . • $288,300 00 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 



801 



Whilst the above bonds were runniag a bitter fight was made by 
the people of the couaty, and very justly, against the injustice of 
paying 10 per cent interest, semi-annual payments; or, in other words, 
double compound interest, when there was but another county in the 
State paying so exhorbitant and unreasonable a rate, and when no 
individual or corporation would think of paying it for a moment. 
The eflect of the fight was to greatly depreciate the bonds, running 
them down as low as 84c on the $1, and the bondholders soon be- 
came anxious to have the bonds funded at a reasonable rate of interest, 
and with annual payments, so as to stop the fight and render their 
bonds of par value in the markets. 

The debt is being steadily reduced. 



CHAPTER Xyil. 

CHURCHES AND LODGES. 

Churches in Carroll Towuship — In Fair Township — In Green Township — In Lee 
Township — In Marshall Township — In May Township — In Pettis Township — In 
Preston Township — In Waldron Township — In Weston Township — Lodges in 
the County — A. F. &. A. M. — I. 0. O. F. — Legion of Honor, Etc. 

CHURCHES. 

As this couuty was largely settled withiu a year from the period 
when it was first opened to immigration, most of the denominations 
in Missouri at that time were represented among the early settlers. 
Those numerically the largest, however, were the Primitive and Mis- 
sionary Baptists, the Christians and the Methodists. 

As has been I'emarked elsewhere in this volume, the new comers 
had to clear away the forests and make homes for themselves before 
they could build churches and school-houses. But as soon as they 
had provided cabins to live in they turned their attention to the work 
of erecting houses of worship and school buildings. At first the 
churches were put up by members of difl'erent denominations, and 
were used as union meeting houses. But here and there, where a de- 
nomination was strong in numbers, a church building was erected for 
their own use exclusively. This was the case with the Primitive 
Baptists, in several localities. There were also several other ex- 
clusively denominational church buildings erected. 

The earlier meeting houses were made of logs, hewed and put up 
in a neat style, and were comfortable and spacious for those times. 
The Primitive Baptists invariably built theirs with an alcove or recess 
in the further end wall, for the pulpit, like that made for a bay win- 
dow. The buildings were large, substantial structures, and some of 
them are standing to this day, in apparent contempt of the gnawing 
tooth of time. 

As the country settled up and improved and the people became 
more prosperous and exacting in their architectural tastes, the style 
and cost of church buildings gradually improved, until just preceding 
the war Platte county could and can now boast of some of the best 
country church buildings in this part of the State. But having no 
large cities, of course there are no uncommonly expensive church 
(802) 



HISTOKY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 803 

buildings in the county. Wealth and display go hand in hand in 
matters of religion as in everything else. Among the early preachers 
of the county the writer has been able to obtain the names of only 
a few. Of course the name of old Brother Cox has not escaped us. 
He was the friend of Brother Arnold Chance, and came into Barry to 
hear the news of the ratification of the treaty known as the Platte 
Purchase. Brother James Cox came here with the first settlers in 
1837. Then there was Rev. Mr. Thorp, a man of earnest piety and 
an effective speaker. His greatest happiness was in the service of 
God and humanity as a Christian minister. He was a member of the 
Primitive Baptist Church. Another early minister was Rev. Jonathan 
Adkins, also a Primitive Baptist. He was a faithful servant of the 
Master and did a good work among his pioneer neighbt)rs and friends 
in the early settlement of Platte county. Rev. Wm. Redman came 
here in 1837. He was a representative of the M. E. Church South 
and was a man of general culture, far above the average in those 
times. He was presiding elder for a number of years. Rev. Joseph 
Devlin, of the M. E. Church South, whose name still lives fresh in 
the memory of the people for the noble Christian work he did among 
them, came here at an early day and continued in the ministry in this 
county for many years. The Revs. Heath, of the M. E. Church ; 
Lewis, of the Christian Church ; Dr. Holt, of the Presbyterian, and 
Rev. Allen all came prior to 1840. There were, of course, many 
others, but we can not hope to name them. 

On the following pages we give more minute facts in regard to the 
churches of the county their position, etc. 

The following in regard to the general history and material con- 
dition of the Methodist denomination in Platte county may prove of 
sufficient interest to our readers to justify us in inserting the facts in 
this place : In the county are parts of four circuits and an entire one ; 
the churches are thus divided — on Weston circuit there are two 
churches, valued at $6,000, and a parsonage valued at $800 ; its mem- 
bership numbers 140. Parkville circuit has one church building with 
80 members. Platte City circuit has four churches, valued at $5,000 
and parsonage $1,000, and a membership of 167. Edgerton circuit 
has two churches worth about $5,000, and a membership of 155. 
Dearborn circuit has one church valued at $2,000 and parsonage worth 
$800, with a membership of perhaps 70 persons. A new church has 
been organized at Ridgely, with a membership of 30. This church 
building is valued at $1,500. Some of these churches were organized 
by Rev. M. R. Jones, that at Farley about thirty-five years ago, and 



804 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

that at Edgcrtou, iu December, 184-. Rev. Thomas Hui'st organized 
several and Rev. Joseph Devlin some others. Ptirkville circuit is in 
charge of Rev. William Barnett, who is now over 80 years of age and 
is still an active Christian worker. He also has a j'oung assistant 
with him. Rev. T. A. Rucker is in charge of Platte City and Wes- 
ton, J. T. AVinstead is in charge of Ridgely, H. S. Leeper, of Dear- 
born, and G. Tanquary of Edgerton circuits. 

Carroll Township. — BajJtist Church of Platte City. — The follow- 
ing is a brief sketch of the history of this church as taken from the 
church record book. 

A meeting of a number of persons, members of the Baptist denom- 
ination, was held in Platte City, on Friday, the 20th day of December, 
1850, for the purpose of constituting a church in said city. 

The meeting was organized by calling Bro. Joshua Boyd to the 
chair, and Elder A. P. Williams was chosen secretary. 

After mature deliberation, it was determined to constitute a church 
and to meet on the third Saturday in January, 1851, for that purpose. 

Resolved, To invite Elders Franklin Graves, of New Hope, Clay 
County, W. H. Thomas, D.D., of Camden Point, and Elder A. P. 
Williams, of Pleasant Ridge, to attend and to assist in the constitution. 

Adjourned. 

J. Boyd, Moderator. 
A. P. Williams, Clerk. 



SECOND MEETING. 

In January, 1851, the congregation which met on December 20, 
1850, again met on the 3d Saturday, pursuant to adjournment, the 
following delegates from other churches being present, viz. : Elder 
W. H. Thomas, D.D., Elder A. P. Williams, Brothers T. Herndon, 
James Stockton, T. D. Herndon and Jno. W. Vinyard. 

A sermon by Brother Thomas on " The Church," was preached at 
11 o'clock a. m., after which the meeting was called to order. 
Brother Thomas was chosen Moderator, and Brother A. P. Williams 
Clerk. The Church Covenant, as prepared by Brother Williams, was 
then read, and on motion adopted. (See Record Book 1, pp. 9-10.) 

The Articles of Faith (see Book 1, pp. 4-8) were read and adopted. 

On proper motion the church was then and there organized. 

The Constitution was then performed in the following order: 1st. 
Prayer by the Moderator; 2d. Charge by the Clerk ; 3d. Hand of Fel- 
lowship given by the Council. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 805 

The church then transacted the following business : — 

1st. Agreed that this church should be styled the Platte City Bap- 
tist Church. 

2d. Rules of Decorum, prepared by Elder A. P. Williams, read 
and adopted. (See Rules, page 13, Book 1.) 

3d. Called Elder W. H. Thomas to the pastorate ; call accepted. 

4th. Agreed to hold church meetings on the 2d Saturday in each 
month. 

Adjourned. 

W. H. Thomas, Moderator. 
A. P. Williams, Clerk. 

Tiie following is a correct list of the constituent members of the 
Platte City Church :— 

Joshua Boyd, Nancy Boyd, James Stone, Mary Boyd, William 
Boyd, Minerva Stewart, James M. Pollard, Elizabeth Pollard, Brax- 
ton Pollard, Sarah J. Norris, Ed. Y. Perkins, Mary Ann Stone, 
Smith Aluutt, Sarah Stone, Nancy Prewitt, Elizabeth Prewitt and 
Nancy Blanton. Total, li). 

The pastors of this church have been Eld. W. H. Thomas, D. D., 
who served as pastor once a month from January, 18.51, to Novem- 
ber, 1855. During his pastorate the church grew in numbers and 
prospered greatly. ■ During the year 1854 the present church house 
was built, and a debt incurred that troubled the brethren until March, 
28, 1867, when Deacon John H. Wilhite raised by subscription the sum 
of $1,390, and paid oli'the del)t ; the citizens, without respect to denom- 
ination, subscribing liberally. Eld. Josiah Leak became pastor in 
January, 1856, and served until the following December. Eld. Ed- 
ward I. Owen, D. D., at that time President of William Jewell Col- 
lege, at Liberty, became pastor for half his time in Janu- 
ary, 1857, and served very acceptably until May, 1858, when he 
went to Europe. Retuniing, he took the care of the church in the 
month of October, 1858, and continued until October, 1859. Wm. 
H. Thomas, D. D., supplied the church from October, 1859, until 
May, 1860. No regular services were held from the last date until 
September, I860, when Eld. S. H. Olmstead was called and served 
the church until August, 1861. Dr. E. L Owen again supplied the 
church from September, 1861, until January 26, 1862. No regu- 
lar services were held from the last date until February, 1863, when 
Eld. Wm. Thompson, L. L. D., President of William Jewell College, 
was called and met with the church as pastor a few times as the 



806 HISTORY OF FLATTE COUNTY. 

Civil War was raging to such an extent that religous meetings were 
nearly impossible. There appears to have been no reguhir services from 
September, 1865, to May, 1866, when Eld. Jerre Clay was chosen 
pastor and served faithfully until November, 1868. Eld. J. J. Felts was 
called and served as pastor from November, 1868, until December, 
1869. No regular services are recorded from the latter date until May, 
1871, when Eld. J. W. Brown was called and served the church until 
November, 1875, two Sundays in each month. 

There was no pastor from the latter date until August, 1876, when 
Eld. W. A. Crouch took the care of the church for two Sundays in the 
month, and continued until July, 1878. No pastor was had from 
the latter date until April, 1879, when Eld. G. W. Everett, was 
called and served until February, 1881. No pastor from this until 
November, 1884, when Eld. Robt. H. Jones was called, for half his 
time, and served until March 18, 1885, when he resigned. 

The church has no pastor now, but is supplied with preaching 
once a month. It has a flourishing Sunday-scliool and good prayer 
meetings and hopes soon to have another pastor. 

This church has at this time 100 members on the roll. It has 
passed through many tribulations, and at times had great reason to 
rejoice, on account of the refreshings from On High. 

During the Civil War she suffered greatly. The membership scat- 
tered, and many went back into sinful waj's. 

On the night of December 16, 1861, one Col. Morgan, a Union 
officer, marched his men into town and burned the court-house, the 
M. E. Church South and the Presbyterian Church, many business 
and private houses. The town was again visited by Col. Ford, of the 
Second Colorado, with the notorious Jennison, of Kansas, and burned 
by them, leaving but few houses for business or dwellings. The Bap- 
tist and Christian Churches, for some reason unknown to the writer, at 
least, both escaped the conflagration. From the 3'ear 1861 until 1867 
the circuit court was held in the Baptist Church, at a rent of $100 
annually. The Presbyterian and Methodist brethren also occupied it 
for their services. 

The deacons of this church have been Thos. Henderson, Joshua 
Boyd, John H. White, Chas. Rice. The present deacons are John 
Elliott, P. S. Coats and Dr. B. F. Records ; Clerks— A. P. Williams, 
Braxton Pollard, J. M. Pollard, L. N. Rees, H. B. Callahan, J. H. 
Wilhite, W. V. Sloan, C. B. Hawley, Jas. L. Miller and Dr. B. F. 
Records. 

M. E. Church South al Platte City — Now comprising a member- 



HISTOKY OF PLATTE COUNTY. gQj 

sb,p Of 63, worship ia a brick cluu-ch structure built about the veu- 
lb68, at a cost of $3,000. At tife dafp nf if. ^ • .• • ' 
1842, Philin NutP W T Ri . ^'^%"-'^'' '^f 'ts oi-gauizatjon, about 
c*^, ruu.p ^ute, W. L. Bhuitou, Joseph Loan, Dr. E W Bmwn 
Sa.Buel Potter, William A. Fox-, ThouL Flan ery, Zll'^^' 
George Ivay aud An,os Reese con.prised the orig ual n mb^' 1^ ' ' 
Their first house of worship, built in ISis ,vo , '"emDei^liip. 
There -irp -SO „i i • V ^' '^^•- ^ni'i'sd m 1864. 

■ineie aie 50 scholars lu the Sabbath-school, Jud-^e W R P 
'leuig superintendent. " ^ ' ^- ^""^^^^ 

PLATTE CITY M. E. CHURCH. 
[By \V. M. Pnxtoa.J 
Platte county was attached to Clay, and for several vo;r- H 

1,.. spiing ot 1843 the upper story of the <^nin-f 

-•. lauie v>u,y. J-Uis was tornied about IS-li -v rt 
year or two 'i lof ATr, ^ ki i' lo 'cu aoouc i5i4. After a 

church b^ t :^?;^ ''"SZ r '7-^^-^^' -^J ^ neat tra.ne 

^ About 1840 Eev. wi R^Lit:: i'::;^^]^: 'T\- , 

^ed the first preachers I remember were Baxter and G W T 
Caples and Marvin preached here about IS^T V u , '■ 

in 1858 M,. B ic 1 'loouc ib^i. Rev. Bu-d was here 

HI 1009. Mr. Bradford was here abonf is^v w ir i 

om^^nd D.HU was here twic:-;:^^^^ :;'i -^^"^ ''' ''' 

1 A. N E;Hou:Sd wit^' Th ';'"^ f'- ^'"^^' '^-'^'^^^ ^^— : 

bers The fn , , '''"'■"'' ""^ ""'"'^^^--^ '-I'^^ut 70 mem- 

i' ms' A N i ","" r '""^ ^'" '"^^"'-^ ■• ^- L- Black, J. T W 

" ted i'nfsofrV" ,''■,''• ''''''''■ ^''^ ^'^-•^'^ bui.diu:/' i 
elected m ISoy and is a br.ck structure. It costabout $3,500 The e 
.s a flounshmg Sunday-school connected with it, of which TF Af ll 
IS superintendent ^'^ ''■ ^- ^^'"^''' 

nitedbyHon. D. R. Atchison, formerly of Platte City and ex-United 

States Senator. This building is a frame, was built i ISTT 

co.t ,3,000. The organization of this body was affected in Lsdj! 



808 HISTORT OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

through the efforts of Father Ludwig. Some of the first members 
were "Michael Bronfield, John Carroll, Patrick Doyle, Thomas 
O'Rouke, Anthony Eobillard aud James McKeron. Those who have 
been at the head of this church are Father Ludwig, P. Phillips, A. 
Laegneil, J. Cybold, A. J. Abel, Frank Ziswyler, — O'Reilley, J. 
Ahern Haiiley, — Porti, P. A. CuUen and Careful. 

Hickory Grove Union Church — Located iu section 19, township 
52, range 34, was built in 1861, at an original cost of $900, through 
the efforts mainly of the Christian and jNIethodist denominations, 
though other religious bodies have alwaj^s been free to worship there. 
Among the first preachers were Rev. McCormack, of the Christian 
Church ; Revs. B. Waller Bosimer and Stephens. Those of the Metho- 
dist faith have been Rev. Austin, D. F. Bone, Benjamin Hyder, 
Swearingtou, Tanquary, aud several others. The latter denomination 
have kept up preaching quite regularly since the organization, but the 
Christians have not continued their services for about two years. 
Among the original members of the former church were John Bane 
aud wife, William A. Fox and wife, James Fox and wife, John Fox 
and wife, George Fox and wife, W. P.' Brightwell, Thomas K. Esk- 
ridge and others. Of the Christian Church, among the organizers 
were Joseph Coons and M'ife, James Lewis, Sr., and wife; Benj. 
Ferrel and wife, Isaac Hon and wife, A. Hon and wife and a number 
of others. The Methodists now have about 23 members, Rev. Mr. 
Rucker being the pastor in charge. 

Fair Township. — Unity Old School Baptist Church — Located 
five miles northwest of Platte City, was organized in 1840, with the fol- 
lowing as its original members : Thomas Turner, Daniel King, Mathias 
Mastin, William Yates, David R. Bell, William Wait, James Beagle 
and Robert Shaw. The present membership numbers 21. The pas- 
tors who have filled the pulpit of this church are Revs. Simpson, 
P. J. Burruss and R. M. Thomas. Tlie present log church building 
was erected in 1848. Elder Thomas is moderator, Ed. C. Smith, 
clerk, and William Mitter, deacon. 

Green Toa\'nship. — Pleasant Grove Missionary Bajitist Church — 
Located one-half mile north of Camden Point, was organized October 
12, 1844. Its original members were Elijah Pumplirey, Olive Puni- 
phrey, Mary Ann Pumphrey, Jonas W. Pumphrey, Bird S. Pumphre}', 
Lucy Jane Pumphrey, Benjamin Elliott, Bird Wilson, Lucy Wilson, 
Matthew B. Wilson, Sarah L. Wilson, Wilmoth Lasswell, John C. 
Bvwaters and Sarah Jasper. The present menil)ershii) numbers 160. 
Those who have been pastors of this church are William Laneer, 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 809 

J. D. Wilson, A. P. Williams, W. H. Thomas, J. Clay, F. Menefee, 
W. A. Crouch and G. W. Everett, of whom W. H. Thomas and J. 
Clay have served the church for more than half the time since its 
organization. The present frame church building was erected in 1867 
at a cost of $3,500. The first house of worship built was a brick 
edifice, its cost being now unknown. The Sunday-school, which 
numbers 60 scholars, superintended by J. W. Bywaters, was organ- 
izdd in about 1868, and has been continued since that time. 

Bear Creek Missionary Baptist CJmrch. — The members of this 
organization have but recently completed a nevv house of worship, 
located three miles west of New Market, at an expenditure of $700. 
As near as can be ascertained their first edifice, a frame building, was 
built up sometime aboutthe year 1844, costing $1,500. The formation 
of the church occurred April 24, 1839, the names of Nicholas Wilson, 
Frances E. Wilson, Elizabeth J. Huntsucker, Charlotte M. Huntsucker, 
James M. Fulkerson, Mary Fulkerson and Wm. Clay appearing on the 
church roll as among the constituent members. This number has since 
been increased, until it now reaches about 44. W. A. Bowen superin- 
tends the Sabbath-school of 40 pupils. Following the first pastor of the 
church, James Daniels, those who have ministered to the spiritual needs 
of the congregation, are Isaiah Williams, Jeremiah Clay, B. F. Rice, 
George W. Everette, F. W. Hairchen and William Stone. 

New Market Chvistian Uhiirch — Was organized about the 1st of 
May, 1860. Among the original members there were Mr. and Mrs. 
C. T. Leave!, G. W. Field, W. B. Swain and wife, I. T. Lewis and 
wife, John B. Dean and wife, Mrs. Warren Harris, Mrs. Thomas 
Allen, W. C. Wells, Isaac Dean and wife, F. M. Tufts and wife, John 
Carter, A. Hanks and wife, Conway Hacket, John King, George Wood 
and wife, and about forty others. The first meeting of the church 
was held by T. F. Campbell for eight or ten days, and as such inter- 
est was manifested J. J. Wyatt was sent for and the meeting was con- 
tinued and an organization was eflected. The present pastor, Samuel 
Lowe, presides over a membership of 143. Their frame church 
building, costing $2,500, was built in 1861. Jerome Bryant is super- 
intendent of the Sunday-school, numbering 35 scholars. 

Davis (Jhapel M. E. Church South — Is located in section 3, town- 
ship 54, range 34, and was organized in October, 1860, by Rev. Thomas 
Hurst. The original members were Ishmael Davis and wife, R. T. 
Davis, Thomas Butts, B. F. Boydston, Mary J. Boydston, Elizabeth 
Holland and possibly one or two others. This number has been in- 
creased from time to time until it now numbers 144. The names of 



810 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

the pastors who have served are Thomas Hurst, J. C. C. Davis, 
William Penny, William Barnett, William CoUett, John A. Beagle, 
James A. Hyder, D. F. Bone, M. R. Jones. If there were any others 
we were unable to obtain their names. In 1870 they erected a church 
building at a cost of about $2,400. The Sabbath-school, of some 45 
scholar, is superintended by B. F. Boydston. A cemetery in connec- 
tion with the chui'ch embraces two acres of land. 

German Evangelical Chxirch, or the Lutheran Church — Is located 
in district 42, township 51, range 35, and was organized in the year 
1872. The first pastor was C. H. Jantzon, followed by M. Johaning, 
F. Dittmer and Otto Fr. Voigt. The present membership is 25, 
though at the oi'ganization there were about 20 members, viz. : Friedr. 
Oberdick, Fr. Meyer, Ernst Ellrecht, John Riskcr, Heinr. Pellman, 
Fr. Bente, William Bente, John Wieman, Fred. Roebkcr, Christ 
Stratemeyer, Fred. Nieman, Fr. Ode, H. Schermbeck, John Jordan, 
William Roebke, W. Wiehe, H. Ode, August Winter, William Thies, 
and H. Oberdick. In 1872 a frame church building was erected, 
costing $1,000. Connected with the church is a flourishing Sabbath- 
school of 25 scholars, superintended by Otto Fr. Voigt. 

M. E. Chiircfi at Farley. — Among those who belonged to the orig- 
inal class from which this church was formed (by M. R. Jones) were 
R. F. Mason, Charlie Starnes, B. A. Trent and others, and they are 
the ones who were instrumental in building the present brick church 
at this place in 1850 ; its cost is supposed to be about $1,200. The 
meml)ership now numbers some 30 persons, though in its better days 
it has had as many as 100 communicants in good standing. Bros. 
Hurst, Starr, J. Devlin, L. Rush, R. A. Austin, W. E. Dockery, D. . 
F. Bone, D. R. Shackelford, Swearingen, Howerton and others have 
at different times occupied this pulpit. 

Marshall Township — Sugar Creek Missionary Baptist Church — 
Was organized in 1860 by Rev. Huntley. Among the constituent mem- 
bers were Mr. and Mrs. A. B. Woolson, Mr. Hayslettand wife, James 
Hancock and Mrs. Womack. They have no house of worship, but 
meet in a school-house. The number of the present members is 40. 
The following ministers have served the congregation as pastors : 
Revs. Huntley, Lewis, Luke, Williams, Waddell and Rice, the pres- 
ent pastor. 

Ml. Bethel Cumberland Presbyterian Chxirch — In the autumn of 
1851 Fancy Bottom Cumberland Presbyterian Church was set off 
from Bee Creek, the mother church, by act of Platte Presbytery. 
Among the original members were G. W. Dyer, Mrs. Elizabeth Daw- 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 811 

son, Margaret Cook, Luoiiitles Graves, William Graves aud Serena 
Oweus. lu 1859 the place of meeting was changed to latan, and 
May 4, 1883, the present church edifice was dedicated by Rev. F. M. 
Miller. It is a frame building costing $1,640, and although the title 
is in the above church, it is open to other Christians denomina- 
tions when not used by them, and other denominations were liberal 
contributors to the building fund. The following have served the 
church as pastors: llevs. H. R. Smith, Charles B. Hodges, G. L. 
Moad, O. D. Allen, A. W. Guthrie, L. Munkins, M. b! Irvine, J. 
H. Norman, F. M. Miller and the present pastor, F. M. Powers. 
Services are held once each month. The following have served the 
church in the capacity of ruling elders : G. W. Dyer, Philip Siler, 
Elias Siler, Isaac W. Carson, Sidney Risk. 

Salem CJtristian Vhurcli — Was organized December 31, 1873. 
Its constituent members were James Lovelady, Nancy Lovelady, James 
Cox, Polly Cox, James White, Jane Lovelady, Margaret Catlett, 
Thomas Lovelady, Polly Lovelady, John B. Bonus, Elizabeth Bouns, 
James Lovelady, Jr., Elizabeth Lovelady, James B. Riggs, Nancy 
Riggs, Jackson Butts, Jane Butts, Elizabeth Allen, Hosia Norris, 
Mahala King, Rachel Ashue, and 15 others who are now numbered 
with the dead. The present membership is 180. Revs. James Love- 
lady, James White, O. C. Steele, W. C. Rogers, J. T.Riley and J. C. 
Howell have at different times tilled the pulpit of this church, the last 
named being its present pastor. In 1841 a house of worship was built 
at a cost of $1,000, and in 1868 a new frame church building was 
erected, costing about $3,000. A flourishing Sal)bath-school of 90 
pupils is superintended by W. W. Hillix. Some of the most dis- 
tinguished ministers of this denomination have at different times 
preached from this pulpit, among whom a few are below given : Ale.x. 
Campbell, Walter Scott, D. S. Burnett, T. M. Allen, Dr. J. W. Cox, 
W. J. Pettygrew, James Shannon, D. P. Henderson and J. J. Wyatt. 

The congregation meets every Lord's day, and have done so from 
its organization to the present date, with the exception of six or eight 
times. Over 800 names are recorded on the church register who were 
once members of the congregation, but many of these have passed 
away and others moved to different parts of our Western States and 
Territories. W. W. Hillix, John McAdow and J. W. Steele are the 
present elders. Alva Nower, James A. Allen and J. W. McAdow are 
the present deacons. 

May Township. — Barry Cumberland Presbyterian Church — 
Was organized June 3, 182G, at Weeden's Camp Ground, in 



812 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY.' 

Clay county, Mo., and at its organization was called " Lebanon 
Congregation of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church." Twenty- 
seven persons comprised the original membership : Henry J. 
Weeden, Jonathan English, Jeremiah Burns, Benjamin Gragg, Har- 
man Davis, Easter Davis, Jane English (afterwards McKissick), 
Jane Burns, Polly English, Eebecca English, David P. Magill, 
David Magill, Eda Weeden, William Malott, Thomas Adams, Jno.'. 
McKissick, Patsy McKissick, Polly Adkins, Nancy Frost, Matilda 
Linvill, Cicero Brown, Elizabeth Brown, Nancy Whitson, Anna 
Harris, Edna Fox and Sarah Magill. Six others were added on the 
4th of June, 1826. About 1846 the church was moved from Weeden's 
Camp Ground (now Sugar-tree Grove), in Clay county, to Second 
Creek, and the name changed to "Second Creek," where it built a 
fourth interest in a commodious brick church, and held several 
camp-meetings there. In 1859 it was moved to Barry, and in No- 
vember dedicated its present house of worship. This is a frame 
structui'e, and was constructed at a cost of $1,885. The number of 
the present membership is 115. From 1826 to 1846, 105 were added 
to the church ; two afterwards became ministers — Harinan Hard- 
wick, who died, and Benj. Musick, now of California. From 1846 
to 1859, 68 were added ; from 1869 to April, 1885, 220 more joined, 
making the total additions 393. Rev. James Forman is now in charge 
of this church. Before him, from the date of its organization, the 
pastors in order have been Revs. Robert D. Morrow, D. D., and 
Henry Renneck ; from April, 1830 to 1859 no record of the ministers 
can be found ; since 1859, those who have served are Rev. G. L. 
Moad, D. D. ; O. D. Allen, R. D. Miller, Walter Schenck, W. O. H. 
Perr3% John G. Fackler (O. S.), and Harvey Norman. 

All the original elders are dead ; all the elders at the dedication in 
1859 are dead. Since 1859 the word and ordinances have been reg- 
ularly administered except about one and one-fourth years. Its min- 
isters have been regularly paid and contributions to missions, educa- 
tion and publications have been liberal. 

Its work has been steadily, aggressively and effectually pushed 
forward in the interests of the Divine Master. Its motto has been 
work enough and room enough for all denominations. It has recently 
closed a 30 days' meeting in which was great denominational har- 
mony and Christian fellowshii) of the broadest and most affectionate 
character. 

The Sunday-school under its supervision was organized 25 years ago 
under its present superintendent, Dan Carpenter, continuing, except 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 813 

in winters, for 17 years, and tor eight years has been" evergreen." 
About (300 names have been on its roll, 171 of whom have been 
added to the chnrch. One has become an earnest minister. Thi-ee 
are efficient superintendents of other schools. It now numbers 45 
scholars. Besides furnishing its own literature it has provided itself 
and the church two organs and contributed liberally to the great work 
of missions. 

Pettis Township — Parkville Baptist Cliurcli — Was first organized 
at Barry about the 3'ear 1842, and was known as the County Line Church 
for several 3'ears. In November, 1852, it was removed to Parkville. 
Among the members from Barry church who became identified with the 
new organization were Thomas S. Pratt and wife, John Minter and wife, 
Nancy Rogers, Mrs. Conway and Martha Wilson. Here they were 
joined by Lewis A. Ford and wife. Younger Ford, Nancy Holmes, 
Emery Ricks, T. C. S. Ashby and wife, Susan Summers and George 

A. Wood and wife. Of this number there are but two in the church 
at this time, some having died and others moved away. Their house 
of worship was completed in 1860 or 18G1 ; it is valued at $2,000. 
Previous to the war, and from the year 1852, the pulpit had been 
occupied by E. S. Dulin, T. T. Williams, Robert Thomas (who was 
also the first president of William Jewell College), William Thompson, 
J. Clay, and Spencer Olmstead. After the rebellion the ministers in 
charge were A. N. Bird, James Rowen, John W. Brown, Rev. Streeter, 
C. F. D. Arnold, and the present pastor, A. N. Bird. The member- 
ship at this time is rather weak numerically, numbering but 19 
persons. 

Parkville M. E. Church South. — This church dates its organiza- 
tion to 1849, when the following named persons were constituted a 
church body through the efforts of Rev. John W. Ellis : Penton Ewell, 

B. F. and Cornelia A. Love, Dr. J. J. Boyle, Rebecca Goodyear, J. 
B.Wilson, Nancy Wilson, Mary Forbian, Jane E. Scott, Mary A. 
Parker, John E. Cougleton, Elinira Coughleton, Rev. Oliver H. 
McEwen, David Cassell, M. B. Hopewell and wife, Theodore W. Da- 
vis and wife, Adeline Sharp, and John Harr. Quite a number of 
])astoi\s have occuj)ied the pul[)it at different times, some of whom are 
Revs. John A. Tutt, Baxter, Mayhew, Caples, Hatten, Bradford, Dev- 
lin, Rush, Perkins, Penn, Tarwater, Shackelford, Hurst, McEwen, 
Adkison, Huifaker, Blakey, Campbell, Linn, Lewis, Hedgepeth, Bab- 
cock, Keithley, Beavers, Jones, Baruett, Broadhurst, and others. In 
1850 a brick church edifice, in which services are now held, was 
constructed at a cost of about $2,000. Here the congregation, now 



814 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

numbering 62 persons, worship. J. B. Flaiinery is superintendent of 
the Sabbat h-school, which has an average attendance of about GO. 

ParkvUle Presbyterian Church. — One of the most flourishing 
churches of this county is the Presbyteriau Church at Parkville, now 
under the control of the Lexiugtou Presbytery. April 27, 1845, Rev. 
E. Wright, of Westou, perfected this organization, the members at 
that time being R. R. Stephens, M. A. Stephens, R. A. Parsons, Geo, 
S. Park, H. Paiuick and Mary Painick. Rev. George S. Woodard 
was the first regular pastor, having come here in March, 1849, though 
from that time to the election to the pastorate (in October, 1852) of 
the Parkville church he preached in other places. A .stone building 
in which services are held was erected iu 1852 and dedicated the same 
year, aud with its furuiture is now valued at $2,600. From 1861 
until 1867, or during the crisis of the Civil War troubles, there is no 
record extant. Subsequent ministers in charge, however, were Revs. 
John Moore, E. B. Sherwood, John A. McAfee, Robert Watt, E. M. 
Palmer, and the pastor uow in the pulpit, Rev. E. P. Foster. The 
present membership is 200. A flourishing Sabbath-school of 250 
scholars, iu connection with this church, is superintended by J. T. 
McRuer. 

Elm GroveUnited Baptist Church — Located in section 32, township 
51, range 34, was orga:iized in about 1857, one mile west of where 
the present building is located. The organizer was Rev.G. L. Black, 
with the following as its original members: Edward and Hannah 
Clark, Liiniire Tudor, Joseph and Jane Clark, W. J. Miller and wife, 
D. M. Clark, Jerry Jolmson, Mrs. Kinise\'. The present church 
building was constructed in 1860, at a cost of about $3,300. The 
pastors of this church have been Revs. G. L. Black, G. Wright, 
Lete, Isaiah Williams, A. N. Bird, Brown aud Foster. Revs. Black 
and Bird having been twice pastors. Tlie present membership is 
about 100. The Sabbath-school has been disbanded ; its superintend- 
ent was J. E. Miller, 

Sample's Chapel, M. E. South — Located on section 21, township 
51, range 34, worship in a structure which was built as a Union 
Church for all denominations, but the Methodists are about the only 
ones holding services in it. It is a log building, erected in 1874, pre- 
vious to which time class meetings had been held at various private 
houses for a number of years. An organization proper was efl"ected 
in 1872 through the united efforts of Revs. William H. Bassett and 
Samuel Huff"nian, the latter presiding elder. There were some 22 mem- 
bers whose names were placed upon the church roll as constituent 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 815 

nieinhers, nearly all of whom are now prominent and well respected 
citizens of the county. Those ministers who have preached from this 
pulpit at different intervals are Revs. Esmond, Rosell, Shook, Powell, 
Warner, Hayes, Hate, Norris and Chivington. A Sabbath-school is 
supported during the summer months. 

N'ori'is Chapel, M. E. Church. — This chapel is located northeast of 
Parkvilic, Pettis township, and was organized about the year 1873. 
The names of some of the original members were Mrs. G. W. Rob- 
erts, Florence Roberts, Martha M. Stillwagon, Frank Stenipkamp, 
Josiah Stillwagon, John A. Stillwagon and wife, Mrs. John Patter, 
James Stillwagon, Elizabeth J. Cross, and others whose names we 
do not know. Other information concerning the history of this branch 
we are unable to furnish. 

Bethel M.E. Church South — In 1850 Rev. John W. Ellis and 
others, whose names we give below, formed themselves into an organi- 
zation wiiich has since existed under the present church name. The 
members at that time were Richard Babcock, and wife, Sarilda; John 
and Winfred Flannery, Mr. and Mrs. John Hatfield, Mrs. W. H. 
Kimsey, John Keys and wife, Lucinda Babcock, Josephine Elkin and 
Susannah Kimsey. The membership has since been increased to 20. 
Following the Rev. Thomas Hatton, other ministers who have preached 
to this congregation have been Joseph Devlin al)out six years ; 
Thomas Hurst, the same length of time ; R. N. T. HoUiday, William 
Bradford, W. E. Dockery, Lilbnrn Rush, Rev. Austin, Thomas 
King, D. F. Bone, Charles Babcock, William Keithley, R. F. Beavers, 
William Barnett, G. Tan(iuary and William Bnrnett, who is the pres- 
ent efficient incumbent. 

RusJi Creek Christian ChnrcJt. — Tiie edifice of this denomination 
is located in section 4, township 51, range 34, and cost about $1,500. 
The organizing memliers were composed of about .38 persons, but 
space will not hei'e permit us to mention them all. Many of them are 
now residents of this township or county, and worthy representatives 
of others are now occupying the places of their deceased parents. 
The organization was effected June 19, 1853, through the instrument- 
ality of Rev. John Calerman, who served the church subsequently as 
pastor for some seven years. T. W. Waller filled the pulpit for many 
years and is now the present pastor. Since the war J. L. Cartwright, 
J. W. Waller and Rev. Romley have also pi'eached. The member- 
ship now includes about 75 communicants. The elders of the church 
are John J. Ford, J. L. Level and Blackburn Fox; the deacons are 



816 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

John Bnindenburg, Biirkett Deariug, James Lj'ucli and Jared Flem- 
ing. J. F. Alexandei' is clerk. 

S(. Mar if s Catholic Church. — lu 1881 this church was formed 
and a frame house of worship built, the cost of the structure being 
about $1,000. Among the original members were H. F. Deister, 
Albert Deister, William Deister, Christopher Shrader, George Ecken- 
rod, George Kuote, Michael Lynch, John Foley, Mrs. Kennedy, Mrs-. 
O'Conner, Luke Cribens, G. Rinecher and their families. The loca- 
cation of the church is on section 21, township 51, range 33. Father 
James Beall and Baker have been in charge of this congregation, the 
membership of which is now about 60. 

St. Peter's German Evangelical Church. — There are now about 
22 families represented in the membership of this church, though at 
the organization in 1844 the original members were Adam Renner, 
Henry Burixter, Henr}' Hartman, Fred Hartman, Valentine Filger, 
Henry Groh, Peter Groh, Daniel Groh, P. Klamm, S. Klamm, 
together with the wives of all of these. Their church services are held 
in a frame house of worship built in 1877, and costing some $800. 
Revs. Hickman, Switzler File, Miller, Klimbe, Schrader, Dennenberg 
and Tophler have at different times filled the pulpit. 

The following extract was taken from an article published some 
time ago, and which we here reproduce, because it contains many 
items of interest to our readers : — 

There were two church organizations in Parkville in the ^^ear 1851, 
the Methodists and Presbyterians. Each had a few names enrolled 
on their books. Among the leaders in the Methodist Church were 
Arad Goodyear, James Wilson, T. W. Davis and Jacob Smelser. 
The Presbyterians had George S. Park, John H. Bueneman, Roderick 
Stevens and others. 

Mr. James B. AVilson was a Tennesseean by birtli, and came to Mis- 
souri in 1840. He was a member of the M. E. Church South, and if 
a man can say certainl}- that such and such a man was a Ciiristian, any 
man's evidence, after an acquaintance of 25 j'ears, is that he was a 
Christian. His education was limited to the elements of English. 
He was a i)oor man wiio labored with iiis hands for his daily bread. 
He was a faithful member of the church to which he lielonged, but 
liberal enough to worship with other denominations of Christians, and 
seemed to enjoy the preaching of the Gospel and the good soul-stir- 
ring meetings early had in Parkville. He was a man who gave liberally 
of ills means for the support of the ministry, helped all charitable 
objects cheerfull}', and was ready at all times to labor for the upbuild- 
ing of the Master's cause. It was a real pleasure to hear " Uncle 
Jimmy," as everybody called him, lead in prayer. Having the con- 
fidence of almost all who knew him, and being so earnest and eloquent 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTV. 817 

in his adrlress to the Throne of Grace, it would have been a cold 
and callous heart, indeed, if it had remained untouched by the old 
man's imploring appeals for mercy and blessings. There seemed to 
be no studied efforts in his prayers, no particular set phrases. The 
words came from a heart warmed with love to God and to all men. 
He seemed to forget self and endeavor to induce the Divine Mind to 
I'emember sinners as creatures of his handiwork. Mr. Wilson died 
in 1878, an aged man. 

Mrs. Nancy Wilson, the wife of Mr. Wilson, was also a meml)er of 
the Methodist Church. She died in 1876 or 1877. 

In 1852 the Methodists built their house of worship, which is a 
wooden structure on East and Fifth Streets. It was built by sub- 
scription and cost al)out $2,000. In the same year the Presby- 
terians commenced the erection of a stone church on the east side 
of White Aloe l)ranch, which cost about $2,500. This building was 
not completed for a year or more after the walls and roof were built. 

In 1852 the Baptist Church at Parkville was organized. There was 
at that time a small organization of Baptists known as the County 
Line Baptist Church, who thought best to hold their meetings in the 
town of Parkville instead of at the usual place, Barry, in both Clay 
and Platte counties, so on the second Saturday of November, 1852, 
they met at the house of the writer and re-organized, changing the 
name of the church from County Line to Parkville Baptist Church. 

The names of the members enrolled were Thos. S. Pratt, Diauah 
Pratt, John Minter, M. A. Minter, Nancy Rogers, Mrs. Conway, 
Martha Wilson, Louis A. Ford, Martha Ford, Younger Ford, Nancy 
Holmes, Emily Rix, T. C. S. Ashby, M. A. Ashby, Susan Summers, 
George A. Wood and Agnes Wood. 

After using the old school-house for a short time, they secured the 
use of the Methodist Church for services once in each month, and 
continued to use it for perhaps a couple of years. On one occasion 
of meeting some instrumental music was introduced in the shape of a 
b;iss viol, which seemed to so shock the piety of the Methodist breth- 
ren that they sent the Baptists a carefully written notice to vacate said 
Church ; however, they succeeded in getting the Presbyterian Church 
which they used until 1860, when they built the brick church on Main 
and Third streets. 

Other denominations have had organizations in the town. At one time 
the M. E. Church, known generally as the Northern Methodist, had 
quite a membership. The Catholic element of the town, at one time 
pretty strong, thought of building on a piece of ground on West street, 
and commenced a foundation for a house, but from some cause they 
did not proceed with the work, and as there has been a Catholic 
Church built in the vicinity recently, it will l)e some time before they 
will succeed in building in Parkville. 

Of members that were in the organization of the Baptist Church, in 
Parkville, only two remain in the Church. Of the seventeen mem- 
bers who organized the Church, seven are living, ten dead. The 
whole number on the church book is 122 ; of these nearly one-half arc 



818 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

dead ; many of them have heen dismissed b}' letter and some excluded, 
leaving an actual membership of sixteen.. 

Preston Township. — Mount Zion ^lissionary Baptist Church — 
Located in Edgerton, was organized March 6, 1844, with William 
Newman, Elizabeth Newman, Isaac Moody, Rebecca Moody, Elizabeth 
Moody, William T. Moody, Francis Newman, James White, William 
Matterson and Jane Smith as its original members. The number of 
present membership is about 100. Revs. Peter Swain, Mathis Cline, 
Jonas Wilson, J. D. Brooks, I. T. Williams, Jeremiah Clay, Thomas 
Cook and others have served this church as pastors. The present 
frame church building was moved to Edgerton in 1884, and was built 
at a cost of $2,600. There is a flourishing Sabbath-school connected 
with this church, numbering 40 pupils, George Leeper and A. Lug- 
gett being its superintendents. In the church-yard is a cemetery, 
which is kept in good order. 

Edgerton Christian Church — Was organized December 25, 1883, 
its constituent members being Alex. Breckinridge, Elder G. T. Big- 
gerstaff, John S. Willingford, John Lamptou and Andrew Cook, dea- 
cons ; Andrew Hayden, Henry Mays, Archibald Holtzclaw, William 
Hellyer, Dr. A. R. Cantwell, Moses P. Tate, Ely Young, William 
Mays, Mary E. Breckinridge, Maggie Biggerstatf, Hattie B. Walling- 
ford, N. E. Tate, Mollie and Nannie Beeiy. The present member- 
ship numbers 63. J. W. Tate was the organizer of this church, and 
has since continued to fill its pnlpit. The present frame building was 
constructed in 1884, at a cost of $200. 

Edgerton Methodist Church — Is one of the more recently organ- 
ized churches in Platte county, its formation having occurred iu 
December, 1883. The same year a frame house of worship was built, 
for $2,300, and was dedicated on the fifth Sunday in November, by 
Rev. Dr. W. G. Miller, of St. Joseph. Among the constituent mem- 
bers were James N. Boydston, Elizabeth Boydston, James N. Jones, 
Mary Jane Shaver, Alice Shaver, William H. Lewis, M. D., and 
others. The first pastor was the Rev. Middleton R. Jones, and he is 
now the present incumbent, though Grafton Tanquary has also filled 
the pulpit. A union Sabbath-school of 75 scholars is held there, 
superintended by James N. Boydston. The trustees of the church 
are James N. Jones, William H. Lewis, M. D., James C. Ketchuni, 
James N. Boydston and others. The present membership is about 
forty. 

Ridgely CJiristian Churclt — Was organized June 16, 1867. 
Among its first members were Thomas Waller, David Youtsej^ James 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 81!' 

C. Youtsey, George W. Beery, John G. Beery, Peter Youtsey, A. G. 
Swjiney, William S. Pullins, John C. Murphy, Perry H. Collins, 
Henry Snell, "William L. Carrington, J. W. Funk, N. Beery, A. P. 
Masterson, M. A. Masterson, E. Shackelford, H. Snell, C. Beery, 
S. Shackelford, A. Pullins, S. McLaughlin, J. Funk, S. A. Waller. 
To this membership, from time to time, there have preached T. J. 
Williamson, P. K. Dibble, B. G. Waller, J. F. Davis, L. J. Carte- 
right, W. C. Rogers, F. W. Allen, A. F. Smith, Rev. Mr. Graves, H. 
C. McKeever and J. W. Perkins. There are about 100 communicants 
in the church. The building in which they worship was purchased 
in 1867, for $425, but they are rebuilding an edifice at an expenditure 
of about $2,000. Fifty sciiolars attend the Sabbath-school, the super- 
intendent of which is A. P. Masterson. 

Ridgely j\1 . E. Chxivdi South . — Of those persons comprising the 
original membership of this church, the names of })ut three persons 
are remembered — the Ellingtons, Graysons, and Mays. The for- 
mation was effected in 1845 and the same year a church building 
was constructed, though it was re-built in 1884, and is valued at 
$1,400. The congregation now numbers about 30 members, and 
since the organization the voices of Rev. Tutt, Thomas Hurst, J. 
Devlin, J. C. C. Davis, J. S. Gibbons, Dr. C. W. Watts, T. M. 
Swearington, J. A. Hayder and T. R. Hedgepeth have been listened 
to as they preached from the Word of God. 

Waldron Township — Moore' a Chapel M. E. Church, — At the pres- 
ent time the membership of this church is about 20, and the pastor in 
charge is Rev. Mr. C. Shiviugtou. As originally constituted in 1850 this 
body was simply a class and held their services at private houses. 
Among the organizing members wei'e Washington Smith, William 
Moore and John Johnson and their wives, Cynthia Jane and Susan 
Jane Wilson, and Dr. Ellis and wife. In 1875 the church was 
located on the site which it now occupies and about $700 e.xpended 
ill its erection and completion. Among the pastors who have at dif- 
ferent times preached from this pulpit are Revs. Witton, Caughlin, 
.\ilen. Stocking, Devlin, Bassett, Ismond, Hays, Rosell, Warner, 
Powell, Pate and Norris. 

Waldron Union Church. — This church edifice was built origin- 
ally for the use of all Christian denominations, but was subsequently 
deeded to the M. E. Church South. It was built in 187(5 and cost 
about $900. In it the Presbyterian and Methodist denominations 
hold service occasionally, but there is no regularly constituted organ- 
ization. Among the first members were Dr. Ellis and wife, Georire 



820 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

Wheeler and wife, Mrs. G. W. Gray and others. A number of min- 
isters have officiated as pastors to this little band, A. T. Lewis, Rev. 
Hedgepeth, Charles Babcock, R. F. Beavers, William Keithley, M. 
R. Jones, G. Tanquary and William Barnett, the present incumbent. 

Weston Township. — M. E. Church South of Weston. — This or- 
ganization is now one of the strongest churches in the county, though 
numerically it has but 52 members. It was organized in an early day 
in the county's history — April 7, 1838. The names of the original 
members are as follows: J. C. Berryman, P. E. pro teni. ; T. B. 
Ruble, P. C. ;C. C. Nichols, Wm. Adkinson, Henry Barker, Francis 
Newman, Joel Albright, Ben Holland, William Clay, Jesse Green, 
Philip E. Gill, Thomas Farmer, Thomas Edwards, H. Hopeland, 
William Toole, William Bailey, Thomas Kenion. The pastors have 
been as follows : M. B. Chapman, P. E. ; T. M. Rucker, P. C ; trus- 
tees are B. F. Bonifant, John G. Nevvliouse, W. B. Cook and E. 
Siler ; the stewards ai-e James McCurdy, A. R. Murdock, E. B. Rod- 
gers, James McConnell and AV. B. Cook. The brick house of wor- 
ship was constructed in 1868 at a cost of $1,800. John G. Newhouse 
superintends the Sabbath-school, numbering 45 pupils. 

Christian Church of Weston. — This church is located at the cor- 
ner of AYashington and Spring streets, the edifice in which services 
are held having been built of brick in 1883, and, together with the 
lot, is valued at about $5,000. An organization of the church was 
effected in 1853, at which time the members were Daniel M. Railey 
and wife, Mr. and Mrs. James White, James Helvey and wife, M. V. 
Snell and wife, Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Railey, and Mrs. J. H. Reed, Mrs. 
Elizabeth Young, Mrs. Lucinda Harris, Mrs. S. A. Turner, Mrs. Po- 
cahontas Parrott, Miss Eliza J. Railey, Miss Anuabell Railey, Mrs. 
A. Devin, Mrs. S. Kimdrow and Mrs. Wilhite ; eight of the above 
named persons are still living. The present membership is 43. At 
different times the pulpit of this church has been supplied by O. C. 
Steele, Dr. J. W. Cox and J. C. Howell, of Missouri, and meetings 
have been held by Moses E. Lard, D. S. Burnett, T. M. Allen and 
J. R. Frame. Regular preaching has occurred under the ministra- 
tions of A. B. Jones, Thomas Campbell, J. A. Meng, P. K. Dibble, 
J. W. Waller, J. T. Riley and J. C. Howell, of Kentucky, who is the 
present incumbent. The latter is also superintendent of the Sabbath- 
school, numbering (JO pupils. Seven of the pastors above named are 
now deceased. 

German Methodist Episcopal Church of Westori — Was organized 
in tlieyoar 1847, by Rev. Nithermyer, pastor, and James Moore and 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 821 

Mr. HiirtiiKiu, trustees. Rev. Mr. Kiile was presiding elder. The 
churcli edifice was built in 1847 on Thomas Street, in Weston, and in 
1867 it was sold to the board of education of this city. After the old 
church was sold there was a new one built on Washington Street in 
1868. Rev. John Brenner was pastor and Rev. Myer, presiding elder ; 
Fred Olendorph, George Coleman, Gr. M. Doppler, H. Huvendlial 
were trustees. The membership at this time is 20. A Sunday-school 
is held every Sunday. The presiding elders of this church have been 
Revs. Kule, Cackmau, Houseman, Darner, Fisely, Myer and Fiegen- 
baum. The pastors have been Revs. Nithermyer, Rouse, Zinnerman, 
Shreck, Hulsebyline, Makely, Fisely, Dryer, Snearling, Arnesbarge, 
Brenner, Croferage, Young, Sauntimier, Ikenburge, Keller, Hoffman, 
Miller, Myer and Fiegenbaum. 

United Baptist Church of Weston. — This church was organized 
Jill}' 16, 1853, its original members being Thomas Herndon, Merinda 
Herndon, Fred Kaufman, Mariah Belt, Margaret Newman, Elijah S. 
Wilhite, Mary Herndon, Eliza Wilhite, Caroline A. Turner, Fanny 
Doniphan, Eliza J. Mitchell, and R. W. McDaniel. The present 
membership numbers 30. Tiiose who have served as pastors are 
William H. Thomas, A. P. Williams, Edward I. Owens, T. W. Bar- 
rett, William Barrett, J. W. Luke, J. W. Brown, Jeremiah Clay, A. 
J. Emmerson and J. W. Neff. The brick church building was erected 
in about 1867, at a cost of $6,500. There are about 50 pupils in the 
Sabbath-school, which is superintended b}' E. R. Kennedy. On ac- 
count of the removal of a number of the members of this church 
from the city, its membership has been greatly reduced. 

Pleasant Ridge United Baptist Churcli. — Located three miles 
northeast of Weston, now has a membei-shij) of 104. Its organization 
dates back to 1844, at which time the members were William A. and 
Lucy Catherine Guthrie, Thomas. W. and Martha Mitchell, Edward, 
Reliecca, Frazicr, Maiy, Simon and Thomas B. Herndon. During 
that year a brick church was erected at a cost of nearly $2,000. 
Revs. A. P. Williams, William Price, W. H. Thomas, Dunn, I. K. 
Williams, J. J. Phelps, J. Clay, J. W. Luke, E. H. Foster, G. L. 
Black and G. W. Everette have at different intervals occupied the 
pulpit of the church as pastor. L. W. Overbeck is superintendent of 
the Sabbath-school of about 50 scholars. 

Weston Presbyterian Church. — August 28, 1842, Samuel Norton, 
Roderick G. Stevens, Robert A. Cummins, Elizabeth Norton, P. M. 
Underbill, America P. Hudson, Caroline R. Case, Elizabeth Neville, 
Mary Cowles and Anna Nash formed themselves into an organization 



822 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

which has since constituted the Presbyterian Church of Weston. At 
different times Revs. E. A. Carson, Edmuud Wright, Frederick Star, 
William M. Kain, E. B. Sherwood, G. W. Goodell, Clarke, Pierce 
and Penhaligan have preached to the congregation. Their house of 
worship is a brick structure, erected in 1844, and costing between 
$5,000 and $6,000. A Sabbath-school of 40 scholars is superintended 
by William Ohlhausen. 

Colored Baptist Church of Weston — Was organized in 1865, one 
of the original members being Dinah Robinson; the names of the 
others we could not obtain. The sum of $650 was expended in the 
erection of a frame church building, which was completed in 1867. 
The membership numbers 55, and the pastors have been Rev. Sam. 
Browning, E. S. Even, G. Rol)erts, Thomas Twine, W. H. Brown, 
J. H. Homely, A. Delmo and B. J. Guthrie. Connected with the 
church is a flourishing Sabbath-school of 75 pupils. The church is 
entirely free from debt, and is otherwise in a flourishing condition. 

African M. E. Church — Located northeast of the city of AYeston 
now embraces within its membership about 45 persons. In 1866 
Rev. David King, Jerry Ruuker, Anna Rucker, Elizal)etli Wilson, 
Martha Peck, Martha Anderson, Georgie k. Wood, Mill. Taylor, 
John Goose, Annie Kelley, James Willson, James Thomas and others 
formed themselves into an organization which has since constituted 
this church. They worship in a commodious frame building erected 
in 1880 at a cost of $500, the present pastor being Rev. Jesse Mills. 
There are 35 scholars in the Sabbatii-school, the superintendent of 
which is Benjamin Hamilton. 

8t. John's Protestant Episcopal Church of Weston. — The history 
of this parish has been kindly furnished us by one of the members of 
the church, though, on account of an impossibility to obtain the rec- 
ords of its early history, tiie facts are not detailed as minutely as they 
otherwise might be. 

The Rev. John McNamara, as far as is known, was the first clergy- 
n)an (excepting the bishop) upon the ground. He was a missionary 
sent out by the Domestic Board of Missions to Weston and St. 
Joseph. 

He commenced his duties here about 1851, and left about 1853 or 
1854. He was succeeded by the Rev. Wni. N. Irish, who was also 
sent by the Domestic Board to Weston and St. Joseph. Mr. Irish 
soon gave up Weston and confined himself to St. Joseph, leaving this 
parish vacant. 

When F. R. Holeman came to the parish, under the auspices of 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 823 

the Domestic Board, he found no record or papers of any kind, no 
chui-ch building nor room* prepared for worship, and but eleven com- 
municants. All the property owned by the parish was a lot on the 
coiner of Washington and Market streets, which was not considered 
suitable for a church building. This had been bought by the Rev. 
Mr. McNamara for $500. 

The church sustained many losses by removal and the financial con- 
dition of the city. 

In September, 1857, a lot containing an acre and a half of ground, 
being one-half of a block, was purchased for the parsonage, which 
was completed by the first of December, 1857. This was bought with 
money collected by the rector in the East and South, together with 
some help from the parishioners, for $300. 

In September, 1857, a lot was also bought for a church. The cor- 
ner stone was laid the next spring. In July the church was finished 
and, August 24, 1859, was consecrated to the service of Almighty 
God. 

The rectorship of the parish was I'esigned by F. R. Holeman Sep- 
tember 1, 1860, Messrs. John Brown, George Robbins and James A. 
Price being the vestry. At this time the parsonage and grounds were 
entirely paid for. The lot l)ought during the rectorship of the Rev. 
John McNamara was still in [)ossession of the church and free from 
del)t. The lot upon which the church was built was paid for. The 
church building cost about $4,000. At the time of his resignation 
there was a dei)t on the same of $2,261, also a debt to Mr. Warner of 
$180.00, which was assumed by Mr. Holeman. 

The number of communicants reported about this time were 12. 
The Sunday-school teachers in town and country were 14, with the 
number of scholars 160. 

Rev. F. R. Holeman, after resigning the rectorship, left the city 
and took with him the records of the i)arish, which were afterwards 
found and returned, as explained by entry made therein, viz. : — 

(Entry made by Rev. John Portmess.) 
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN. 

On the 2Gth of November, 1863, the Right Rev. C. S. Hawks, D. 
D., Bishop of the Diocese, visited St. John's Parish, Weston, accom- 
panied by the Rev. H. R. Miller, rector of Christ Church, St. Joseph, 
and baptized Miss Sue Wallingford, age 17 years; • * • Carrie 
Ramage, infant daughter of Lewis and Caroline Ramage. At the same 

47 



824 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

visit there were confirmed John Portiuess, age S3 years ; Mr. H. H. 
Hedges, age 25 years ; Miss Sue VYallingford, Miss Sarah Brown, 19 
years, and Miss Grace Wilkinson, aged 16 years. 

This record is made by Rev. John Portmess, afterwards rector of St. 
Mary's Church, Fayette, Mo., who found this record book in the ves- 
try room of Christ Church, Boonville, July 21, 1865. 

Rev. A. Batte was the first I'cctor to succeed Rev. F. R. Holeman, 
He came about August, 1866, and resigned about August, 1871. In 
the interval between the resignation^ of Rev. Mr. Holeraan and tlie 
coming of Rev. A. Batte, services were held frequently in the after- 
noon by the post chaplain at Leavenworth, and also by visiting 
c.lergymen, including several visits by Rector Rev. Thomas H. Vail, 
Bishop of Kansas, who confirmed twenty-four persons. 

After the resignation of Rev. A. Batte the church for some time 
was without regular service. July 6, 1873, Rev. Thomas Betts com- 
menced I'egular service, and continued until September 25, 1873, at 
which time, having resigned, he preached his valedictory sermon. 
Again the church was left without vegidar service. On December 19, 
1875, the funeral service of Mrs. Russella E. Price, wife of Col. 
James A. Price, was held by the Rev. Mr. Woart, chaplain of Fort 
Leavenworth. February 14, 1876, Rev. James E. Martin, of Kansas 
City, Mo., had commenced to hold service once in each mouth. On 
August 16, 1876, he held his last service. October 13, 1878, Rev. T. 
R. Valliant commenced to hold regular service, which he continued 
up to the time he removed to Platte City, Mo. He then gave service 
twice each month for a while, since which they have had no service. 

Since the organization of the parish up to March, 1885, baptisms 
have been administered by Bishop Hawks, Bishop Vail, Bishop Rob- 
ertson and various clergymen, to 162 persons. Confirmation by 
Bishops Hawks, Vail and Robertson, to 66 persons. Marriages, by 
various clerg3'men, 41. Burials, 37. The list of communicants has 
been reduced to about eight or ten. A good Sunday-school of about 
55 scholars and eight teachers is in running order. The officers of the 
school are, James A. Price, superintendent and J. P. Reichard,*sec- 
retarj' and treasurer. 

LODGES. 

Platte City Lodge, iVo. 504, A. F. (6 A. M. — Was organized in 
October, 1881, with the following as its original members: N. B. 
Anderson, George A. Warner, A. J. Colman, Jno. Morin, J. L. Moore, 
Thomas E. Jenkins, B. Kiefer, Jno. L. Carmack, J. Beery, Jas. F. 
Flannery, J. A. Baldwin, E. McD. Coffey, T. F. Warner, O. Hum- 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 825 

phrey, J. S. Brasfield, T. W. Park, Jas. H. Chimi, D. George, C. 
Ham, F. G. Gaylord, H. Meads, W. P. Brightwell, W. H. Hunt. 
The present membership is 65. The names of those who have been 
Past Masters are N. B. Anderson, Jas. Brastield and T. W. Park. 
The building in which the lodge meets is a brick structure. 

Fidelity Lodge JSTo. 399, A. F. & A. i»/.— Of Farley, Platte 
county, Mo., was organized in 1870. The charter members were Dr. 
Holt, Dr. Tisdall, W. M. ; Geo. Cline, Israel Heath, T. S. Chesher, 
Zenith Carpenter and Albert Cutchenthall. The present membership 
numbers 36. Luther Harrington fills the office of Master. The lodge 
is in a good condition, financially, and has several hundred dollars in 
the treasuiy. 

Compass Lodge N'o. 120, A. F. <& A. M. — Located at Park- 
ville, was organized on May 10, 1850, the charter members being R. 
G. Stevens, V. M. ; Thomas W. Davis, S. W. ; W. P. Burney, J. 
W., and others. The charter was issued at Boonville, Mo., and bears 
the signatures of the following officers : John P. Ryland, G. M. ; 
Benj. N. Grover, D. G. M. ; Robert A. Raphael, S. G. W., and Sam. 
F. Currie, J. G. W. ; C. D. W. Johnson, G. S. The number of the 
present membership is 42. 

WestonLodge, No. 53, A. F. (& A. il/. of Weston — The charter of 
this lodge was issued October 14, 1842, the charter memliers being 
Dandrige Holladay, W. M. : A. M. Belt, S. W. ; Benj. Holladay, J. 
W. ; L. D. Bird, Samuel Hudson, Jeremiah Woods, Thompson Belt, 
Heni'v Colman and Jas. Miller. The present membership is 64. 
The Masonic building is valued at $5,000. 

HISTORY OF WESTON COMMANDERY NO. 2. 
[We copy from the records of the Grand Lodge of May, I860.] 

Officers — S>\r George W. Belt, Rt. E. G. C, eminent com- 
mander ; Sir Ludwell R. Ringo, E. G. P., generalissimo ; Sir Jere- 
miah Woods, P. E. C, captain general; Sir Rev. L. R. Downing, 
prelate ; Sir James N. Bnrnes, senior warden ; Sir James A. Ma- 
theney, junor warden ; Sir Leonidas M. Lawson, warder ; Sir Ben- 
jamin Wood, treasurer; Sir Edward G. Heriot, E. G. R., recorder; 
Sir Edward Norton, standard bearer ; Sir Michael Bowman, sword 
l)earer: Sir Charles Guenther, guard ; Sir Levi Brashears, guard ; Sir 
AVash T. Woods, guard; Sir John Trollman, sentinel. 

Members in 1860 — Sirs T. M. Adams, Elias Barbee, Christi'in 
Beck, J. S. Brasfield, J. T. Broadburst, Bennett Burnam, Geo. W. 
Berry, Casper Beechler, James D. Barbee, Benj. Bonifant, G. W. 



826 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

Culver, G. J. W. ; W. Christisoii, A. G. Clark, O. H. P. Craig, L. 
W. Caples, J. J. Clarkson, S. G. Cato, Eev. R. N. Cofeey, J. B. 
Davenport, Abraham Deviu, A. J. Dawson, Wm. Davenport, P. D. 
Elkius, Fred Emory, Abel Gilbert, Francis Gallup, J. M. Guthrie, 
W. O. Gould, Fred Hawn, S. M. Hayes, G. S. B. ; H. B. Herudon, 
J. M. Holt, J. M. Hunter, C. C. Huffaker, J. D. Harper, J. W. 
Hardesty, Wallace Jackson, A. S. Johnston, Samuel Jones, Charles' 
E. Kearney, E. C. McCarty, John Mendenhall, J. E. R. Miller, 
Frederick Magers, G. W. McLaughlin, John McConnell, William A. 
Newman, B. F. Newhouse, Elmer Otis, Alfred Owens, Rev. E. J. 
Owen, E. F. Pence, W. H. Palmer, J. D. Reynerson, W. C. Reming- 
ton, H. T. Shlossner, G. S. ; Hugh Swaney, Warren Shaw, J. E. 
Sickles, L. P. Stiles, Rev. John Stone, Jarrett W. Tood, J. S. Tisdale, 
J. A. Thompson, J. H. Talbott, Jas. E. Walker, Joel F. Wisely, 
John Somers Waters, J. B. Wright, A. G. Williams, J. G. Willis, 
Merritt L. Young — 91 Sir Knights. 

This Commandery, now numl^ering 91 Sir Knights, was organized 
under a dispensation from the Most Eminent Grand Master of the 
United States, on the 19th day of March, A. D. 1853. E. James 
Millar, formerly of Columbian Commandery No. 1, of New York, 
and Past Grand Junior and Senior Warden of the Grand Command- 
ery of that State, was the first Eminent Commander. 

E. David Lindlcy, formerly of Greensburg Commandery, Ind., 
was the first generalissimo, and E. Wellington A. Cunningham, for- 
merly of Kentucky, was the first captain general. Those three de- 
voted and cherished Sir Knights opened this Commandery at the time 
stated, and proceeded regularly with the work. 

Of James Millar, who departed this life in Weston, Mo., on the (5th 
day of February, 1856, it may be truly said that no better man — no 
more devoted or intelligent Mason — no more courteous and generous- 
hearted brother, ever crossed the threshold of a lodge room. He was 
not only a strong and beautiful pillar of the lodge — a stainless min- 
ister of the sanctuarj'^ of the chapter, but he was faithfully and truly 
a persevering pilgrim, a courageous warrior and an unfeigned peni- 
tent. To ever}' quality of the conscientious Christian, he added all 
those that characterize the true gentleman and the good citizen. When 
he died, the entire communit}' mourned ; the humblest and the proud- 
est knew they had lost a friend, who was without reproach and with- 
out guile. 

David Liiidley traveled a great distance in order to discharge the 
duty which was necessarily imposed upon him. He is cherished and 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 827 

rciiiembered with affectionate gratitude by all the earlier members of 
this Commandery, who were witnesses of his devotion to the interests 
of this beloved order. 

Wellington A. Cunningham was a member of St. Joseph Command- 
ery No. 4. Never can this Commandery fail to do him honor for his 
many, many efforts to advance its interests and its usefulness. 

The charier of this Commandery was obtained on the 19th day of 
September, A.. D. 1853, A. O. 735. 

The officers, under the charter, were installed by P. E. Com- 
mander, Sir Oliver Anderson, who was the duly appointed proxy of 
the M. E. Sir William B. Hubbard, grand master of the Grand 
Encampment of the United States, on the 19th of November, A. D. 
1853, A. O. 735, as follows: E. Sir James Millar, commander; Sirs 
Jeremiah Wood, generalissimo ; Wellington A. Cunninghan, captain 
general ; Rev. J. B. Wright, prelate; D. P. Wallingford, senior war- 
den ; John S. Waters, junior warden; Benjamin Wood, treasurer; 
Thora]Dson W. Belt, recorder; Abel Gill)ert, standard beai'er ; Elias 
Barbee, sword bearer; John C. Bell, warder; Frederick Hawn, D. 
J. Thompson, M. L. Young, guards; William Miller, sentinel. 

The present membership is about 41. 

Weston Royal Arch Chapter No. 4. — Was charted October 16, 
1847. The names of the charter members were James Miller, 
H. P. ; BehiM. Hughes, K. ; Jeremiah Wood, S. ; R. G. Stevens, C. 
H. ; B. Holladay, P. S. ; John Wilson, R. A. C, pro tern.; G. W. 
Culver, John Bratz, Lewis Tracy, Henry Basye, C. R. P. Wentworth, 
Leander Kerr, Saml. S. LaRose, John Rennie, Charles Underbill, 
D. A. Sutton and G. B. Sanderson. The number of the present mem- 
bership is 41. 

Adelphi Lodge JSTo. 365, A. F. & A. 31. — At Edgerton, was 
granted a dispensation February 16, 1870, and was set to work by 
Samuel Russell, district deputy grand master, February 28, follow- 
ing. Among the chartered members were G. L. Cozine, W. M. ; 
Thomas J. Doke, S. W. ; Richard C. Rigg, J. W. ; John T. Stone, 
treasurer; Browning Mitchell, secretary, Henry Barnes, S. D. ; Louis 
Noel, J. D., and Sam. G. Smith, tyler. The lodge was constituted 
under a charter November 12, 1870, liy Thomas F. Norris, district 
deputy grand master, the officers being the same as those just given. 
At this time the membership numbers 45. In 1869, their first hall 
was occupied by them, but the one which they at present hold meet- 
ings in was put up in May, 1879, at a cost of $800. 

In 1868 there was a lodire of the A. F. & A. M. chartered at New 



828 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

Market, the charter members behig W. P. Moore, MilLon Veach, W. 
A. Siugletou, Ed. Edgar, J. B. Baughmun, J. L. Johnson and Isaac 
Dean. An Odd Fellows' lodge was also organized about the same 
time, but we are unable to learn who the original members were. 

Platte City Lodge No. 2382, Knights of Honor. — This lodge was 
organized February 28, 1881, with 25 members. Its officers were 
Geo. A.Warner, dictator; Thomas E. Jenkins, vice-dictator; W. 
H. Hunt, assistant-dictator; J. C. HoUingsworth, reporter, S. D. 
Park, financial reporter; W. J. Overbeck, treasurer; R. W. Hower- 
ton, chaplain ; Sol. Davis, guide ; H. S. Yates, G. A. Warner, W. J. 
Overbeck, trustees, and E. C. Kemper, medical examiner. Each 
member has a full insurance policj' of $2,000 at a cost of $9 per 
thousand annually. The lodge has lost but one member by death, the 
beneticiaries receiving the insurance money within 18 days after report 
of death. The present officers are H. S. Yates, dictator; Jno. C. 
Cooper, vice-dictator ; A. J. Morgan, assistant-dictator ; W. J. Over- 
beck, reporter; G. A. Warner, treasurer; John H. Brady, chaplain; 
A. Wheland, guide; L. H. Link, E. C. Slaughter, trustees; C. C 
Kemper, medical examiner. 

lutan Lodge No. 145, 1. O. 0. F. — Was instituted September 4, 
18(30, by John Doniphan, Esq., with the following as first officers: 
Harvey 'n. Hedge, N. G. ; W. S. Robinson, V. G. ; L. W. Read, 
sec; G. W. Hood, treas., and G. Winters. Tlie candidates initiated 
upon the evening of the organization were J. F. Hansbrough, Geo. H. 
Gedultig, A. S. Anno, E. P. McDaniel and A. G. Smith. The lodge 
hall, which was built in 1865, they now own. Owing to removals and 
other causes, the membership, which at one time reached the number 
of 50, has been reduced to 12. 

Farley Lodge No. 177, I. 0. O. F. — Was organized in Novem- 
ber, 1859, and during the first 20 years of its existence was the 
strongest lodge in Northwest Missouri. The charter members were 
Israel Heath, N. G. ; James Wallace, V. G. ; L. T. Oliver, secretary ; 
John H. Carson, John C. Cassabaum, James E. Ireland, and J. IVI. 
Holt. The present membership is very small, its decline being occa- 
sioned, doubtless, to the surroundings. H. M. Burt is the present N. 
G., T. N. Donnigan is V. G., and C. L. Banninij is treasurer. 




CHAPTER XVIII. 

NEWSPAPERS AND JOURNALISTS. 

The Eagle and the Arffus — The Atlas — The Tenth Legion — The Sentinel --The Bor- 
der Times — The Chronicle — Parkville Papers — The Luminary — The Courier — The 
Independent — Later Platte City Papers — The Reveille — The Landmark — The Demo- 
crat — The Advocate — The Argus — Edgerton Courier. 

THE " KAGLE " AND THE "ARGUS." 

In his historical sketches of Platte county M:ij. Morin says the first 
newspaper estal^lished in the county was the Platte Eagle, published 
at Platte City. It was edited by Allen McLane and by E. Sanks- 
ton Wilkerson. We have a copy of the ^or.^te before us — The Platte 
Eagle and Weston Commercial — published at Weston, February 
24,1843. It is one of the later issues of the first volume, showing 
that the paper was established in 1842. It claims to be the most 
westerly paper published in the United States and contains official 
advertisements from St. Joseph and other Western-Missouri points. 

At the l)eginning the Eagle was a twenty-column folio, printed on 
an inferior qutdity of paper and nothing extra for mechanical work or 
api)earance. But it was edited with al)ility and was well managed as 
a l)usiness enterprise. It prospered rapidly and abundantly and * 
became one of the leading and influential i)ublic journals of Western 
Missouri. 

Later along the Eagle changed proprietors and editors. It was 
edited by Gen. David R. Atchison, subsequently United States Sena- 
tor from this State and President of the United States Senate. He 
was followed on the editorial tripod by Gen. James W. Denver, after- 
wards territorial Governor of Colorado, and for whom Denver Citv 
was named. 

In the meantime, the name of the paper had been changed to the 
Platte Argus, and it had been removed to Platte City. It vyas pub- 
lished here for several years and was bought by the Wiseley brothers. 
By them it was taken back to Weston and was published there until 
the outbreak of the war. 

In 1861, after the outbreak of the war, the Argus became the organ 



1 This copy of the paper is now the property of Judge Chiles, of Platte City. 

(829) 



830 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

ut the Missouri State Guard, aad was issued from the headquarters of 
the army. The paper was then called the Army Argus, and is remem- 
bered by every old volunteer under Gov. Jackson or Gen. Price in 
1861. It was published from the headquarters of the army until after 
Gen. Price left the State. 

The publication of an army newspaper, with " office in the saddle," 
as Gen. Pope would say, was a novel enterprise, and one that' 
showed not less real enterprise than faith in the success of the cause 
to which it was devoted. The Argus deserved a better fate than be- 
fell it. Its publication was suspended after Gen. Price entered Kan- 
sas, on account of the impracticability, not to say impossil)ility, of 
issuing it during the almost constant marches in which the army was 
engaged. 

A copy of the Argus for 1852 is before us, published at Weston. 
It is a handsomely printed, well edited and liberally supported (judg- 
ing from its advertising columns) weekly of thirty-two columns, ap- 
proximately the size of the Landmark of to-day. It compares very 
favorably in appearance, make-up and editorial force with the better 
class of country journals in the State at this time. 

Wilkerson was a professional journalist, a thorough newspaperman. 
He was a practical printer and a writer of experience and more than 
average ability. The paper greatly prospered under his charge, and 
attained a wide and enviable influence. He, himself, was a man of some 
prominence in the county and among journalists in this part of the State. 
He went to Montana during the war, and probably still resides there. 
McCall was his partner, and the business manager in the Eagle office. 

Allen McLane in his day was one of the leading men of Western 
Missouri. He was a man of superior education and wide and varied 
information. In early life he read law and afterwards practiced his 
profes.siou for a time, in which he was successful. But having a 
greater taste for literary work than for the profession of the law, he 
abandoned the law for journalism, and soon became known through- 
out the State as one of the most vigorous, pungent writers on the 
weekly press. He was the intimate associate and friend of Hon. 
David Atchison, Gen. Denver and other leading men of this part of 
the State. The success of more than one prominent public man was 
largely due to the influence of his pen and to his unselfish fidelity and 
zeal as a friend. He was a man of sanguine temperament and great 
spirit, not to say fiery disposition, but withal was kind-hearted and 
agreeable, and popular with all who had not incurred his opposition 
or antipathy. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 831 

A sketch of Gen. Atchison, and also one of Gen. Denver, appears 
in a preceding chapter — Bench and Bar. 

William Wisely was the principal member of the firm of Wisely 
Brothers, publisiiers of the Argus, at Weston, just before the war, 
and afterwards in the Southern army. He was a practical newspaper 
man, and a good, sober, matter-of-fact writer. He died at Mobile, 
Ala., daring the war. 

Other parties were perhaps connected with the EagJe ov the Argus, 
but their names are not now recalled. 

THE ATLAS. 

The Atlas newspaper was established at Platte City during the 
"Fifties." It was also Democratic, and was conducted under its 
original name for several years. Finally it changed hands. Clark 
& Bourne became its proprietors. They changed its name to Con- 
servator, and published it until the spring of 1863, when it was "sup- 
pressed" by the military. It was charged with being disloyal, and its 
suppression was demanded by the Sentinel, published at Weston, an 
ultra loyal sheet at that time. The proprietors of the Conservator 
were banished South. Bourne himself afterwards returned inside of 
the Federal lines, but under an assumed name to avoid identity and 
arrest, and during the war was associated with Jno. W. Oberly in the 
pul)lication of the Cairo (111.) Democrat. He died in St. Louis after 
the war, having been on the Republican as compositor for some 
years. 

THE TENTH LEGION. 

E. S. Wilkerson sold his interest in the Argus some years before 
the war, and was afterwards absent from the county for several years. 
Returning in 1861, he established the Tenth Legion newspaper at 
Platte City. It was destined for a short life. It opposed coercion, 
denounced the war against the South as a crusade of robbers and 
plunderers, and fell under the military guillotine. Wilkerson, as we 
have said, took sanctuary in Montana. 

THE SENTINEL. 

With the deepening of the Civil combat, the Sentinel, published at 
Weston, waxed great and mighty in the patriotic cause of loyalty, 
and smote the enemies of Kansas hip and thigh. It called for the un- 
conditional subjugation of "sympathizers," the silencing of "disloyal" 
sentiments, and lauded the achievements of Morgan, Pcnick and 
Fitzgerald as the most brilliant performances in the military history 



832 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

of the country. Confiscation of the property of Southern sympathizers 
was warmly and eloquently advocated, even of "the poor lean horse 
of the rebel . ' ' 

But the county persisted in voting the Conservative ^ ticket, never- 
theless, and the Conservator, published at Platte City, received the 
public printing. That being the case, of course the Conservator was 
denounced by the Sentinel as disloyal, and at the latter's instigation 
its office was destroyed. The Sentinel office was then moved to Platte 
City, and it received the public printing. After that it was in a better 
humor with the world in general, and the majority of the people of 
Platte City in particular. It became quite Conservative, and remon- 
strated against the general system of pillage then going on in the 
county. 

This, however, sealed its doom. It, in turn, was denounced as dis- 
loyal. Another newspaper star had risen in the loyal firmament over 
Platte county, one of greater maguitude iu the luridness of its light 
than any that had yet, or ever afterwards, appeared. One by one the 
political followers of the Sentinel turned to worship the new luminary, 
and left their whilom asteroidal light to shine for its new found 
friends alone. The Border limes praised the exploits of Jennison and 
Ford, demanded the confiscation of the property of the majority of 
the people of the county, and denounced the Sentinel as the organ 
of the " rebels.". It asked the immediate suppression of the latter, 
with the ti-ansfer of the public printing to itself as a natural cor- 
ollary. 

The Sentinel was marked, and in a few days afterwards its office 
was destroyed. Obituaries appeared in due time and form in the 
other country papers round about, on the untimely and unfortunate 
demise of the Sentinel. Brother A. S. Cox's experience as a war 
editor was brief, but stormy and eventful. The Sentinel was a well 
printed paper, mostly appearing weekly, and was edited and managed 
with some ability. 

THE BORDER TIMES. 

As already noticed, theBorder Times came into general notice dur- 
ing the war. It was published at Weston. The Times wsls a regular 
Ked Republican paper, but it was consistent and edited with ability- 
It regarded the "Kebellion," as it aftectionately termed the struggle 
of the South for national independence, and the preservation of the 



' To call one's self a Democrat then in Western Missouri, was good for the loss 
of four horses, all the forage on one's place and Ave months iu Alton or Rock Island 
prison. Democrats then were meek and lowly " Conservatives." 



HIgTORY OF PLATTE COUNTV. 833 

$2,400,000,000 worth of slave property — more than the British taxa- 
tion of the colonies would have amounted to in a century — as the 
greatest crime ever attempted, and all connected or sympathizing with 
it as the worst of criminals, deserving to be drawn and quartered ; 
and it advocated death to " rebels," in arms and out of arms, and the 
ruin of fortunes and families of all so-called " sympathizers." It was 
sanguinary, lurid and constantly writhing in the throes of a war 
frenzy ; but otherwise it was a newsy, sprightly paper, and edited 
M'ith more than average ability. If the editor, Mr. A. G. Beller, 
had used more ice in his coffee than he did use, his paper probably 
would have been a permanent success. As it was, however, it effer- 
vesced and passed away a few years after the war. 

THE CHKONICLE. 

In 1871 the Border Times was sold and the paper was discontinued. 
For a short time the material was used l)y Mr. John T. Reynolds, and 
then by Mr. F. H. Brooks, in publishing at Weston a Democratic 
paper — The Platform. This finally ceased, and the material was 
sold out of the county. Soon afterward Mr. Harry Howard began 
and for several years successfully conducted the Weston Commercial, 
finally selling it to Mr. John B. Mundy. Mr. Mundy reorganized the 
office, changed the name of the paper to the Ghronicle, and went to 
work with resolution and ability to build up a good paper, which 
he has succeeded in doing. The Chronicle is a newsy, four-page 
paper, issued weekly, and is Democratic in politics. Mr. Mundy is 
a thorough-going business manager, a vigorous, fearless writer, and 
has succeeded in building up one of the best country journals in West- 
ern Missouri. The Chronicle is an established success, and has a 
large and steadily increasing circulation. Its advertising l)usiness is 
large and profitable, better than would i)e expected ordinarily in a 
town the size of Weston. Mr. Mundy has from time to time added 
new material to his office, tyi)e, job presses, etc., until now he has 
one of the most complete and best-appointed newspaper and job offices 
to be met with outside of a large city. He makes a specialty of fine 
job work, and in this line successfully competes with Leavenworth, 
Kansas City and St. Joe. 

The Reporter, the Keystone and the Platform were other papers 
that were publishhd at Weston at different times, but neither of them 
became a permanent success. 



834 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUN'^r. 



PARKVILLE PAPERS LUMINARY. 

The Piirkville Luminary was the first newspaper published iu the 
town of Parkville. The first number was issued iu July, 1853. It 
was 36 inches by 12 inches iu size and independent in politics. The 
first editors and publishers were Geo. S. Park and James Cundiff. 
The last named severed his connection with the paper in 1855. 

The Liuminary held advanced views on the slavery question for that 
day, warmly opposing slaverv. During the Kansas troubles its in- 
fluence was given to the free State side of the controversy and against 
the people of Platte county and of Missouri. It approved the 
organized efforts of Abolitionists to colonize Kansas in the iuterest of 
the free State cause, and sharply criticised the efforts of the pro- 
slavery advocates here and elsewhere to counteract the movement of 
the Abolitionists. 

This greatly exasperated the great majority of the people of Platte 
county. At last, during a high fever of excitement, in the spring of 
1855, a large gathering of citizens, including some of the most re- 
spectable and influential men of the countjs was held at Parkville to 
suppress the iy!n?j«?i«ry. The office of the paper was visited, and, 
receiving no assurance of a more conservative course by the Luminary , 
the press, the type, etc., were taken possession of and thrown into 
the Missouri river. Further particulars of this office are given in the 
chapter on the Kansas troubles. The publication of the Luminary 
was not resumed. 

PARKVILLE COURIER. 

In the year 1857 the second newspaper enterprise, the Parkville 
Courier, was commenced in thetowu of Parkville by Messrs. Thomas 
Stearnes and F. M. McDonald as editors and proprietors. Politically 
it was Democratic. Mr. Stearnes discontinued his connection with 
the paper in 1858, after which time the paper was published and edited 
by Mr. F. M. McDonald until the year 1862, when its publication 
ceased. The name of the paper was the Parkville Weekly Courier. 

Other papers perhaps have been published at Parkville from time 
to time prior to the establishment of the Independent, but their names 
are not now recollected. 

PARKVILLE INDEPENDENT. 

The Independent is now published at Parkville by John Gharky 
and J. P. Tucker, the first number of it being issued March 28, 1885. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 835 

It is a nine-column folio paper, 28x44 inches in size, and is the largest 
paper ever published in Platte county. Its name indicates its charac- 
ter, politically and otherwise. 

Mr. Gharky is a veteran printer, having owned a newspaper outfit 
and helped to publish a paper with it in the campaign of 1844, at 
Portsmouth, Ohio. In 1853 he went West and published the Pioneer 
at West Union, Fayette county, Iowa, until 1864. In 1862 his office 
was entered secretly at niglit, his press broken with a sledge hammer 
aiid his type scattered in the street, by returned soldiers. He pub- 
lished the Conservative at Memphis, Scotland county. Mo., from 1866 
to 1883. 

Mr. Tucker is a practical and skillful newspaper and job printer. 
Both are writers of some ability, Mr. Gharky acting as editor-in-chief 
and Mr. Tucker as local editor, business manager and job workman. 
The two are well calculated to do so and they are printing a paper that 
is an honor to themselves and a credit to the town and county. 

Typographically it is a model of neatness, and our thanks are due 
the editors of this paper for many courtesies extended. 

LATER PLATTE CITY PAPERS THE REVEILLE. 

The Reveille WAS, established at Platte City by Maj. Thomas W. Park 
and Mr. W. H. Field in Jul}', 18()6, the latter gentleman soon retir- 
ing. It was a twenty-eight column folio weekly. Democratic in politics. 

Maj. Park, now secretary to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and 
Inspection of Missouri, was principally reared in Platte county, but 
was originally from Kentucky to this county, with his parents. 

He made journalism his profession, and being a man of culture 
and ability, he became a journalist of prominence and influence. He 
is a careful, chaste writer, and always expresses himself with clear- 
ness and force. 

The three qualifications most necessary for an editor he possesses 
to more than an ordinary degree — hirge general information, accurate 
discriminating judgment, and a terse, spirited style of writing. His 
paper was always full of pith and force, and was read not as a mat- 
ter of habit, as many papers are, but because it never failed to con- 
tain something of interest and value. 

Maj. Park, after publishing the Reveille with success for about five 
years, bought an interest in the Landmark undi consolidated the offices 
of the two papers. The publication of the Reveille was discontinued 
and the Landmark was enlarged and greatly improved in make-up 
and worth. 



836 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 



THE LANDMAKK. 



The Landmark was established on the 9th day of June, 1865, 
at Westou, by Messrs. Howard & Adams, and was mainly edited by 
Judge Samuel A. Gilbert. It was and is Democratic in politics and 
conducted with vigor and success. After its consolidation with the 
lieveille it was published as a thirty-six column paper at Platte City 
under the editorial management of Park & McCluer, who were its 
proprietors. This arrangement lasted about one year, when Maj. 
McCluer retired and was succeeded by Norton B. Anderson, Esq. 
Mr. Anderson removing from the State,' Mr. Park became sole editor 
and proprietor. A few years afterwards Col. C. J. Nesbitt was ad- 
mitted into partnership. He was in turn succeeded i)y Maj. J. L. 
^IcCluer, a former partner. This arrangement continued two j'ears, 
when Maj. Park, in March, 1881, sold his interet to Maj. McCluer and 
Eev. T. R. Valliant. Mr. Valliant is now its editor and proprietor. 

After the consolidation, the Landmark began to assume con- 
siderable State prominence. The ability and force with which it was 
edited won it a leading position among country journals and made its 
influence felt in public atfairs. It has continued ever since in the 
trout ranks of the country journals of the State. 

Mr. Valliant is a gentleman of tine scholarly attainments and a 
writer of studied elegance. He preserves a high moral tone in his 
paper and strives to make the influence of the Landmark elevating 
and ennobling. It is devoted to the home and family not less than to 
the interests of business life and to public alfairs. 

Politically, the Landmark continues Democratic, unwavering and 
unflinching, believing that the highest and best hope of the country 
lies in the continued success of the Democratic party ; and it is always 
for truth and morality, honesty and purity, in public and private life. 

Mr. Valliant is also pastor of the Episcopal Church at Platte City. 
He is a man of eminent piety and a minister of learning and elo- 
quence. There is probably no l)etter course of training to tit one for 
a worthj"^ and successful discharge of the duties of a Democratic 
editor than a course in theology ; and certainly there is nothing, aside 
from religious faith and zeal and a thorough knowledge of the Scrip- 
tures — which, by the way, are implied from the fact that one is a 
Democratic editor — so helpful and encouraging to a minister as the 
consciousness- of editorial work on a Democratic paper, well aud 
faithfully performed, especially in Missouri. Though not inseparable, 



HISTORY OF PLAITE COUNTY. 8^7 

tlie two callings go so well together that their union .seems necessary 
and natural. 

The Landmark is a weekly newspaper, and has a large circulation. 
Its editorial and local matter is well written, its clippings are selected 
with care and good judgment, and all its matter is well arranged. 
The Landmark is one of the leading papers of the county, and as an 
advertising medium is without a superior among its country cotem- 
poraries. 

THE DEMOCRAT. 

The Democrat was established in Platte City, in the year 1873. 
Its proprietor was Lycurgus Shepard, Esq. The publication of the 
Democrat was continued for several years. Politically it was Demo- 
cratic, as nearly all the papers ever published in the county were. 

THE ADVOCATE. 

The Advocate succeeded the Democrat. It was established and 
iniblislied by a Mr. Kline first, then by T. C. Thurston, and last by I. 
M. Cockrill. About 1880 it was consolidated with the Landruark. 

THE AKGUS. 

This pajjer, which was named for the old Platte ArguK, and also for 
the Argun published at St. Louis in the early days of Missouri, is a 
new paper established at Platte City. It is a twenty-eight column 
paper, and is Democratic in politics. 'T\\q Argus is a sprightl}', newsy 
weekly paper, and is steadih' growing in popularity and influence. Its 
proprietors are young men, full of life an<l energy and hope, and much 
of their own animation and high spirits are infused into the columns 
of their paper. 

THE EDGEKTON COUUIER. 

The Courier oSce was first established at the town of Edgerton, 
in the northwestern part of the county, more than two years ago. 
The Oourier is now in the third year of its publication, and is being 
conducted by Messrs. West & Stiff. It is a twenty-eight column paper, 
issued monthly. A copy of the paper before us is filled with local 
news and notes, well selected reading matter and a liberal numl)er of 
advertisements, principalh' of Edgerton business houses. The paper 
seems to have a generous home sujjport and to deserve its popularity. 
To Edgerton and the northwestern part of the county it is unquestion- 
ably an enterprise of great value and importance. It was originally 
established by Col. J. C. Isesbitt, in 1883. He was succeeded in the 
proprietorship by the Messrs. Johnston Brothers. Its present proprie- 
tors, as noted al)0ve, are West & Stiff. 



CHAPTEE XIX. 

PETTIS TOWNSHIP. 

Boundary and Physical Features — Population — Early Settlers, and Names of Those 
First Associated with the Township — Present Condition — Hampton — Location, 
Etc. — Parkville, the Principal City in the Township — Reminiscences — First Mer- 
chants, Etc. — History of the Town — Its Outlook Now — Business in the Place — 
Biographical. 

BOUNDARY AND PHYSICAL FEATURES. 

The present township of Pettis is situated in the southern and 
southeastern portion of the county and lies immediately north of 
Jackson county, its northern boundary extending two miles above the 
range line dividing townships 51 and 52. It is bounded on the north 
by Carroll and May townships, and on the east by May township and 
Clay county, while on the west its principal boundary is Waldron 
township, though Platte River separates a small portion of it from 
Lee township. 

It was originally timbered laud, but the most of the timber has 
been cleared away to open up farms, and the laud, generally, is of a 
good quality for wheat and fruits, whilst the tame grasses yield good 
crops. Corn is of course raised to a considerable e.\tent, but mainly 
for feeding purposes, for this part of the county is well adapted to 
stock growing. Cattle do well, and all in this vicinity raise them to 
some extent, several farmers of the township being among the prom- 
inent cattle raisers of the county. 

A considerable portion of the timbered laud is quite broken, some 
of it, indeed, too much so for active cultivation, but will always be 
valualile for pasturage. Sufficient water is to be easily found, and in 
the extreme northwestern part of the township flows Platte river. 
The southern part touches upon the Missouri river, and in the bottoms 
formed by the Platte and Missouri rivers is to be found some of the 
best bottom soil for farming purposes within the county. There are 
also many tine springs here which afford excellent water, pure, cool 
and delightfully refreshing. Its population in 1880 was 2,354. 

EARLY SETTLERS. 

Among the early settlers in Pettis township were men who had 
originally left their comfortable homes in the East — perhaps more 
(838) 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 839 

recently from Clay county — to make for themselves a habitation ia 
a country which they knew was as yet comparatively unopened to 
civilization. As remarked in another part of this work, they were 
drawn hither by the unexcelled richness of the soil and natural ad- 
vantages of the vicinity. Among those brave old pioneers, men 
whose descendants have lived to do honor to those whose names they 
l)ear, we might mention the following. It would he unreasonable to 
suppose that the names of all could be given, but we have succeeded 
in securing those of David and Stephen English, Mrs. A. G. Brown, 
the Naylors, the Nolands, Richard Babcock, John H. Buenemau, 
Perry Wood, Adam Wood, David Andrews, Jacob Smelser, David 
Johnson, David Mitchell and Miles Harrington. 

There are many others, sketches of whose families we would be 
glad to give, and some of whom are quite as deserving of a place in 
this chapter as any we have noted. We have, however, presented 
only those names we have been fortunate enough to obtain. 

The people of Pettis township hold a worthy place among the best 
people of the county, and as a community they are law-al»iding and 
peaceable, while, as friends, hospitable and kind. They are industri- 
ous and energetic, and most of them are comfortably situated in life. 
We have embraced the history of this township so intimately with the 
general history of the county that, of course, it would be unnecessary 
to repeat here what has already been given. For further items we 
would refer our readers to that portion of our work. 

HAMPTON. 

In the northern portion of the township, and in section 28, town- 
shi[) 52, range 34, is located Hampton, a small village, but a town at 
an early day of no inconsiderable importance. It contains a number 
of good stores, besides which is a blacksmith shop. A post-office has 
long been established here. The present population of the town is 
al)out 50. It is situated in the midst of a fine agricultural commu- 
nity, and is well supported. This is conceded to be in the finest 
wheat-raising portion of the county. 

The principal place in Pettis townsiiip, and a town which has been 
established for many years, anil wliere the greater interest of those 
in the township centers, is 

PAPvKVILLE. 

Througii tile courtesy of the editor of the Parkville Independent, 
Mr. John Giiarky, we have derived much valual)le information from 

48 



840 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

a series of articles whicii recently appeared in that paper, from the 
pen of T. C. S. Ashby, entitled "Reminiscences of Parkville." 
Wehave quoted some of these items of interest quite frequently 
below. 

In 1837 the site of Parkville was selected and settled b}' Stephen 
and David English, as an eligible location for a river town. Geo. S. 
Park became owner, and had it surveyed and laid off, calling it Park- 
ville. As a business man, Mr. P. was very energetic and full of push, 
and in a short time a thrifty, growing town was at Parkville. 

In the early part of 1851 there was not a church in the place, though 
the population numbered probal)ly 300 or 400. An old mill was op- 
erated by A. Goodyear and Geo. Roberts, and the mercantile business 
at that day was represented by four firms : Aspling & Stevens, Rem- 
ington & Couch, R. A. Ringo,and M. T. Summers. About this period, 
also, tlie Indian trade was a profitable source of income, and many, 
perhaps over a iiundred, Indians at a time were often seen upon these 
streets. 

At the date from which Mr. Ashby commences his historical remin- 
iscences (1851) there were two drug stores in Parkville, owned by J. 
W. Ringo and his partner. Dr. Young, and Dr. Love and J. H. Buen- 
eman. Besides these physicians, there were a number of others, the 
medical profession being very fully represented. Among these were 
Drs. Barnes, Love, Crust and possibly others. 

The tin and stove business was in the hands of AVm. Dziubon, whose 
death occurred in 1876 or 1877. 

A man who has been intimately connected with the history of Park 
ville from the year 1844 is Mr. John Bueneman, who was the firs 
tailor in the place. He also subsequently carried on a mercantile' 
establishment, and later a drug business. He is now the post- 
master of the place. George Wood was also a tailor by trade, ami 
followed his calling here. 

Geoi'ge S. Park and Darius Silvey carried a stock of furniture in 
1851, but Silvey died two years later, or in December, 1853. Mi . 
Park, the founder of the place, was a native of New York, and, wo 
believe, had participated in the early struggles of Texas for independ- 
ence. After giving this town a good start, he commenced the erection 
of a building, now the Park College, which he used as a hotel. 

As mentioned elsewhere, the first newspaper here was the Parkvillo 
Luminary, and in Chapter IX of this volume can be found an account 
of its destruction during the Kansas troubles. 

In 1852 and 1853 the outlook and business prospects for Parkville 



e 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 841 

were very encouraging, and in order to increase facilities for com- 
munication with the outer world, Mr. Park directed all his energies 
towards the introduction of a railroad to the town. Soon after, a 
charter was obtained from the Legislature for the Parkville and Grand 
River Railroad, and considerable grading, building of bridges, etc., 
was done. But the outbreak of the war put an end to all work in 
this direction, and the enterprise was literally killed. 

In 1851 Mr. Thomas Aspling, with a man named Hat, from Cinciu- 
nati, commenced the erection of flouring and saw mills cast of the 
town less than half a mile; the saw mill was completed in 1851, the 
grist mill in 1852, and these were o[)erated by them until 1854. In 
1854 the grist mill was sold to Louis A. Ford and T. C. S. Ashby, and 
the business was conducted by them to the year 1857, when Ashby 
sold his interest to Ford, who, in 18(55, sold to William K. Faulconer 
and George Wheeler ; and they sold to Wheeler & Mcllhern, and they 
to Carmody & Bro., who after a few years abandoned it, to oj)erate 
the Red Cross mills. 

In 1850 or 1851 the Legislature of Missouri granted a charter 
making Parkville an incorporated city. In 1852 and 1853 numerous 
mercantile establishments were added to the l)usiness industry of the 
place, and subsequently, as a shipping point, it was only second to 
AVeston. In August of the latter year, a disastrous tire occurred in 
the business portion of the town, but the i)urned buildings were soon 
rebuilt, and in a more substantial manner. 

Of course, the mechanical trades occupied no small portion of the 
attention of the early settlers here. Messrs. John, Mike and Patrick 
Daniels were the stone masons, and many excellent contracts were 
fulfilled by them. The Messrs. Clouse were for a time located here, 
one of whom, Mr. William Clouse, was the father of Mrs. Fred. 
Kuhm, whose husband is now in the shoe busines at Parkville. Among 
the brickniakers and masons were the Thompsons — Capt. Benj. 
Thompson and his sons, John, Frank and James, and numerous struc- 
tures now here attest their ability and skill as workmen. John D3'kes 
was engaged in the same business, but afterwards conducted a hotel. 
Carpentering was done by David Mitchell, G. W. Patterson, John 
Congleton, Hat & Aspling, and a Mr. Donovan. Others came later, 
but of this number, only one, G. W. Patterson, a man now well ad- 
vanced in years, remains. The gunsmith of the town was John 
Howell. 

There were the usual other estal)lishments foiuid in a growing town 
at an early date, among which were a bakery, John Busch, proprietor ; 



842 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

he iiftei'wards became engaged in the manufacture of candies ; and a 
millinery store, kept by Mrs. Mary Soper. We should have noticed 
before a merchandise business which Mr. Edgar coneiucted many years 
ago. His son, E. W. Edgar, now resides within five miles of Park- 
ville. 

Lawyers were here in numbers, and memliers of the fraternity whose 
names we recall are W. H. Miller, Thomas Stearues, William M., 
Clough, and Ebenezer N. O. Clough. 

There was in 1851 but one public building in Pai-kville, a school- 
house situated on the top of the hill west of Main street, and on the 
north side of Fourth street. It was unroofed in 1860 during the only 
severe storm that has visited the town since 1851. Several buildings 
were blown down, and others damaged to some considerable extent. 
The school-house was made of brick, and seemed to have been built 
for some time. After its destruction the town had to depend on i"eut- 
ing room for tiieir schools for several years. In 1877 or 1878 the 
board of education purchased the residence of Arad Goodyear, and 
after making some alterations in the house, used it for school pur- 
poses until 1880, when the present new and elegant school-house was 
built. It stands on the site of the old Goodyear house, on East street, 
and cost $2,500. 

In conclusion, Mr. Ashby has written so plainly of the present 
condition of Parkville that we have thought it proper to repeat what 
was said in the Independent of May 14, 1885 : — 

From the time of the war down to the present we have dragged 
along without any apparent improvement ; but it is a ' long lane that 
has no turn.' Signs of a better state of things are seen to-day. 
The town has made some advancement in the last year or two, which 
shows that an awakening after a twenty years' nap is taking place. 
And why should Parkville not become a town of 10,000 inhab- 
itants? It is undeniably a healthy location; it is a place where a 
family can live cheaply, it is a place surrounded by a country that 
produces everything that can be grown in the same latitude ; facilities 
for almost any legitimate business are excellent ; the people are moral, 
courteous and educated. The opportunities for education are in ad- 
vance of almost any small town in the State. We iiave a most excellent 
public school carried on eight or nine months of the year, and Park 
College, though in her infancy, is coming to the front. From asniall 
beginning six or seven years ago, she is now educating two hundred 
and fifty or more young men and women. Our advantage is that in 
Park College a very small sum of money with a good deal of applica- 
tion on the part of the student insures an education. He only needs 
to feel that he wants an education and be willing to work and wait. 



HISTORY OF I'LATTE COUNTY. 843 

to devote his energies to the accomplishmeat of that end, then to suc- 
ceeding in getting into the college family, and he is a success. 

Park College is quite a prominent educational institution, and is 
under the patronage of the Presbyterian denomination. Under the 
presidency of Prof. McAfee, the institution is in a prosperous con- 
dition. We regret exceedingly that Prof. McAfee's engagements 
were such that he could not furnish us the information we desired in 
reference to this college. 

At this time the population of Parkville is about 700, and all 
branches of business are represented. The Parkville Bank is a flour- 
ishing fiuancial institution, its president being W. J. Fulton, and its 
cashier John B. Flannery. The only railroad facilities which the town 
now enjoys are those afforded by the Kansas City, St. Joe and (coun- 
cil Bluffs Railroad, which passes through the place fi-om the southeast 
towards the northwest, affording close communication with Kansas 
City and St. Joseph, Council Bluffs and other northern points. 



BIOGRAPHICAL 



REUBEN T. ATKINS 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section 13, Post-office, Parkville) . 

Mr. Atkins moved upon the farm on which he now lives in 1883, 
coming from Southern Colorado, where he had been for some time. 
His present place is situated four miles east of north from Parkville, 
and embraces 240 acres, of which 200 are fenced, and a portion of it 
is devoted to blue grass pasture. His building improvements are of 
a good class. Mr. Atkins is successfully engaged in breeding Palan- 
gus cattle, of which grade he has a herd of sixteen head, registered; 
at the front is a three-year-old male, " Jacob," the American num- 
ber of which is 2078, and the Scotcii nunil)er, 2853 ; his weight is 
about 1,800 pounds. Mr. A. is a native Missourian, having been liorn 
in Clay county, November 11, 184t). His father, J. Q. Atkins, 
originally from Virginia, went to Woodford county, Ky., when a lad 
of 10 years, and there grew to years of maturity, and subseciuently 
mai-ried Miss Mary Stone. Moving to Missouri in 1830, he entered 
land in Clay county and bought a farm near Liberty, where he resided 
until his death, in September, 18(;6. The youth and early manhood 
of Reuben T. Atkins were passed within the i)oundaries of his native 
county, and the connnon schools of the vicinity found in biui a stu- 
dious and appreciative pupil. In March, 1868, he went to Southern 



844 • HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

Colorado and worked at his trade of carpentering for about three 
years, then engaging in ranching. He found time to devote a little 
attention to hunting during this period, but gave the most of his en- 
ergies to looking after the interests of the ranch from 1873 until 
1883, when, disposing of that, he purchased his present farm, as 
noted al)ove. Mr. Atkins was married in Colorado, February 9, 1877, 
to Mrs. Elise Carlier, a daughter of Eugene Gaussoin. Mrs. Atkins 
is a native of Europe, but was brought up in the United States. She 
has two children by a former marriage, Harry and Blanche Carlier. 
By the latter union three children have been born : Leah, Walter and 
Jerry Dean. Mrs. Atkins is a member of the Episcopal Church. 

ALBERT R. BAKER 

(Merchant, Tracy, Mo.; also Farmer and Stock-raiser). 

For twenty-five years Mr. Baker has been a resident of this county, 
during the most of which time he has been occupied with agricul- 
tural pursuits. Since April, 1884, however, he has carried on a gen- 
eral store at Tracy, and in one year's business at this place he has 
built up a good patronage and has acquired a reputation for reliab le 
dealing and honorable transactions in business affairs which will never be 
forgotten. He had not come here without some mercantile e.^perience, 
having engaged in the general merchandise l)usiness at Waldron in 
1879, which he carried on for nearly five years, then disposing of his 
interests there. In his farming operations he has been peculiarly 
successful, and now owns a fine tract of land near Farley, on the 
Platte river, of 220 acres, the greater part of which is in cultivation. 
His nearly new residence is a prominent feature of the place, and the 
other necessary outbuildings are in good condition. Mr. Baker came 
originally from Rappahannock county, Va., where he was born Sep- 
teml)er 17, 1828. His father, Daniel Baker, was born in Loudoun 
county, Va., and there was subsequently married to Miss Nancy 
Lawrence, a native of Fauquier county, the same State, where her 
death also occurred. Albert R. grew to manhood in his native county 
and there, on Decenii)er 14, 18-54, was united in marriage with Miss 
Julia F. Singleton, daughter of Albert R. Singleton, of that county; 
she had been born in Fauquier county, but was reared in Rappahan- 
nock county. Previous to his marriage Mr. Baker had l)een occupied 
in clerking, and after this even he was engaged in merchandising un- 
til coming West in November, 1859. At this time he went to Te.xas 
and remained until the fall of 18()0, when he became a citizen of 
Platte county. Mo., and where, as before intimated, he has since con- 
tinued to make his home. He has become well and popularly kiujwn, 
and thoroughly merits the esteem in which he is held by his many 
acquaintances. For one or more terms he has held the position of 
magistrate, though he has never been an aspirant for political advance- 
ment. To himself and wife have been born two children, Frances 
Marion and Albert Fleming. Three sons are deceased : James Jack- 
son died April 1, 1884, aged 29 years; he left a wife and two chil- 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 845 

dren ; Daniel R. died Fehniary 28, 1872, aged 15 years, and William 
Lee died 8eptenil)er 29, 1882. Mr. and Mrs. Baker are meinljers of 
the Baptist Church, and the former belongs to the Masonic Order at 
Farley. 

ADAM BECKLEY 
(Section 28, Post-offlce, Parkville). 

Mr. Beckley has iieen a resident of Pettis township, Platte county. 
Mo., since 1868, having come here from Jefferson county, Ohio. He 
has become one of the well known and enterprising agricidturists of 
this vicinity, and has contributed very materially to the advancement 
and promotion of the farming interests of the county. Mr. B.'s father 
was a native of Virginia, and there grew to manhood, and married 
Miss Mai-y Nicholas, of the same State. In an early day he settled in 
Ohio, first in Harrison county, and later in Carroll and Jefferson 
counties, in each of which he was occupied in farming. He had been 
twice married, his first wife dying about the year 1849; his death 
occurred in Carroll county in 1879. Adam Beckley was born in 
Harrison county, O., July 3, 1838, and having been brought up to 
laljor on the home farm, very naturally chose farming as his calling 
in life — a choice which has proven to be a most judicious one. He 
attended the common schools in the neighborhood of his birth, and 
after reaching manhood he married. Miss Sarah J. Grim becoming his 
wife on September 20, 1859. She was born in Harrison county, O., 
and was the daughter of John Grim, of Carroll county, where her 
girlhood was passed. The spring following his marriage, Mr. Beckley 
removed to Van Buren county and farmed on rented land until the 
fall of 1802, when he returned to Ohio. Some six years later, as 
noted above, he cast his fortunes with Platte county. His estate 
embraces 130 acres, the most of which is in cultivation, and upon the 
home place are good improvements. To Mr. and Mrs. B. have been 
born ten children ; Laura Belle, wife of Chas. H. Staples, living on 
an adjoining farm ; Richard M. died in the fall of 1881, in his 
twentieth year; William S. died when in his eighteenth year, in 1881 ; 
Kittie, Ettie May, Absalom, Debie A., Charles F., John H. and an 
infant, Bert Leroy, three months old. Mr. Beckley and wife are 
members of the M. E. Church. 

NATHANIEL C. BOYDSTON 

(Section 2, Post-offlce, Parkville'). 

This venerable and respected citizen of Pettis township has passed 
a life of more than ordinary activity and usefulness, a rough outline 
of which wo have drawn here, space necessarily forbidding us entering 
into minute detail. His parents were both natives of Tennessee, 
Thomas and Betsy (Gragg) Boydston. They came with their family 
to Missouri in 1831, and located in Clay county, near the line which 
divided that from Platte county. There they remained until 1838, 
when they came to this county, but two years later took up their 



846 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

location in Buclianan county, wliere Mr. Boydston died in 1862. 
Nathaniel C. accompanied his parents ou tiieir removal to this State, 
being at the time 19 years of age. He had been born in Cociie county, 
Tenn., December 7, 1811, and in growing up was not favored with 
veiy many opportunities for attending school, consequently his edu- 
cation was somewhat limited. July 22, 1836, he was united in mar- 
riage with Miss Dinah Forbian, daughter of Rev. Jacob Forbian, also 
formerly from Tennessee, and one of the early settlers and pioneer 
preachers in this vicinity. The very day that the treaty was ratified 
in this county Mr. B. removed to near Linkville, l)ut in about a year 
settled not far from Platte City, in which neighborhood he resided 
until 1844. Going to Buchanan county, he bought land, improved 
a farm, and remained until 1856. In 1850 he joined other gold 
seekers to California, to which State he went overland, and for about 
15 months worked in the mines. In 1851 he returned on the first trip 
that was made by the Nicaragua route, the vessel on which he took 
passage being foundered off Cape Hatteras. He finally reached New 
York, however, from which he soon came home. From the spring of 
1856 until the fall of 1863, he was a resident of Jackson county, 
Kan., but at this latter period he returned to Missouri and settled on 
the farm where he now lives. He has started to improve five places, 
and has made some improvements on seven places in Missouri and one 
in Kansas. His present farm contains 290 acres — eight miles off 
Kansas City — an exceptionally good farm. January 16, 1861, Mr. 
Boydston lost his first wife, who left 10 children.' April 27, 1862, he 
■was married again, Mrs. Margaret Broadhurst, widow of Rov. Jacob 
Broadhurst, and a sister to the first Mrs. B., then becoming his wife. 
She had four children by her former marriage, one of whom is a 
minister of the Gospel. She was reared in Clay and Platte counties, 
but came originally from Tennessee. By this last marriage there are 
three children. While in Buchanan county Mr. B. served as magis- 
trate for seven years. He was also a soldier in the Black Hawk War. 
In 1832 he joined the Methodist Church, of which he has been a 
zealous member for over 50 years. His wife is also connected with 
the same denomination, and is a lady of devoted Christian principles 
and true worth. 

JOHN H. BUENEMAN 

(Postmaster and Ketlred Merchant, Parkville) . 

One of the older and well known citizens of Platte county, Mr. 
Bueneman is highly respected and very popular, as his numerous 
services in filling local offices would fully indicate. He is a native of 
Prussia and was i)orn March 1, 1817, so that he has nearly reached 
the allotted age of three score and ten years. His parents, John H. 
Bueneman and wife, whose maiden name was Wallonl)rock, were also 
originally from Prussia, but lived all their lives and died in Germany. 
Young John, the subject of this sketch, received a good educatiou at 
his birthplace, and served an ajjprenticcship of three 3'ears at the 
tailor's trade. Coming to the United States in the fall of 1837, he 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 847 

first went to Westport, Mo., and workeJ at his trade with a brother 
(who had preceded him there) until the fcdlowing spring, when he 
located in Platte county, pre-empted apiece of land near where Park- 
ville is now situated, and commenced the improvement of his place. 
In 1844, wdien Parkvillewas laid out, he moved into town and followed 
his trade until the spring of 1865, when he started a grocery. 
He was appointed deputy-postmaster, and in 1872 received the 
appointment of postmaster, which position he has since continued to 
hold. In 1875 he disposed of his interests in the grocery to his son- 
in-law. He has held sevei-al local positions of prominence in the 
town. Mr. Bueneman was married at St. Charles in November, 
1837, to Miss Anna S. F. Hilgeman, also born and brought up in 
Prussia, and a daughter of Aberhardt Hilgeman. They have seven 
children: Rose, wife of William Andrews, of Leavenworth; Jose- 
phine, wife of John E. Thrclkcld, of Parkville, mention of whom is 
made elsewhere ; Adaline, wife of R. Beiga, of Leavenworth ; John 
T., of Parkville; Sophia, with her parents; Thomas T., in Idaho; 
Charles F., in Parkville. Mr. and Mrs. B. are members of the Pres- 
byterian Church. 

DAVID M. CLARKE 
(Farmer, Section 31, Post-offlce, Platte City). 

Edward Clarke, a native of Kentucky, and the f\ither of David M., 
married Miss Hannah Mcllvain, a daughter of Archibald Mcllvain, also 
of Kentucky, ami in about 182() came to Missouri, locating some six 
or seven miles north of Liberty, in Clay county, where he resided 
about 10 years. In 1836 ho came into Platte county, pre-emi)ted 
80 acres of land, subsequently adding to his original tract until he 
had finite a body, embracing some 1,000 acres. He disposed of part 
of this from time to time, but still retained a comfortai)le estate un- 
til his death, which occurred September 24, 1883. Had he lived un- 
til the following May he woidd have been 93 years of age. David M., 
the subject of this sketch, was born at Richmond, Madison county, 
Ky., March 8, 1822. He accompanied his parents to this State upon 
their removal here, and was brought up to follow agricultural pursuits, 
his father having always followed the occupation of a farmer. In 1849 he 
made a trij) overland to California and spent about three years engaged 
in mining and tilling the soil. Returning in 1853 to Platte county, he 
settled on a farm in the neighborhood of where he now lives. His 
present place contains 164 acres of land devoted equally to grass and 
farm purposes. His two-story residence is an excellent new building. 
In 1854 Mr. Clarke was married in Kentucky to Miss Susan Ann 
Clark, a daughter of Charles Clark, of Boyle county, Ky., where she 
was also born. She died in March, 1864, leaving live children : Mary E., 
Jennie, wife of Lewis Deadman ; Joseph W. and James T., both of 
this county, and Sue. In July, 1865, Mr. Clarke married for his 
second wife Miss Elizabeth J. Grain, daughter of John S. Crain, of 
Platte county. Mrs. Clarke is a native of Fleming county, Ky., 
where she was reared and educated. To them live children have been 



848 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

born: Edward, Anna, Albert S., Flora and Eiiojene Rock. Mr. and 
Mrs. C. are members of the Baptist Church. He has taken a prom- 
inent position in the affairs of this county, though quietly and unos- 
tentatiously, and has done a good deal for the advancement and 
development of the locality in which he makes his home. 

CHARLES CLARKE 

(■Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section 6) . 

Mr. Clarke is a brother to David' M. Clarke, whose sketch jirecedes 
this, and like him was born in Richmond, Madison county, K\'., the 
date of his birth being April 20, 1820. A brief outline of the career 
of his parents is given within that sketch, so that it is unnecessary to 
repeat here what has been mentioned there. However, some addi- 
tional facts of interest might be rendered. His father was born 
near Lexington, in Fayette county, was a son of Thomas Clarke, one 
of the first settlers of Fayette from Virginia. He was a brave 
and patriotic soldier in the Revolutionary War. Edward's wife came 
from the vinicity of near Baltimore, Md. Upon coming to Missouri 
he built a home and commenced the improvement of a place upon 
which his son Chai-les now resides The latter, like his brother, 
spent his youth in working on the home farm until 1848, when he 
went to Mexico and for a short time, or a period of six months, he 
gave his attention to merchandising at Chihuahua. In the spring of 
1849 he went on West to California, where he sold goods for some 15 
3'ears, conducted a hotel and was occupied with other branches of 
business, eight years of the time l)eing passed in Nevada, where he 
was also interested in ranching and trading. He returned to the 
county of his adoption in 1871 in order to relieve his father of the 
home duties and also to make for him a pleasant home in his declin- 
ing years. In January, 1878, Mr. Clarke was married. Miss Nannie 
Hoy becoming his wife. She was born, brought up and attended 
school in this county and was a daughter of Samuel B. Hoy, de- 
ceased, formerly from Kentucky, and one of the early settlers here, 
having come in 1837. Mr. Clarke has aliout 340 acres of land, 180 of 
which are in cultivation, and the remainder devoted to blue grass pas- 
ture. His orchard is deserving of special n)entioii. He is a promi- 
nent Democrat in his political affiliations and has a number of times 
been a delegate to numerous conventions, though personally he is 
anything but a political enthusiast or ofiice seeker. He is a member 
of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to the Blue Lodge, Chapter and 
Commandery. His wife is a member of the Baptist Church. He is 
one of the highly respected and honored citizen of this vicinity. 

THOMAS W. DAVIS, Jii. 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section 13, Post-office, Parkville). 

Thomas W. Davis, the father of the subject of this sketch, now a 
retired merchant living at Parkville, was born in Logan county, Ky., 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 



849 



July 10, 1812, a son of Gen. Cornelius Davis ; the father of the latter 
was a Virijinian by hirth and a soldier in the Eevolutionary War n'ith 
Washington, and was an early settler in Kentucky, serving in various 
Indian campaigns in that State. The wife of Gen. Cornelius Davis 
was Sally Wilson, born in Virginia. In 1822 the family removed to 
Saline county. Mo., and here the senior Davis was one of the com- 
missioners to lay off the county seat. He died near Marshall Decem- 
ber 25, 184-3. Thomas W. obtained a common school education, and 
then commenced clerking in Boonville. He married September 19, 
1833, Miss Mary E. Doyle, daughter of a Dr. Doyle, formerly from 
Virginia, where she was born and reared. After a two years' resi- 
dence at Boonville, Mr. Davis bought an established l)usiness at 
Jonesboro, but when the county seat was established he went to Mar- 
shall and built the first store and was the first merchant at that place. 
From 1847 to 1848, he sold goods in St. Louis, and then until 1856 
was interested in the mercantile business at Parkville. He farmed 
until after the war, or up to 18157, and from that time until 1882, he 
was successfully engaged in active mercantile life. He has reared a 
worthy family of seven children, two of whom are sons. One of 
these, Thomas W. Davis, Jr., has developed into one of the most 
promising young agriculturists in the county. He was born at Park- 
ville, Noveml)er 24, 1854, passing his youth on his father's farm at 
Prairie Point. His education was above the ordinary, for, in addition 
to the usual course in the district schools, he attended an institution 
at Slieibyville, Shelbj^ county, Mo. August 10, 1874, when in his 
twentieth year, Mr. Davis was married to Miss Mary Summers, 
(laughter of W. H. and Elizal:)eth (Wilson) Summers, originally from 
Kentucky. Mrs. Davis was reared in Platte county, the county of 
her birth, receiving a superior education in a convent at Leavenworth, 
Kas. Mr. Davis has a farm of 120 acres of good land, well improved. 
He and his father are members of the Masonic Lodge at Parkville, 
and the latter has been quite prominently identified with the interests 
of the Order, having held different [jositions in the same. 

HENRY F. DEISTER 

(Fanner and Stock-raiser, Section 21, Post-office, Barry). 

Mr. Deister, who is also numbered among the substantial and rep- 
resentative citizens of foreign birth in Pettis township, came originally 
from Hanover, Germany, where he was born August 9, 1830. His 
parents were Henry and Theresa Deister, ju'e Hartje, both natives of 
that country, where the mother's death also occurred. Henry F. ac- 
companied his father to America in 1.S45 and located in the north- 
western part of Texas, in what is now Cook county. After living 
there aljout one year he came to Platte county, Mo., in the spring of 
1847, purchased land on section 21 in Pettis township and improved 
a farm. Here Henry Deister died in 1865. The subject of this 
sketcli is the oldest in a family of four brothers and two sisters, of 
whom two brothers and one sister are in Kansas. Henry grew to 



850 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

mauliood on a farm in this neighborhood and in 1855, 1856 and 1857 
he was engaged in freighting across the plains, his phices of destina- 
tion being Salt Lalve and Mexico. These trips proved quite profita- 
ble to him in a pecuniary point of view. In May, 1858, Mr. Deister 
took unto himself a wife, in the person of Miss Margaret Henzen, a 
daughter of Henry Henzen, formerly from Prussia, where she was 
born, though her early training was received in Moniteau county, Mo. 
After his marriage Mr. Deister settled on section 17 of this township, 
where he resided until 1867, at which time, disposing of this property, 
he bought his present farm upon which he has made most of the im- 
provements that it now contains. He has in his home place 160 
acres all fenced"and more than half of it is in cultivation ; besides this 
he has 80 acres of improved land in Clay county, a half mile north of 
Barr}'. Mr. Deister has a family of five sons and three daughters: 
Henry W., John, Albert, Frank, Joseph, Mary A., Elizabeth and 
Dora living, and two dead, Theresa and Magdalina. Mr. D. and wife 
are members of the Catholic Church. 

GEORGE ECKERT 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Parkville). 

From the age of six years until he was 14, Mr. Eckert passed his 
youth in the public schools, acquiring there an education which has 
been of material benefit to him in later years. Between that and the 
age of 19 he remained in the county of bis birth, and then carried out 
a desire he long had to come to this country, which he did in 1848, 
landing at New York. He soon located in Wayne county ; worked 
on a farm there about seven years, and in the meantime was married, 
March 13, 1857, to Miss Dorothy Stell, daughter of George Stell, 
like himself, a native of Germany. Almost immediately after his 
marriage, Mr. Eckert came to Missouri, settling in Platte couuty, 
purchasing at first 80 acres of land, which he still owns. To this he 
has added from time to time until he has now become possessed of a 
landed estate of 320 acres in three different farms in the southern part 
of Platte county, situated about eight miles north of Kansas City. 
His home place is in good condition, and he has upon it all necessary 
improvements. During the war he served in the enrolled militia, but 
this was the extent of his military career. In December, 1876, 
he was deprived of his wife by death. She had borne him seven 
children, whose names in the order of their l)irths are George H., 
Mary L., wife of Peter W. Klamm ; Amelia, now Mrs. John P. 
Klamm, of Leavenworth county, Kan. ; Elizabeth C, William, Magda- 
lina, a fascinating young lady at home, and Jacob. As has already been 
intimated, Mr. Eckert is of foreign birth, having been born in Alsace, 
France (now belonging to Germany), June 16, 1829. His father was 
Jacob Eckert, and his mother's maiden name was Barbara Zimmer- 
man, both natives of the same province. The father was a farmer 
by occupation, and quite successful in his chosen calling. Both 
parents died in the old country. George Eckert, the subject of 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 851 

this sketch, is a member of the Presbyterian Church. He resides 
on section 19, and is meeting witii substantial results in the manage- 
ment of his farm. 

JOHN B. FLANNERY 

(Cashier of the Parkville Bank). 

The life of John B. Flannery has been of much value to Platte 
county in many particulars, both in material affair.s, as a public spir- 
ited citizen, and otherwi.se. Since 1877 he has been cashier of this 
well known banking institution — the Parkville Bank — and is pecu- 
liarly fitted for the successful discharge of the duties of his position. 
He is a son of Thomas Flannery, a well known resident of this county 
now residing aijout three miles east of Platte City, and when this fact 
is stated a great deal is said for the character of the son and his suc- 
cess as a business man. Thomas Flannery, originally of Virginia, 
came to Missouri when a young man, and at a very early day settled 
in Platte county, pre-empting land and improving a farm, upon which 
he lived for a numlier of years. He was nuirried here to Miss Fannie 
Brunts, whose father, John Brunts, was one of the early settlers of 
both Howard and Platte counties. Mo., but formerly from Kentucky. 
John B., born June 14, 1844, on the old family homestead in this 
county, was reared on tiie farm, and when he came up had not only 
good common school advantages, but the benefit of a course at the 
Platte City High School. At the age of 19, desiring to qualify hini- 
.self for a mercantile life, he entered a store at Platte City, where he 
was engaged in clerking until 18G9. In 1868, though but 24 years of 
age, he became the choice of the people of the county for county treas- 
urer, a compliment of which it is unnecessary for us to make an}' 
additional remark. After his term of service had expired he was 
made deputy sheriff and collector, and in the discharge of these du- 
ties he distinguished himself greatly in the estinnition of his constitu- 
ents, and, indeed, of all people of the county. Moving now to 
Kansas City, Mr. F. l)ecame engaged in the real estate and insurance 
business in 1873, and gave his attention to it for four years, or until 
1877. Locating at Parkville, he engaged with A. T. Jenkins, of 
Kansas City, in establishing the Parkville Bank, of which he has since 
been cashier. In 1873 he was appointed notary public, a position he 
has continued to hold to the present, and he has done much business 
in the way of a conveyancer and notary from that date. In business 
affairs, and especially in financial matters, his opinion is sought and 
his judgment deferred to by manj' of the most intelligent business 
men of this section of the county, and, indeed, wherever he is known. 
His thorough acquaintance with the resources and reputation of the 
people among whom principally his bank does business, renders him 
a very desirable man for this position. Ai)ril 7, 1868, Mr. Flannery 
was married in this county to Miss Alice Freeland, a daughter of 
Henry Freeland, deceased, formerly from Pennsylvania, and one of the 
prominent men of Platte county, who filled several positions of trust 
and influence in this community. Mrs. F. was born in Platte county. 



852 HISTOKY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

iiiul was educated at the schools of Phitte City. She is a hidy of 
singular excellence of character and ainial)ilitj, and is possessed of 
many nolile qualities of mind and heart. They have six children : 
Thomas H., Minnie F., John C, Nora A., Anna E. and William K. 
Mr. and Mrs. Fhuiaery are members of the M. E Church South. 
The former belongs to the Masonic Order — Parkviile Blue Lodge 
and Platte City Chapter and Commandery. 

JOHN J. FORD. 

CFarmer and Stock-raiser, Section 9). 

Mr. Ford has been a resident of Platte county all his life, or for a 
period of nearly 42 years, his birth having occurred here August 2, 
1848. During this time he has been actively and successfully engaged 
in tilling the soil — his chosen life occupation — and has done a good 
share in endeavoring to promote the agricultural interests of the 
county. Unassuming and quiet in his manner, but possessed of 
great energy and determination, his efforts in this direction have not 
been without material benefit. His parents were Samuel and Marga- 
ret (Higgins) Ford, who came to this county in 1838, mention of 
whom is made more fully in the sketch of the eldest son and 
brother, Josiah P. Ford, given elsewhere. Up to the age of 18 years 
John J. passed his days as the lives of most boys of the neighborhood 
were spent. In 1861, under Gov. Jackson's call for troops to sup- 
press Northern invasion, he became a member of the Home Guard, 
and when those troops were disbanded he entered the regular Confed- 
erate service, Shell)3''s brigade, as private. He was three times pro- 
moted, finally becoming first lieutenant, and served until the close of 
the war, l)eing discharged on the Brazos river, in Texas, though he 
'did not surrender until reaching Shreveport. The military career of 
Mr. Ford is one of which he has just reason to be proud, and one 
that reflects only credit upon him for the bravery and gallantry dis- 
played on more than one field of action. Returning to Platte county, 
he was married here to Miss Maticia Mooneyham, January 2, 1868, a 
daughter of Joseph and Eliza Mooneyham. She was born and reared 
in this county, on the farm where she now resides. There were 
seven children born of this' marriage: Katie, Joseph, Samuel, James 
H., Charles, Arch A. and Nora. After his marriage, Mr. Ford 
removed to the farm which he occupies at this time, purchasing the 
interests of the other heirs in 1872. The place embraces 220 acres, 
all fenced and well adapted for farming purposes. He and his wife 
are members of the Christian Church, and both are highly esteemed 
in this community for their genuine worth and true, neighborly 
qualities. 

WILLIAM J. FULTON 
(Banker and President of the Parkviile Bank). 

Though now only in the meridian of a well spent and active career, 
Mr. Fulton's life has been one of success almost from the i)eginning. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 853 

Like most nieii of influeiice of the present diix, he has arisen chiefly 
by his own efforts to a position of honor and influence in the estima- 
tion of those who are favored with his acquaintance. His father, 
James Fulton, a native of Nova Scotia, removed to New York State 
when a lad of 15 years, and was married there to Miss Martha Moore, 
of that State. He was a gallant soldier in the War of 1812, and after 
liis military career was occupied with the more peaceful affairs of 
(arming until his death, whicli occurred at Adrian, February 6, 1865. 
He was possessed of more than ordinary energy and perseverance, 
and became quite successful in the accumulation of property. His 
son, William J., was boru in Steui)en county, N. Y., November 10, 
1832, and spent his younger da3's in attending the common schools 
and working about home when not occupied vvitii study. After reach- 
ing his majority he still adhered to the habits of industry wiiich had 
tiins far characterized his course, and farmed for eight years before 
coming West. In September, 1863, he I'emoved to Missouri and 
located at Wyandotte, where he engaged in working on what is now 
known as the Union Pacific Eailroad for al)out a year, at a limited sal- 
ary. From that time until 1868 he contracted for supplies (ties) for 
tiie same company, and also during this time helped to furnish ties for 
tiie Hannibal and St. Joe Railroad from Cameron to Kansas City. In 
this year he took a contract for supplying the old Missouri Valley 
road (now the Kansas City, St. Joe and Council Bluffs) with tiinl)er, 
piling, ties and wood, i'urnishing material to the amount of from 
$2,000 to $15,000 per month ; for the last two years he has been in- 
terested less extensively with this branch of business, his contracts 
amounting to about $10,000 per annum, mostl}' wood. In 1869 Mr. 
Fulton removed from W3'andotte to Waldron, Platte county, and in 
1872 took up his location in Savannah. Returning to this county in 
1876, he located in Parkville, where he now resides — one of the well 
known and respected citizens of the place. He has purchased several 
farms, which have been improved, and now owns about 2,000 acres of 
land, contained in some twelve different farms. In 1878 the Parkville 
Bank was organized, and Mr. F. purchased an interest in that insti- 
tution. In about 1879 the directors of the bank showed tlieir appre- 
ciation of his ability for tiie position by electing him president, and 
since that time he has taken an active interest in promoting all meas- 
ures which tend to the welfare of the bank. Well established on a 
sound financial basis, its prosperity is due no less to the excellent 
financial nninagement which has been its good fortune to enjoy. The 
cashier is ]\Ir. J. B. Flannery who gives his entire attention to the 
bank. Mr. Fulton owns a neat residence in Platte City. He has 
lieen twice married, his second and present wife having been Mrs. 
Elzie McPike, daughter of George Roberts, deceased, formerly from 
Kentucky. By his first marriage he has one son, James Fulton. Mrs. 
F. has a daughter, Lizzie McPike, by a previous marriage. j\Ir. Ful- 
ton is a member of the Masonic fraternity. His wife is connected 
with the Methodist Church. 



854 HiSTORr OF platte county. 

JOHN HAMON 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section 34, Post-office, Hampton). 

Mr. Hamou is a Kentiickian by birth, who came to Missouri in 
1842, locatino; first in Clay county. He had served an apprenticeship 
of three j'ears at the wagonmaker's trade before leaving his native 
State, and consequently upon coming here worked at that calling fov 
some six years. In 1848 he left Clay county and came to Platte, 
hei'e buying 80 acres of land, which forms a part of his present farm ; 
but to this original purchase he has added from time to time until his 
estate embraces 275 acres, devoted to grain, pasture and timber. The 
iiuildings upon the place are substantial and convenient. Before 
locating permanently in this county, Mr. Hamon had pre-empted 160 
acres of laud in Buchanan county, which lie afterwards sold, and in 
1857 he also purchased a half section in Kansas, subsequently dispos- 
ing of this also. He comes of an old family in the history of this 
country, his father, Ezra Hamon, having accompanied the father of 
the latter to Philadelphia at the time of the signing of the Declaration of 
Independence. Though liut a small boy at the time, he ever remem- 
bered that memorable occasion, often referring to it with great 
l)leasure aud evident satisfaction. Ezra Hamou, a native of Chester 
county. Pa., went to Kentucky when a young man, aud was married 
in Fayette county to Miss Hannah Farra, daughter of Amos Farra, an 
early settler from Maryland. Mr. Hamon died in Kentucky (Scott 
county) in February, 1863, at an advanced age. His son, John 
Hamon, was born in Woodford county, Ky., July 18, 1816. He grew 
to years of maturity there, receiving an excellent education, for that 
early day, in a private seminary in the county of his birth. His life 
was passed in that vicinitj' until his removal to Missouri, which has 
already been noted. Mr. Hamon has never married, though most of 
the time there is a fomily living with him. He is a member in good 
and regular standing of the Brush Creek Christian Church. 

DAVID JOHNSON 

(Retired Farmer and Stockman, Section 24, Post-office, Parkville) . 

One of the very first pioneers to Clay count}', Mo., from Virginia, 
was "William Johnson, thefather of the subject of the present sketch, 
and a man who rose to enviable prominence as a citizen in the com- 
munity where he made his home. His first settlement was made near 
Barry, in the western part of Clay county, where he entered land and 
placed upon it the needed improvements. Many obstacles were to be 
overcome in thus entering a new country, but he never flinched from 
performing every duty which fell to his lot. A Virginian hy birth, 
he was a brave soldier in the War of 1812. His wife, whose maiden 
name was Margaret Shadrick, was also of Virginia l)irth. She died 
September 20, 1844, and her husl)and on the 15th of August, 1845. 
David Johnson was a noble representative of this old pioneer. He was 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 855 

Ixirn ill Woodford county, Ky., Septeniljer 5, 1814, but on account of 
coming to Clay county at such an early day, was of course Ijrought 
up there. His education was necessai'ily somewhat limited, though 
ho received enough schooling for all practical purposes. February 9, 
1S37, he was married to Miss Mary Ann Johnson, daugliter of John 
D. Johnson, formerly from Kentucky, and an early settler in Clay 
county; his daughter's birthplace was in the State of Kentucky. The 
fall after this event Mr. Johnson located on the farm where he has 
si;ice continuously made his home, then pre-empting the land and 
commencing its improvement. To this original purchase he subse- 
qnentl}' made additions from time to time, though his largest posses- 
sion at an}' one period was 200 acres. His present homestead 
embraces a good comfortable place situated about two and one-half 
miles north of Parkville, where, in the evening of his life, he can 
spend his days in ease and retirement — a fitting close to a life of 
industry and ceaseless activity. He has given much attention to the 
raising of a good class of horses and, in fact, to stock of all kinds, 
and has done much for this branch of business in Platte county. Mr. 
and Mrs. Johnson have reared a family of nine sons and two daughters : 
William T., John L., George A., James M., who was accidently killed 
by a threshing machine August 10, 1870, being then 25 years of age ; 
David S., Samuel H., Henry H., Charles G., Frank L., Nancy M., 
wife of Pleasant T. Ford ; and Maria E., now Mrs. John Gregg, all 
residents of this county. Save three sons, all are married. For some 
18 years Mr. Johnson has been a prominent member of the Christian 
Church. His companion, whose death occurred May 4,. 1875, was 
also prominently identified with that denomination. 

FRITZ KAHM 

(Merchant aud Manufacturer of Boots and Shoes, Parkville). 

Like so many of the industrious and well I'espected citizens of this 
county of foreign birth, Mr. Kahm is a native of Prussia, having been 
■ born in Hesse-Darmstadt, on the 9th of June, 1834. His parents were 
Peter Kahm and Elizabeth, nee Klemmer, both of that countr}'. The 
former died when Fritz was a child, but his mother is still living, 
a resident of Platte county, she having married again. Until the 
age of 19 years young Kahm's time was passed in the country of 
his birth, his excellent educational advantages being obtained in the 
schools of the vicinity. Having learned the trade of shoemaking, he 
worked at it there from the time he was 15 until 19, at whicii period 
he decided to come to America, his mother having been here al)out 
two years. In 1853 he set sail, landing at New York, and soon after 
he took u]) his permanent location in Ste. Genevieve, where he resumed 
Avork at his trade. In three months he went to St. Louis and six 
months later to Brunswick, which place he made his home for a year. 
Upon leaving the last mentioned city he came to Parkville on May 
26, 1855, engaged in his chosen calling. At the expiration of one 
year he started business for himself, and made most satisfactory and 

49 



856 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

successful pi'ogress, employing as niuny as seven men. This was 
before the war, and his manufacturing business steadii}' increased. 
After cessation of hostilities he added a stock of strap work for 
harness and also a line of agricultural implements. Mr. Kahm has 
built up an exceedingly good business for this portion of the caunty, 
and the stock which he handles would do credit to a place many 
times the size of Parkville. He built his business property in 1860, 
using this also as his residence for a number of years, when he 
erected a very neat residence in the upper part of town. He has 
several times been called upon to till different local offices, the duties 
of which he has discharged with singular fidelity and ability. He was 
a member of the city council a numl)er of years, and president of the 
school board also ; of this latter body he was a member for 13 
years. He is also prominent in Masonic affairs, having been Master 
of the lodge at this point for over 13 years. He is a K. T. in the 
Order. April 9, 1860, Mr. Kahm was married to Miss Elizabeth 
Klaus, a native of Prussia, though reared here. She was the daugh- 
ter of Frederick Klaus. They have five children : Fred. P., Lizzie, 
Minnie, Walter B. and Gracie. Mr. and Mrs. K. and daughter Lizzie 
are members of the Presbyterian Church. 

PETER W. KLAMM 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Parkville). 

Among the j^ounger and rising agriculturists of Pettis township we 
can not fail to mention the name of Mr. Klamm, for already he has 
reached a position which many other men, and men of greater expe- 
rience, might well envy. He has lived all his life in this vicinity, 
having been born in Clay county. Mo., in November, 1852, and is of 
German ancestry. His father, John Klamm, and also his mother, 
formerly Eva Catherine Groh, were natives of Germany, but in 1844 
emigrated with their family to the United States, locating in Clay 
county, this State, near the line separating it from Platte county, and 
at a point some five miles north of Kansas City. Here Mr. Klamm, 
Sr., purchased a farm, on which he remained until 1880, then comiuLC 
to this county, which he has since made his home. Peter was a dili- 
gent student in the common schools while growing up, and during his 
spare moments he worked at the occupation which he is now so success- 
t"ully following. In 1877, upon coming to Platte county, he bought 
land, and in 1882 he came to his present place. His first purchase 
embraced 140 acres, to which he has added another tract of 160 acres. 
This land is all under fence, and the improvements are all of a good 
class. His home place is a model of neatness. February 27, 1877, 
he was married in Clay county to Miss Mary L. Eckert, a sketch of 
whose father, George Eckert, appears just before this. They have 
two children — George P. and Virginia. Mr. Klamm and wife are 
connected with the German Evangelical Church. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 857 

JOHN L. LEVEL 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section 9, Post-office Parkville). 

Mr. Level, ;i protniiient young fanner of Pettis township, :ur1 who 
h:is become well established as one of its well-to-do and respected 
citizens, was about four years of age when brought to Missouri by his 
parents, A. T. and Elizabeth J. (Logan) Level, both originally from 
Kentucky. The family were among the first settlers in that State. 
John L. was born in Lincoln county, Ky, June 1, 1849, and in 1853 
his father came to this State, locating in the northern part of Platte 
county, where he bought a farm and commenced the improvement of 
it. There he died in April, 1875, aged 54 years. The educational 
advantages of John were above the average, for, in addition to such 
instruction as was received in the district schools, he olitained the 
benefit of a course at a high school at Camden Point. Farming has 
constituted his main occupation during life, and in this he has met 
with uniform good success. December 25, 1872, Mr. Level was mar- 
ried. Miss Ellen Dean becoming his wife. She was a daughter of J. 
B. and Elizabeth Dean, Mt'e Gregg, originally from Virginia. Mr. 
G. was a pioneer settler of Platte county, and he entered the land 
which Mr. Level now occupies. Mrs. L. was born and brought up 
here, and is a lady of superior intellectual qualifications and true 
womanly worth. Her education wjis acquired at the Daughters' Col- 
lege, under Prof. Gaylord, at Platte City. Some time after his mar- 
riage Mr. Level went to St. Joseph, but only remained two months, 
then moving on the place which has since been his home. He has 
220 acres, most of which is in cultivation and all under fence. The 
improvements are of a substantial order. ]\Ir. and Mrs. L, are mem- 
bers of the Christian Church. They have a family of three children : 
AVillie, Ara and Dean. 

CAPT. FRANKLIN LUTHY 

(Lumber Dealer and Undertaker, Parkville). 

For many years Capt. Luthy has been prominently identified with 
the material affairs of this pcn'tion of Missouri, and has come to lie 
well and poimlarly known throughout the community in which he has 
chosen to make his home. He claims the Old Dominion as his birth- 
jilace, having been born in Berkeley county, February 20, 1824. His 
father, Jacol) Luthy, a native of Switzerland, emigrated to the United 
States when a young man, and, being a man of more than ordinary 
education himself, followed the occupation of teaching for a numl)cr 
of years in Virginia. He was married in that State to Miss Mary 
Fo.x, after which event he l)ecame engaged in the mercantile Inisiness, 
continuing it until his death in the year 1842. The youth of Frank- 
lin was passed after the order of that of most boys of the perioii, 
part of his education being o!)taincd in the common schools, though 
the greater and most important ]iortion was acquired b}' self-culture. 



858 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

In 1848, when 23 years of age, yet possessed of no meagre spirit of 
enthusiasm, he went to Mexico as a recrnit in Gen. Price's regiment ; 
he returned the following winter to St. Louis, to which city he had 
removed in 1843, and where he was occupied in working at his trade 
of carpentering, until entering the war. Upon leaving St. Louis, 
after his return from Mexico, he went to Middletown, Montgomery 
county, where he was actively interested in contracting and building, 
much of the prosperity of that [)lace being due to his eflbrts for its, 
advancement. Capt. Luthyin the spring of 1857 came to Parkville, 
where he resumed work at his trade, and also embarked in the lumber 
business. During the war he organized several companies for the 
militia, and in 1864 was commissioned captain at Leavenworth, Kan. 
After the war he returned to Parkville and took up his former occu- 
pation, in addition to his lumber interests adding the undertaking 
business in 1879. He is enjoying a good patronage, which is largely 
due, no doubt, to his extensive acquaintance. In January, 1851 , 
Capt. Luthy was married in Middletown to Miss Margaret A. Mannen, 
daughter of Asa Mannen, one of the early settlers of Montgomery 
county. Mo., formerly from North Carolina. They have seven children : 
L. A., of Parkville ; Emma, James F., William H., in Kansas City : 
Maggie A., Luella W. and Harry T. They have lost three, all of whom 
died at tender years : Sarah M., Charles and John. The religious 
preferences of both Capt. and Mrs. Luthy are with the Methodist 
Church. The Captain has been and is quite prominent in local politi- 
cal affairs. 

JAMES A. Mccormick 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Sectiou 13, Post-office, Parkville) . 

Mr. McCormick was in his twenty-third j'car when his marriage oc- 
curred in Bath county, K}'., to Miss Susan S. Trumbo, daughter of Jno. 
Trumlx), of that county, where she was also born, reared and educated. 
She has proven herself to be a most estimable lady and a worthy com- 
panion to him whose name heads this sketch. Mr. McCormick is cer- 
tainly an exception to the general rule about minister's sons being of 
no account in the world. His father was one of the true, consecrated 
men of God, and the teachings to which he so long held, and the moral 
influence and earnest Christian example which he set to those who 
should come after him, have not been without the desired effects in 
the sui)seqiient life of his son. liev. S. M. McCormick, who was 
born in Fleming county, Ky., married Miss Jane McClelland, of 
Montgomer}' county, the same State, and in March, 1858, with his 
family he came to Missouri. After a short residence in Buchanan 
county he settled in the southern i)art of Platte, where he zealously 
laboredin the Master's vineyard until calletl to reap the rewai'd which 
he so richly deserved. He died March G, 1870, in his seventieth 3'ear ; 
his wife had preceded him some five years, dying in Iowa in 1865. 
During his location in this community he had been instrumental in 
the estal)lishment of the churches at Hickor}' Grove, in this county, 
and at Union, in Buchanan county. James A. was born in Mont- 



HISTOKY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 859 

ooinery county, Kj., December 18, 1830, in which locality he passed 
his time until reaching maniiood. He was favored with the advan- 
tages of good school opportunities which he did not fail to improve, 
and in March, 1858, he came to Platte county. Mo. Puirhasing land 
partially improved, he farmed, here until 1864, then going to Iowa 
during tiic progress of the war troul)los in this State. In March, 
1866, he returned to this county and has since been prominently 
identified with its agricultural interests. His farm three miles north 
of Parkville contains 270 acres, upon which are comfortable l)uildings. 
His orchard of 400 trees is worthy of especial mention. Mr. and 
Mrs. McCormick have one daughter living, Emily F., wife of Alexan- 
der Ireland, now living on the farm with his father-in-law. One son, 
John M., a promising 3'oung man and a successful farmer, died when 
in his twenty-sixth year, November 25, 1884. From a sketch of his 
death published at the time, we copy a few extracts. * * * n John 
was richly endowed with the many virtues of his parents and upright 
in all his dealings. Broad and liberal in his views, he was at the same 
time possessed of many noi)le characteristics of mind and heart, and 
was beloved by all who knew him." Mr. and Mrs. McCormick are 
members of the Christian Church. 

ABSALOM MILLER 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section 29, Post-office, Parlvville). 

Mr. Miller has been a resident of Platte county for 17 j'ears, and 
is now numbered among the industrious, well-respected farmers, of 
Pettis township. One of the most important events in his life 
was his career while in the army, and his service while a soldier 
is deserving of more than a mere mention in this brief outline of 
his history. When but 17 years of age, Mr. Miller enlisted in 
Co. C, Forty-third Ohio volunteer infantry, in which he served 
until the close of the conflict. He participated in the engagement 
at Resacca and all the fights with Sherman on his march to the sea, 
never missing a day's duty ; proceeding with the regiment on their 
way to Washington, he took part in the grand review there, after 
which he was transported to Louisville, Ky., where he was on pro- 
vost duty until July 17, 1865. At this time he was mustered 
out and returned to his home in Ohio, his native State, he having been 
born there (in Carroll county) January 31, 1847. Now but 19 years 
old, and having been seriously interrupted in his endeavors to secure 
a satisfactory education, he attended school at home one season and 
subsequently for one year was a close student at Harlem Si)rings Col- 
lege. He had been brought up to the occupation of farming l)ut in 
the fall of 1S68, uiion coming to Missouri, he engaged in teaching dur- 
ing the winter months for about four years, devoting himself to 
tilling the soil in summer. On the 25th of December, 1870, Mr. 
Miller was married to Miss Susan F. Taylor, a daughter of George 
Taylor, deceased, formerly of Kentucky. In 1875, Mr. M. located 
on his present farm, a place of 100 acres corafortabU' improved. To 



8(J0 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

himself and wife have been given six children : George Monroe, 
James T., William T., Jennie and Lydia, who died in early childhood ; 
Jacob S. and Jesse L. Mrs. Miller is a member of the M. E. Church. 
Mr. M.'s father, George Miller, also originally of Carroll county, 
O., was there reared and married Miss Catherine Low Miller, a native 
of Harrison county, that State. They still reside in Ohio. 

FRANKLIN B. MOORE, M. D. 

(Physician aud Surgeoa, Parkville). 

Dr. Moore has been engaged in the practice of his profession at 
Parkville for the past 28 years, and his skill and attainments as a 
physician are well recognized by all who have an opportunity of judg- 
ing of his professional standing. Though having enjoyed l)ut limited 
educational opportunities in youth, he made the most of those which 
it was his privilege to receive, and by close observation and a thorough 
application l)y self-culture, he became a more than ordinarily well 
informed man. In 1852 he commenced the study of medicine under 
Dr. George H. \Vhitne}% of Centerville, Bourbon county, Ky., taking 
his iirst course of lectures at the Louisville School of Medicine in the 
winter of 1852-53, and graduating from that institution in the spring 
of 1855. Immediately thereafter he located at Dripping Springs, 
practiced there a short time and in other places, also, for limited pe- 
riods, though having no pemianent location until settli ug at Parkville 
ill 1857. Here he has since continued his practice, and with the suc- 
cess which he so richly merits. Dr. Moore came originally from 
Kentucky, having been born in Fayette county, February 1, 1830. 
He was the son of Thomas L. Moore, a native of Kentucky. His 
father, Peter Moore, was a Virginian by birth, and was a gallant 
soldier of the Revolutionary AVar. He was one of the pioneer settlers 
in Kentucky. Thomas Moore was married in Bourbon county to 
Miss Mary Higgins, after which, in 1846, he moved to Scott county, 
where he was occupied in merchandising until his death, in September, 
1861. Owing to the death of his mother, the subject of this sketch 
was reared by his grandmother, during youth attending to the farm 
duties. In March, 1858, he was married to Miss Hettie A. Beau- 
champ, who was born and brought up in Spencer county, Ky., the 
daughter of Preston Beauchamp, of that State. To the Doctor and 
his wife have been born the following children: Kate B., wife of 
Thomas Ashby ; Marv E., now .Mrs. George Johnson, lioth of Park- 
ville ; and William P., almost grown to maturity, and learning the 
telegraph tmsiuess at Parkville. The Doctor and wife and one 
daughter are members of the Baptist Ciiurch. He l)e!ongs to the 
Masonic fraternity, in wiiich he has filled several official positions. 

ABNER B. NAYLOR 

(Farmer aud stock-raiser). 

Mr. Naylor's farm of nearlv 200 acres is one of the finest for suc- 
cessful agricultural purposes to be found in this part of the township, 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 8(U 

and the manner in which it is conducted is in full keeping with the 
personal characteristics of the owner — a man of great energy, deter- 
mination and of much perseverance. Many of the citizens of this 
county remember Mr. Naylor's father, Ignatius Na3d()r, a native of 
Bath county, Ky., who came to Missouri with his family in 1848 and 
located in Platte county in the vicinity of where the subject of this 
sketch, his son, now resides. He was brought up in the county of 
his birth, and there married, first Miss' Susan Kerns and afterwards 
Miss Mary R. Smith, of the same county. Upon coming to this lo- 
cality he l)ought and improved a farm upon which he lived, one of the 
respected residents of the county, until his death February 1, 1876. 
He was the father of a large family, eleven brothers and five sisters, 
all of whom grew to maturity, and ten brothers and one sister are 
now living. AH the sons but one, F. M., are in Platte county; the 
latter is in Daviess county. After passing his younger days upon the 
home farm and attending the common schools, Abner enlisted in the 
enrolled militia of Platte county. Mo., becoming a member of Co. 
N, Eighty-second M. S. M. infantry, under the colonelcy of Price, and 
serving until the close of the war, being mustered out at Parkville 
in August, 1865. On January 23, 1862, Mr. Naylor was married in 
Platte county to Miss Elizabeth H. Brink, daughter of A. J. Brink, of 
Wyandotte county, Kan., but formerly of this county, where his 
daughter was born and reared. To Mr. and Mrs. Naylor have been 
born five children : Andrew J., married to a daughter of B. 
F. Ellis, and living on a part of the home place: Mary E., 
wife of Charles W. Babcock ; Alva, William W. and Chester Ira. 
One besides these is deceased, John T., who died October 8, 1882, 
aged 14. Mr. Naylor has occupied no inferior i)osition in the estima- 
tion of the people of this county, having tilled several local offices, 
l)esides being magistrate for one term. He is a member of the Park- 
ville Masonic Lodge, as are also four of his brothers, and he has oc- 
cupied a number of official positions in that Order. Mrs. N. is con- 
nected with the M. E. Church. Mr. Naylor is now in his forty-fifth 
year, having been born August 11, 1840, in Bath county, N. Y. 

NORTHCUT NAYLOR 

(Farmer aud Stock-raiser, Section 29, Post-office, Parlcville) . 

For over 35 years Mr. Naylor has been engaged actively and ener- 
getically in pursuing the occupation of a tiller of the soil in Platte 
county, and not without son^e degree of success. He has only lived 
on his present farm since 1875, but has impi-oved it in an excellent 
manner, nearly all of the 152 acres which it contains being in cultiva- 
tion or pasture land. He raises sufficient fruit for all faniilv pur[ioses. 
■ A Kentuckian by birth, Mr. N. was born in Bath county, August 7, 
1837, his parents being George T. and Mary Ann (Jones) Naylor, the 
latter a daughter of John Jones, of Bath county. They were 
married in the county of their birth and in 1849 came to Missouri, 
locating in Platte county. The senior Naylor entered land in the 



862 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

southern portion of the county on the Platte bottoms and there 
resided until his death, which occurred January 19, 1858. His wife 
survived him some time, dying in January, 1878. Northcut has be- 
come thoroughly familiar with this vicinity, having grown up here, 
and is well known throughout a large region of country. He has 
been twice married ; first, December 4, 1864, to Miss Sarah McGay- 
gar, of this county, a daughter of Thomas McGaygar. To them 
were born three children: Trinvilla, Drusilia and Serilda. Mrs. N.' 
died in January, 1874, and Mr. Naylor took for his second wife, 
March 4, 1876, Miss Hannali Kerns, whose father, Jonathan Kerns, 
a Kentuckian by birth, came to Missouri in 1849. They have had 
two children. Wade Hampton and Julia F. Mr. N. once made a 
trip, across the plains to Fort Kearney, engaged in freighting, and 
afterwards he went to Salt Lake, and several times to Fort Union. 

OBED C. NOLAND 

(Section 20, Post-office, Parkville). 

Mr. Noland is a son of one of the first settlei's of the county, Maj. 
Joshua Noland and wife, mention of whom is made in the sketch of 
his brother, Judge G. W. Noland, which follows this ; therefore it 
is unnecessary to again repeat here what will be mentioned 
there as pertaining to the family history. Obed C. accompanied his 
parents to Platte county. Mo., in 1837, and was given most excellent 
educational advantages. In his leisure moments he assisted on the 
farm and thus familiarized himself with the routine of a life which he 
expected to embrace. October 31, 1855, before reaching the age of 
20 years, he married Miss Elizabeth F. Higgins, daughter of John 
Higgins, a native of Missouri, and who was born in Cooper's Fort, 
though his parents were Virginians by birth. After his marriage, 
Mr. Noland rented land for a number of years and in March, 1876, 
settled on his present place, a most beautiful farm of 300 acres. His 
specialty is in the raising of wheat, an industry for which this land is 
peculiarly adapted ; and on an average Mr. N. raises nearly 1,000 
bushels annually. Mr. Noland was born in Lafayette county. Mo., 
April 17, 1836, and is therefore in his fiftieth year. We have noted 
above his career from a bejrinniug as a boy unaided to a position of 
one of the leading citizens of this part of the county, a career which 
reflects great honor and credit upon him for the substantial and per- 
severing manner in which he has overcome all obstacles. He is well 
versed in the ordinary l)usiness affairs of every-day life and richly 
merits the success which has attended his endeavors. His family 
numbers 10 children, as follows: Mary J., wife of Geo. D. Pat- 
rick; Sarah M., wife of David C. Higgins; Martha J., now Mrs. 
Joshua R. Noland ; John H., at home, as is also his l)rother Will- 
iam B. ; George W. died in October, 1883, in his fifteenth year ; 
Harmon G., Hugh B., Harry C. and Lottie M. Mrs. N. is a 
member of the Christian Church. 






HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 863 

JUDGE GEORGE W. NOLAND 

(Farmer aud Stock-raiser, Section 25, Post-oflice, Parkville). 

Judge Nolaud, for nearly half a century a resident of Pettis town- 
ship, and a man who has held several positions of responsibility and 
honor in the county — one of the township's influential and highly-re- 
spected citizens, and a man of superior education and natural ability — 
is deserving of a more extended sketch than we feel at liberty to give 
in this volume, the space of which is necessarily limited. He came 
to this county when a mere child, and his entire life since then has 
been passed within its boundaries. His father, Maj. Joshua Noland, 
was a Kentuckiaii l)y birth, his father having been formerly from Vir- 
ginia. Joshua Noland was married in Madison county, of his native 
State, to Miss Sallie McKinney, of the same vicinity, and soon after 
this event, or fli the fall of 1831, they came to Missouri, locating first 
in Lafaj'ette county. This was their home until the fall of 1837, when 
they settled in Platte county ; the senior Noland now pre-empted land, 
and, after it came into the market, entered it. This emiiraced the 
place upon which the Judge now resides. Maj. Noland died in 1854, 
having during his eventful life, among other things, held the position 
of an officer of militia. George W. Noland was born in Madison 
county, Ky., December 5, 1830, and was the third of seven sons, four 
of whom are living at this time, and three of tliem in Platte county 
(the other being in Wyandotte county, Kan.). As already inti- 
mated, the early life of George W. was an uneventful one, his time 
being spent in work upon the home farm, and in acquiring an educa- 
tion. He was here married to Miss Sidney B. Reynolds, on the 12th 
of Februai'v, 1858. Mrs. N. was born in Howard county. Mo., and 
was the daughter of Thomas C. Reynolds. Mr. Noland soon after 
this located on the old homestead, buying out the interest of the other 
heirs. This place, one of the best in the township in size and pro- 
ductiveness, contains 360 acres, upon which are model improvements, 
embracing everything necessary for the successful carrying on of a good 
stock farm. His orchard consists of al)ont 200 trees. In 1862 he en- 
listed in the State militia. Thirty-ninth regiment, and subsequently was 
in the Eighty-second until the close of the war. In one engagement he re- 
ceived a flesh wound which disal)led him for some time, and in the fall of 
186-1 he was mustered out, then returning to the farm. In the Thirty- 
ninth regiment he held the position of second lieutenant, and was first 
lieutenant in the Eighty-second. For one term Judge Noland occupied 
the bench of the county court, and discharged his duties in an em- 
phatic but practical maimer, greatly to his credit and to the satisfac- 
tion of those who had supported iiim. He and his wife have five chil- 
dren : William T., married and on the home farm; Ida D., wife of 
G. W. Noland, Jr., also of this county; Henry C, at home ; Emma, 
and Ed. M. Three are deceased: George B., aged five; James M., 
three years old, and Mary A., aged four years. Mrs. Noland is a 
member of the M. E. Church South. 



8(54 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

MATHIAS F. NOLAND 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section 17, Post-office, Parlvville) . 

One of" the best known and among the iiighly respected citizens of 
this connty, and especially of Pettis township, where so many years 
of his life have been spent, is Mr. John Noland, the father of the sub- 
ject of this sketch, who lias almost reached the age usually allotted to 
man — three score and ten. He is a sturdy son of Kentucky, having 
been born in Estill county, and during his residence in Missouri, which 
has been since 1831, he has displayed to no ordinary degree the char- 
acteristics and thorough life principles of the people of that State. 
His first location in Missouri was in Fayette county, but in 1837 Platte 
county became his home, and here he was afterwards married to Miss 
Zilpha Garges, a native of North Carolina, and daughter of Joel 
Garges, an early settler of the count}'. Mr. Noland subsequently entered 
land and improved a farm in this township, the place which is now occu- 
pied by his son, the subject of this sketch. He was (58 years old on 
February 22 last, a man well preserved in years and who bids fair to see 
many more winters. Mathias F. has passed his entire life within the 
bounds of Platte count}', having been born in the neighborhood of 
his present home, August 18, 1844. His early youth was employed 
in the occupation which he has ever followed, but in 1862 he enlisted 
in the Eighty-second regiment of the Missouri State militia, under Col. 
J. A. Price, of Weston. Taken prisoner at Parkville, in 1863, he 
was only held a short time, then being paroled. January 10, 1864, 
he was united in marriage with Miss Eliza Gray, whose father, Henry 
Gray, was a pioneer to Jlissouri. Mrs. Noland was born and reared 
in Carroll connty. Heaven has blessed them with a worthy family of 
children, five in number: Zilpha A., John N., Cora E., Mdda and 
Walter. Mr. N., in connection with his father, with whom he makes 
his home, has 200 acres of land, under good improvement. Mr. No- 
land has frequently been called upon to fill different local offices in the 
township, the duties of which he has discharged with ability. 

OTHO OFFUTT 

(F.armer and Stocl£-raiser, Section 33). 

Samuel R. Offutt, the father of the suliject of the present sketch, 
was born in Virginia, where he grew up and was married to Eliza 
Hayes, who was also a native of Virginia. In an early day Samuel R. 
settled in Kentucky, and owned land in l)oth Bourbon and Fayette 
counties. In 1843 he sold out his interests in the latter State and 
came to Missouri, locating in Platte county, near Camden Point, where 
he bought land and im()roved a farm — two or three farms — and was 
an extensive trader both in stock and land. He died at Camden Point 
in the fall of 186,5. His wife is also deceased. Otho Offutt is a Kentuck- 
ian by birth, having been born in Fayette county April 11, 1835. He 
grew to manhood in this county, having accompanied his parents here 



HISTOKY OF PLATTE COUNTY. , 865 

in the full of 1843, but in early life was denied the privileges of an 
education. In 1861, under Jackson's call for troops, he enlisted in 
the Home Guard, and subsequently, upon their disbanding, enlisted 
in the regular Confederate service, in Pindall's battalion of sharp- 
shooters, serving until the close of the war. He was in the fights 
at Springfield, Mo., Elk Horn, Prairie Grove, Mansfield and some lesser 
engagements. After the war Mr. Otfutt returned to this county and 
was occupied in farming until his marriage here, in December, 1866, 
to Miss Sarah Settle, daughter of John J. Settle, from Virginia. Mrs. 
Oftutt was also born in that State. Some time after this event he 
located on a farm at Camden Point, remaining there until 1869, when 
he removed to the place which he now occupies. This was then un- 
improved land, but he went to work with energy and determination 
to cultivate a good farm, which he has succeeded in doing. He has 
280 acres all fenced, upon which are good buildings. One important 
feature of the farm is an excellent well, containing eighteen feet of 
water, and which seldom varies in depth, and furnishes an abundance 
of water, for stock purposes. Mr. Offutt had the misfortune to lose his 
wife July 1, 1884 ; she left seven children : J. Elliott, Jesse E., Vir- 
ginia, Marion, Olho, George W. and Joseph. Mrs. Offutt was a 
member of the Baptist Church, with which he is also connected. 
He is one of the progressive, enterprising agriculturists of Pettis 
township. 

WOODFORD W. RIXEY 

(Farmer aud .Stock-raiser, Section 33, Post-office, Platte City). 

Of that sturdy and independent class, the farmers of Missouri, 
none are possessed of more genuine merit and a stronger character 
than he whose name stands at the head of this sketch. A young man 
not yet thirty-five years of age, he has risen to a position among the 
citizens of this county which would be of credit to one much older 
and of more experience in tiie affairs of life. He was born in Cul- 
peper C(ninty, Va., November 2."», 18.50, and was a son of Charles 
W. and Ann. F. (Settle) Kixey, of the same county. The former 
was a prominent man in the county of his birth, was a large land 
owner, and conducted an extensive plantation, owning, besides, a 
large number of slaves before the war. He served as a magistrate 
for many years. He died in 1870. Woodford W. Rixey, his son, 
was more than onlinarily favored in his bringing up, aud especially 
did he excel in his educational opportunities. To his good primary 
education he added a course in Roanoke College, and was in the 
sojjhomore class when he was obliged to leave school in 1869, on ac- 
count of his father's health. After his death he came to Missouri, 
in 1871, and located in Platte county where he was married to Miss 
Margaret V. Miller, daughter of Jesse and Margaret Miller, for- 
merly from Virginia, and among the early settlers of this county. 
Mrs. R. died the same year of her marriage. At her father's decease 
he had willed the home farm, 160 aci-es, to Mr. Rixley. He was 
married again in October, 1878, in Buchanan county, to Miss Mary 



866 .HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

J. Settle, daughter of J. D. Settle. She was born in Platte county, 
but was reared in Buchanan. To them have been born three children, 
Margaret Virginia, Mary Frances and Woodford Joseph. Since his 
first marriage Mr. R. has been engaged in farming. He now has 160 
acres in the home place well improved, upon which is an orchard of 
400 trees. He also owns a number of houses and lots in Hampton. 
A valuable spring in his yard affords a sufficient supply of water for 
all farm purposes. Mr. and Mrs. Rixey are members of the Elm 
Grove Missionary Baptist Church. 

JOHN SHEPARD 

(Fanner and Stock-raiser, Section 30, Post-office, Hampton). 

A native born citizen of this county, Mr. Shepard has risen to no 
ordinary degree of success in his calling of an agriculturalist and 
stock man, and is recognized evei-y where as an energetic and pro- 
gressive tiller of the soil, imbued with all those qualities of go-ahead- 
ativeness which characterized his father and, indeed, other of his 
ancestors. His fatlier, Lycurgus Shepard, removed from Kentucky, 
his native State, to Missouri with his parents and settled in Howard 
county, where he grew to maidiood. He was united in marriage there 
to a daughter of one of the earliest settlers of the county — Miss 
Sallie A. Howard, a daughter of Matthew Howard, also originally of 
Kentucky, though she was born and reared in Howard county. In 
about 1838 he moved to Platte county and for a year or two rented a 
farm, then purciiased the place where he now lives. He lost his wife 
here in about 1867. Since his settlement here Mr. S. has been 
prominently identified with both the public and private interests of 
the county. He filled the office of surveyor very acceptably for one 
or more terms and was the efficient sheriff of the county for two con- 
secutive terms. He now makes his home with the subject of this 
sketch, and is a hale, hearty gentleman, one of the respected and 
honored pioneers of the county. John Shepard, a Avorthy son of 
Lycurgus Shepard, was born on the farm where he now lives, January 
9, 1843, upon which he also grew to maturity. In 1861 he enlisted 
in the Confederate army, first in Col. John Winston's regiment and 
afterward in Pindall's sharpshooters. Parson's brigade, of the regular 
Confederate service. He served until the close of the war and sur- 
rendered at Shreveport, La., having been in the fights of Elkhorn, 
Prairie Grove, Helena, Jenkin's Ferry, Pleasant Hill, Mansfield and 
a number of others. After this he returned to his liome and has since 
been occupied in farming. Octoi>er 21, 1875, Mr. Shepard was married 
to Miss Sarah F. Ashby, daughter of S. B. Ashby, of this county, 
formerly of Kentucky. They have seven children : Anna, Celsus, 
Matthew, Eiisa, Orin,'Paul and Nellie. Mr. S. belongs to the Ma- 
sonic fraternity, liolding meml)ership in the Blue Lodge, Cha[)ter and 
Commandery (Knights Templar) at Platte City. His farm of 320 
acres is a superior one, and is conducted in an excellent manner, — 
in full keeping with a neat, well educated and enterprising owner, as 
Mr. S. is. 



i 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUKTY. 867 

SAMUEL B. STUCKEY 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section 36, Post-office, WaUlrou). 

Mr. Stuckey had just passed his twenty-first year when he became 
possessed of a determination to leave the parental homestead in Old 
Virginia and come on further West. This he was finally prevailed 
upon to do, and accordingly in the spring of 1868 he moved to Mis- 
souri, locating at once in Platte county. Here he resumed the oc- 
cupation to which he had been reared, and which he has ever 
followed, namely, that of farming, and in which he has not been un- 
successful. He had not been here very long before he was married, 
Miss Lou Settle, daughter of John J. Settle, foruierly from Virginia, 
and who had settled in Platte countv in 1855, I)ec()ming his wife on 
March 23, 1871. Tliough herself a "Virginian by birth, Mr. S. was 
brought up and educated in this county. A year after this Mr. 
Stuckey purchased a farm, a portion of which constitutes his present 
place. His estate embraces 300 acres, all under fence, and divided 
as usual into pasture, timber, etc. A good residence adorns the home 
place, and other buildings 'are in keeping with the general appear- 
ance of the farm. The land is peculiarly well adapted to the grow- 
ing of wheat, which he has made a specialty, and his average 
j'ield annually will reach about 2,000 bushels. Their interesting 
famii}' numbers six children : Jennie V., Ada, John, Rose E., Jesse 
and George. Mr. Stuckey is descended from an old Virginian family, 
his parents and grandparents having been born in that State. The 
father, Jacob A. Stuckey, of Berkeley county, married there Miss Eva 
Ferrel, daughter of Benjamin Ferrel, originally from Pennsylvania. 
The family still live in the State of tiieir birth. Samuel B. Stuckey 
was born in Berkeley county (now in West Virginia), November 28, 
1846, and therefore is nearing his fortieth year. He and his wnfe 
are members of the Christian Church. 

JOHN E. THRELKELD 

(Merchant, Parkville, Mo.). 

In the early days of the county, no man was more thoroughly con- 
versant with the geography of the then thinly populated portion of 
this State than George W. Threlkeld, the father of John E., who was 
originally from Kentucky. He came to Missouri a j'oung man, locat- 
ing eiglit miles north f)f Columliia, in Boone count}', where he married 
Miss Eveline W., daughter of George Sexton, the earliest stage con- 
tractor of the State, he having controlled the Missouri and Illinois 
stage business for a number of years. Mrs. Threlkeld was native to 
Boone county. In 1848 the family moved to Kansas City, when there 
were but three houses in the place, and there the father started the 
hotel and livery business, erecting the first hotel in the town. In 
1851 he started overland to California, but was sick on both the trip 
going and coming, sul)sequently dying at St. Louis in 1851, aged 38 



868 HISTORY OF PLATTE COONTY. 

years. He was an active, energetic business man, and could his life 
l)ut have been spared he would have doubtless attained to more than 
an ordinary degree of prominence. John E. grew to manhood in 
Kansas City, receiving a good education at the High School and col- 
leges there. After this he ran his father's business during the latter's 
al)sence in California, and also clerked in a mercantile establishment, 
besides learning the printer's trade. In 1857 ho went on a Salt Lake 
expedition across the plains, and in 1858 took a fur company to a point 
140 miles this side of Ft. Laramie, on North Platte, where a post was 
built. Several yeai's were subsequently passed in making trips to 
Mexico and Denver. The year 18(55 was spent in Salt Lake City. In 
the fall of that year he returned home, then at Kansas City. Soon, 
however, he became interested in mercantile pursuits in Clay county, 
also buying stock for butchering purposes for Kansas City parties. 
In 1867 Mr. Threlkeld took up his permanent location at Parkville, 
embarking in the grocery business. Since then he has had several 
partners, the present firm, Bueneman& Threlkeld, having been formed 
in 1875. The establishment embraces two stores, one devoted to gro- 
ceries, and under the management of Mr. Bueneman, and the other, a 
clothing store, under the charge of Mr. T. ' They are enjoying a most 
excellent trade as they fully deserve. Mr. Threlkeld was married 
October 24, 1867, to Sliss Josie Bueneman, daughter of J. H. Buene- 
man, the postmaster of Parkville, and whose name appears in 
connection with his sketch elsewhere. They have two children, Theo- 
dore R. and Eva May. Two are deceased, George dying when 5 
years old and Pearl at the age of 5 years. Mr. T. is a member of 
the M. E. Church, and his wife is connected with the Presbyterian de- 
nomination. He belongs to the Blue Lodge of the A. F. and A. M., 
and is also agent for the Masonic Mutual Benefit Society of Missouri. 

COL. JOHN H. WINSTON 

(Farmer aud Stock-raiser, Section 27) . 

The record of the family of which the subject of the present sketch 
is a woilhy and respected representative, leads us back to the Revo- 
lutionary days of the Republic. He is descended from a noble, 
chivalrous and gallant patriot who had settled in North Carolina from 
Virginia previous to the Revolutionary War — Col. Joseph Winston. 
He was a colonel in the struggle for Independence and was one of 
tin-ee survivors of the battle of King's Mountain, for whom the Legis- 
lature of the State of North Carolina ordered three swords to be 
made which were suitably engraved — living mementoes of th;it fierce 
and terrible struggle. Col. Jose[)h Winston was the father of Gen. 
Joseph W. Winston, a native of Stokes county, N. C. He married 
Miss Letitia Hughes of that State, but in 1839 moved to Missouri and 
located in Pettis township, in Platte county, where he resided until 
his death in 1840. H(>, too, was a fearless soldier ;ind in the War of 
1812 commanded a North Carolina regiment. He was afterwards 
major-general of the State militia, and also served with distinction 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 8(19 

aiul honor as representative of his county in the State Legislature. 
His father before hira had held a like position in his county, and also 
served two terms in Congress. To Gen. Joseph W. Winston and wife 
were born four sons, of whom John H. Winston is the eldest. Joseph 
went to California in 1849 and was elected probate judge, which posi- 
tion he held until his death in 1864 ; he left one daughter. Matthew 
H. died in this county in 1884. Capt. Samuel L. Winston served in 
the Missouri State Guard and C. S. A. under his brother, Jno. W., 
from 1861 to 1864 ; he also left two sons and two daughters. The 
youth and early manhood of John H. were passed in his native county, 
where he had common school advantages, and in 1837 he became a 
citizen of Missouri, taking up his location in Platte county, where 
he settled on a farm. Here, on the 4th of December, 1839, he was 
married to Miss Elizabeth Tebbs, a daughter of William H. Tebl)s, 
deceased. W. H. Tebbs, born and raised in the ancient town of Dum- 
fries, Prince William county, Va.,was married in 1809 to Miss Lydia 
Kennedy, of Sandy Point, Md. They raised their family in Prince 
William county, Va., on a large landed estate. Mrs. Winston, after 
having received a refined education in Prince William county, and en- 
joyed high social privileges, removed to St. Louis, Mo., where her 
father dying, she emigrated with her widowed mother to what was 
then the Platte Purchase, where she met John H., son of Gen. Joseph 
W . Winston, a man of wealth and distinction, to whom she was mar- 
ried December 4, 1839. 

After this event Mr. Winston bought a farm and located where he 
now lives. Soon after his settlement here, or in about 1840, he was 
made major of the State militia. In 1861, under Gov. Jackson's 
call for troops to suppress Northern invasion; he enlisted in the State 
militia and was elected major, but after the fight at Lexington he was 
promoted to colonel of the Secontl Regiment, Fifth Division, M. S. G. 
Col. Winston was transferred, after tiie battle of Pea Ridge, to the 
Fifth Div., M. S.G., and consolidated into theFirst Mo. ritle regiment. 
He participated in the tights at Lexington, Pea Ridge, Corinth, Prairie 
Grove, and a number of lesser engagements and was once sent out 
on special duty, Ijut was captured with Price's command while at 
home. After being held a prisoner for twenty months at different 
places, he was released from confinment at the close of the war and 
then returned home, since which time he has lieen farming and stock- 
raising. During his service in the war Col. Winston carried the sword 
which had been presented his grandfather for services during the 
Revolutionary War, and which is spoken of above. In 1872-73-74 
Col. Winston, having lieen selected as the most capable candidate to 
represent his county in the Legislature, was elected to that position 
by majorities highly complimentary to his ability and personal quali- 
fications, and served with credit to himself and honor to his consti- 
tuents. In his farming operations he is achieving good success, and 
now has 400 acres of land, his home place being improved with all 
the conveniences necessarv and essential to a proper conduct of a 
model fai-ni. His family of five children are Harry C., a graduate t)f 



870 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

William Jewell College, the Columbia Law School, and the Law 
School at Washington City, now practicing in Kansas City ; George 
F., also educated at William Jewell College, and a graduate of the 
St. Louis Law School ; also practicing in Kansas City ; Lydia, wife of 
M. E. Clark, banker, in Leavenworth; Cora, now Mrs. Wm. H. 
Woodson, of Independence ; both of these young ladies are graduates 
of Clay Seminary ; Julia L., died at the age of 18, after having com- 
pleted a collegiate course, and Algernon Sidney, who, after having 
attended William Jewell College, returned to the old homestead, 
whei-ehe is a successful stock-raiser and agriculturist. Mrs. Winston 
is a woman of more than ordinary force of character and deserving of 
special credit for the manner in which she has personallj- taken an in- 
terest in the bringing up of her children. 

COL. RICHAED P. WOOD 

(Grocer, Parkville). 

Col. Wood, one of the well known and honored citizens of this vi- 
cinity and a man who came to the county in the eaidy days of its ex- 
istence, is a member of the distinguished family whose name he bears, 
representatives of which have risen to more than ordinary prominence 
in the history of this State and others throughout the land. He is a 
brother of Dr. Joseph M. Wood, of Kansas City, of Judge W. T. 
Wood, of Lexington, Mo., and also of Lewis J. Wood, of Smith- 
ville, Clay county. As might already have been inferred, he is a 
Kentuckian by birth, born in Mercer county, December 28, 1813. 
His father, William Wood, a native of Virginia, went to Kentucky 
when a young man, and there married Miss Sarah Thomas, of the 
same State as himself. In 1833 the famil}' .removed to Missouri and 
settled in Clay county, near Liberty, where Mr. Wood bought land ; 
and subsequently he died there in about 1834, his wife following him 
two weeks after. Our subject arrived at his majority while in Clay 
count}', having also received such schooling as could then be obtained 
in the primitive log school-houses of the period. Li 1838, in Lib- 
erty, he was married to Miss Angeline Wallace, daughter of one of 
the first settlers from Tennessee to this county, and one of the most 
prominent citizens of the locality. In 1838 Mr. Wood engaged iu 
the drug business at Liberty, and in 1838 moved into Platte county 
before the lines had been surveyed, buying a claim near Platte City. 
Afterward he entered the land, one-half section, remaining in Platte 
county till 1849. He now sold out and made an overland trip to Cal- 
ifornia, spending four mouths on the way ; but after twelve months 
of work in the mines, returned by Panama and New Orleans. He 
soon purchased a farm near Liberty, which he subsequently disposed 
of, in 18f)7, when Parkville became his home. Before the war Mr. 
Wood had a number of slaves. In 1867 he embarked in the dry goods 
Inisiness at this point, and after about five years of successful business 
management started the drug store, which was succeeded by a grocery 
store some eight years later. This the Colonel has since continued to 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 



871 



conduct, and his great personal popularity has proven a source of 
liberal patronage among those whom he has so long known. Col. and 
Mrs. Wood have been blessed with three sons and three daughters, 
all of whom, save one young lady at home, are married. One son, 
John Wood, died in 1870, aged about 30 years; he was unmarried. 
Mrs. W. is a member of the M. E. Church. Her husband belongs to 
Parkville Masonic Lodge. Col. Wood is recognized as one of the sub- 
stantial men of this place. 

50 



CHAPTERXX. 

MAY TOAVNSHIP. 

Boundary — Physical Features — Early Settlers — Barry — Pioneer Preachers and 
Church Members — Linkville — Principal Business Houses of the Place — Its Con- 
dition as a Business Center — Biographical. 

BOUNDARY. 

May towaship was formed from Carroll and Pettis and includes 
nine sections of the southwest of township 53, range 33, nine sections 
of the northwest of township 51, range 33, four sections of the north- 
east of township 51, range 34 and six sections of the southeast of town- 
ship 52, range 34, and contains 28 square miles. The township was 
named for Dr. May, a native of Kentucky, who came to Platte county 
and settled in what is now May township, at the head of Todd's 
creek. 

PHYSICAL FEATURES. 

This township, like Platte county generally, was originally a tim- 
bered district, a small portion being prairie. The general surface is 
uneven and in some places the soil is thin and a small portion even 
rocky. Some very fine farms have been cleared in the township and 
it numbers among its settlers some of the representative agriculturists 
of Platte county. Fresh water springs are found indifferent sections 
and it is well watered by Todd's creek. Second creek and other small 
streams having their source in this county. 

EARLY SETTLERS. 

The first settlers in the township, like the early settlers of other 
townships, have mostly past away. Among these were Wm. Brown, 
Townsend Brown, James Brown, Wm. Hoy, Samuel Hoy, Dowell 
Durbin, Alien Chance, Adam C. Woods, William Woods, Wm. Fox, 
Wm. Fox (No. 2), John Andrews, William Berry, James Berry, Wm. 
Lewis, Dowd English, J. B. Cox, Bradley Cox, Wilson Williams, 
Gen. Rodgers, Wm. Wilson, Washington Drew, Peter Rodgers, Wm. 
Conway, R. C. Brown, L. Allen, J. W. Drew, Sashell Brown, John 
Broadhurst, J. C. Dyster. The population of the township in 1880 
was 899. 

(872) 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 873 



Barry is in the southeastern part of the township ; is situated on the 
line dividing Phitte and Clay counties, and is partly in both. The 
first building in the place was erected by Glenn Burnett, the brother 
of Peter Burnett, in 1834. It was a one story log building used tor 
store purposes. VVe have made mention of this place in connection 
with the history of Chiy county, a portion of its limits being within 
tiiat county. In 1837 there were about six houses there. 

PIONEER PREACHERS AND CHURCH MEMBERS. 

James Cox, a native of Kentucky, was the first minister ; he belonged 
to the Christian Church known as Reformers. 

The Primitive Baptists built a log church four miles west of Barry 
in 1840. Peter Simpson was the first preacher of this denomination. 
He was noted for his manner of dress, which was usually a blue coat 
with brass buttons. The Browns and Hoys were among the prominent 
members of the Baptist Church, while James and William Berry, 
Allen Chance, Hiram Waller and Gen. Rodgers were pillars in the 
Christian Church. Richard Cain is thought to have taught the first 
school in about 1841 or 1842. 

LINKVILLE 

is situated on the north line of the township, and was laid out in 1871 
l)y Levi Link and John Harrell, partners in the first store. In 1873 
they sold out to Henry Nichols. Nichols sold out in 187fi to Thomas 
Slaughter. About one year after Jesse and Thomas Slaughter became 
partners, and built a new store room, and Crigler & Nunnelly put a 
stock of drugs in Slaughter's old building. Nunnelly afterward sold 
his interest to Dr. Adkins, and Crigler & Adkins sold out to J. O. 
Johnson & Co. The principal business houses are J. O. Johnson & 
Co., general store; Slaughter & Elgin, general store; W. Thornhill, 
saloon. Mr. Slaughter is the present postmaster. 

The town is nicely situated, at the edge of the prairie, on the cross 
roads lietween Platte City and Liberty and Smithville and Parkville, 
making a regular thoroughfare, and the surrounding country being 
thickly settled, as a natural consequence there is a great deal of travel 
through here and the business of the town is prosperous. 



H74 IltHTOUY <tr l'I,ATTIC (!f)IINTY. 



\',\<)(i iv'A I'll k; A I, 



JAMES M. COX 

{ KiuiiiiT luiil Sliick-nilHcr, Hi;cIImii 6, ruHl-odlcc, Hurry). 

WIk^ii Im) w(iH tJiroo yeaiH old, J. B. Cox, tlie fatlior o( .Iiiimch M., 
iiikI II Vii'j^iniiui Uy hii'Ui, vvmh (nkon liy Ii'ih |iiii'(3IiIh to Kc^nliicUy, itml 
IVorii lliiit, t'mi<< on \\i' wmh I'ciirc^d in Anilci'Mrtn ••onnly, IIimI S)m((>. 
'I'licrc! liii w.'iH Hiil)Mrir|n(MiMy iniirfic(|, (it't(>r icucliin;.; iniinliood, to Minn 
An;^rlin() Arnold, oC KcTntni'ky hii'lli. in IH.'M Ilii- ranilly Ixu^iinio 
ri^Hi<l<'ntH of MiHHonri, and IocjiIimI in (liny connly, wIum'i' Uuiy I'tMniiincMl 
for lliroo y(3iir8, coniini^ tlionccMo I'liilto (umnLy in IS!}?. Iluro Mr. 
('ox ont,(ir(.'d liind and iniprovod a fai'in, and hooii cHlaUliHhud liinincU' 
an a n^pn^Hont.ativd (armor and Htook-raJHcr of IIiIh r(Miniyi lln hIHI 
livc'H in May lownHiii]), but not on the ()rifj;inal pla(;o whi<^li In^ (irNt 
iniprovod. tlaincin M. waH horn af'to.r Iho HCftlloinciit of tho family in 
thiH oonnty, on tho IHth of AuiruHt, 1H41, and haw Hpcnt IiIm ontiro 
liP(^ within itH hord(WH, H<i in vvoll acfjnainlod with (Imh oonntv anrl 
Iho majority of poopio in it, and han mado Htoady pi'o^rosH in Iho mc- 
iMimnlal ifni of propoity. In youth ho rccoivod tlio lioncdit- of an odn- 
calion Huoh aH Iho common hoIiooIh afforilod. In 1K72 ho |)ni'('hMMod 
ITiH proKo.nl, homoHload, which oonlaiiiH iioariy 120 aoron of land, woll 
improved and in cultivation, and whioli ho \h non<lu(!tin<^ in an oxcd- 
hwit maniK^r. Ilo haw Hoi'vod an dopiity aHHOHHor of tliiw (w)uid.y, and Iimh 
holpod rnidto hovimi aHHOHHuiont-s. Ilo waH onoo a candidato hoforo tho 
(■finvonlion for liio poHition of aHsoHHor, and rocoivod a vcm'v (hilioi'inij; 
Hupport from IiIh nnmor'oim frioudH. DocoiuImm' 17, lH(!r», Mr. ('ox 
waH miirri(M| to MImh I'ottio I)ownn, dau^htor idJolin Downs, formoi'ly 
from Kcaitucky, and ono of tlu! oarly Kottlorn horo. Sho wuh lif)rn in 
(!lay county, hut waH roaroil in i'ialtt^. Aftor hiw nuiri'iairo Mr. ('. 
furnH'<l on hin I'athor'H land for aliout nix yoarn, oi- until coniint; (ui hi-* 
proHont plac<!. lit! and hin wilo havo a family of throo ohildron : 
Laura, ('lay and J'ink. 

I'lJOASANI' r. I''()IM) 

(■Kiiriiiir iind Hldck-riilmjr, Hn(:t,loti )l, Vi)Hl-«mrv, I'lukvllli'). 

Ml'. I''ord in anotlnu' roproHonlativo of thai family <>\' l'\irdH men- 
tion of whom in HO froipiontJy nnulo in thin work, jind -iw a lirotlier of 
.lohn .1. ami ilcHiah I'. i''ord, the nketf^hoH of wIioho liven precede and 
folhiw tliin. 'riioi'oforo it in unneccHHary to repeat the fiimily hinlory, 
which liaa hoon ho clearly net forth in other pagoH of thin volume. A 
native of thiH county, I'leiiHantT. I''ord Iuih pannod hinontir'o lifi> within 
the limilH of tho comity and in woll known an a Hiioci'HHfiil iMriiMMinid 
worthy aj^ricultiiriHt. I'^armin;^ Iimm liecn hin only m chiimI iun, mid 



Mliironv o 



•i.Ai'ri'; coiiNTv. 



m: 



iliiiiii;.' Iiii ymiiiL'iir iliiyn Im icn^ivoil Uii^ i inliini'iiri nl' an n(|iir;i.l iciii 
>vliiili ha 1 liddii (lnvrl()|)i'.(l liy iiil)Mii(|ii(tiil. ii.|i|ili<'al,i(iii. Il(i waM a |iar- 
liri|iaiil ill Mm vviir M mIioi'I liitm, n\)i\ iii I HIM wiim LiiIumi iii'liKiimr ami 
lulil luiii iiiiiiilli^ llii'ii liniiii.«; inviliiil. Ill' fi'l iirridil Iiuiiki in Aii;.';iihI, 
I Hl'i.'i, ami i<'riiaiii<'i| willi iijit |mi'i'iil a mil 11 Miiiir dual li, iiiliir wliii'.li 
Ik', Imiiil'IiI^ IJik iiil.ninitl, of Mm jinil'a ill Mm iiiij IkiIiicmIiiikI . Ajirii '.) , 
IH/;;, Mv. h'uni vviia unuTitnl h> iVIiaa Nitiii'.v M. .IoIimmoii, nldnsl, 
ilaiiLdilcr III |)avi(i ainl Maty A . .Idliiiiiiiii, I'lU'iimrly IVmiii KoiiI iiid< y< 

Mini ■• of Mm (laih' ii'lllnri of llii ; cuiiiil.y, vvliiin' MJin wii,s liuin ami 

irainil. 'I'll llinili lllivn Immi vivi'li llil'ni' I'Jiillll'IMI : May, .liillll .1. ami 
(inirn'r. Mr. ami Mrn. I''i)icl ai c ini'inliniM dl' liir ( 'liriil Ian ( 'liinrji. 
Ilii liiiii l<;i) aciii < of laml.all iiiiiii'i' li'iiri^aml in cull ival inn . Mi. !•'. 
ill liiiw ill lii'i rmlii'lli \'nar, liavin;' ln'cn Ikmii .iaiinary J'J, iHll'i. 



.lOSIAII r. I'()KI> 

(Kiiniiri' lual Sloi-K nilfuT, S.Tllna 11, l'..:,l, (.lllcr, rniiivlllc i . 

In ;'lam'iii}j; Uai'U nvi'f I lio narly null lorn l,(i MiMnonii, ami in ri'viow- 
III" lli<< MnM.li<nii<iil'i wliii'li Miry iiiailn, mm can liiit lliink nl' llii< niaiiy 
iii'vrii' anil ;-,rir laii ilirin;,^ |i|-iviil idiia I lii'mii.i;li wliirli linvtc pioin'crH 

|>aiiiuiil in ii| in;j lur lliiiMn \vlii> iiiiL';lil. noinii iil'lor Mm way for civili/ii- 

I inn. A II inn;.'; IIiiimh wiiii liinlv a |iriiiiiini'iil jiiu'l in I ITih priniil ivit iniikin^' 
111' Mill Sliiln'a iiiiiliiry wan llm rninily ol' wliirli Mr. I^'uril i^ n wnrliiy 
rci|irniioiilal iv(t. Ilia I'lilln'r, Sainiml l''iiri|, iiail Imm Imrn in MailiMun 
I'lMinly, Ivy., ami llmrr win iinlnmil in liiiii llm niilnri' and Mlnrlin^ 
rliliriirlnrinl ira 111' llir i| lll'dy |mii|iin ul' Mild. Slldi'. When i'i)ni|mril,- 
livi'h' a \cinn" man Im I'aiim li> MinMituri iinil lonili'd in Howard 
I'limil.y, wimin Im wiia MiiliHni|imnlly iiiiUTiod In Mi^M MMr;.:;iiro|. Ili;.^ 
ff,'u\i>, M diiii;.dili'i id' .liiaiaii lli|y;ginn, iii'ifj;inidly iVuin 'runiKiMMno. .She 
Wiia Itiiiii whilr Mil' lamily wi'i'i' I'M riiuti' iVinii llmi Slide In Ilnvvard 
iniiiilv. In IHi'lM MiK Mi'iiinr l''nrd and Ilia I'limily I'oninvi'd iVnin Mow 
aril rniinh' In I'iiil Ic, mi'I I linf, imar wlmri' .Inaiiih nnw lives, 'I'lmrr 
Ml l'"i.id |pir i'in|il.t'd linid and iniprnvi'd Mm riii'in npnn wliirii he 
dh'd Mai.h II, 1H,S-|. IliM wilr'a doalh nrnirr.'d in Ortoi.er, IS7'/, 
In llmni had liei'ii Imrn n lamily nl' h\\ miiiim iind lliroi' daii>.;lili'i's, nl' 
vvlmm I hero iini nnw livinv, I'niir anni^ (id! in I'iidle ennnly ) iiiid the 
daii^-dilerM, whn have niiu'rii'd and are I'l'Midiii^'; elae\?here. .In><iaJi I'. 

l''ni d, 111!' nidi "'I id' Mil' la mil y, grew ii\ I he hnnn' la rill, and, a 1 the 

nidi' il inn, vva I iin| lavni'ed willl iiinrh m lliaii an ni'dmar\' di.lrii'l 

■irhnnl eilnralinii. In IH|il he lieeanie pOMMeMiied nl' ii, desire In ri'nMW 
liie plain 1 In ( 'ahlninia, and iieenrdin^dy jniiied ilennipany nl' Ihirly- 
Mu'ee men Itniiiid Inr I he di itanl ;.',nld lieldH, whieh limy reiielied al'ler 
a lediulin trip nl' inv mniiMia. Mr. li'nnl'N Mlay in Cidirni'iiia envered 
a perinil nl' nearly lliree yeiira, Iwn yeai'M nl" wllii'h lime were piHied 
III I he minea. In I .'■>.''• I he reliirned by way nl' I'linama lUid New ( )r 
lean 1 and Inr ii M'lir rnllnwilif,-; waa in ill lieallh, In [Hlf2 he Inealed 
III liali' . 1 mini \ , iieiir Mie Slide line, I'lU'llliMl'' lUld nUMilltf sinek niilil 
l''*iil, wlnn. in Aiiv.nat nl' Mini year, he eume aj^iiin In I'lalle. lli. 
ISOllled npnn lii > pn- a'lil iinine 'lead in ISl'iS, and nnw ha-, in hi. Iinine 



876 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

place 115 acres, upon which are necessary and convenient improve- 
ments. A prominent feature of the place is a good bearing orcluird. 
Of course Mr. Ford is a married man, ]\Iiss Minerva Estes having be- 
come his wife July 4, 1855. Her birthplace was in Clay county, and 
her father was John Estes, a Keatuckian by birth. Their family 
numbers eight children: Margaret, wife of A. G. Gall:)reath, of Platte 
county; INIary, John V., Elizabeth, Sarah, Dorcas, Samuel and Dee. 
Mr. and Mrs. Ford have long been members of the Christian Church', 
Mr. F. since 19 years of age. He also belongs to the Parkville Masonic 
Lodge. While in Bates count}' he was honored by the people with 
the position of magistrate. Mr. Ford, as should have been stated 
before, is now in his fifty-ninth year, liaving been born in Howard 
county. Mo., September 25, 1826. 

JACOB E. FUNK 

(Farmer aud Stock-raijier, Section 9, Post-office, Barry). 

Mr. Funk is a native of Kentucky, born in Jessamine count}^ 
December 31, 1833. His father was John Funk, formerly of Penn- 
sylvania, l)ut who grew to manhood in Jessamine county, Ky., and 
was there married to Miss Nancy Rice, a daughter of Jacob Rice. 
Mr. F. was a successful farmer of that county during his lifetime, 
and died there March 3, 1861. Jacob R. was brought up in the 
county of his birth, and was the third from the youngest in a family 
of six sons, five of whom grew to maturity ; and there are four sons 
aud two daughters still living. One brother, J. A., is in Clay county. 
The subject of this sketch came West to Clay county in 1855, 
and commenced working at his trade of carpentering, and also 
freighting across the Plains to Salt Lake City, to which place he 
made two trips, and also took one trip to Mexico. In 1862 he located 
on a farm on the Clay and Platte county line, and engaged in farming 
there until 1879, when he bought and removed to his present farm, 
just west of the town of Barry. He still owns both farms. His 
home-place contains 160 acres, ail fenced and in cultivation, 90 acres 
of which are devoted to plow-land, and a young waluut grove of 1,000 
trees covers al)()ut 60 acres. He also has two good orchards, and his 
place is otiicrwiso*imi)roved. His other farm, of 320 acres, is situated 
five miles north of Barry, all of which is fenced, and over 250 acres 
of which are in cultivation and grass and some timber, besides a suuxU 
orchard. There is one good residence on this j)lace, a good barn, 
smoke house and other out-buildings. During the war he was quite 
successfully occupied in dealing in and shipping cattle to Chicago. 
December 24, 1861, Mr. Funk was married to Miss Anna Gartin, a 
native of Platte county, and a lad\' of more than ordiuaiy intelligence. 
She received an excellent education at Clay Seminar}', under the 
instruction ol' Prof. Love. Her father, Andrew Gartin, came origi- 
nally from Kentuek}' ; he was one of the early settlers of Clay county. 
Mr. and Mrs. Funk have been blessed with seven children : Miss 
Mamie, a young lady of pleasant address, and who has received the 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTi'. 877 

iidvantages of a good education ; Gillie G., Laura, Sallie E., Virginia 
Lowe, EmniaD. and Edgar E. Mr. and Mrs. Funk are prominent 
members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. 

TFIOMAS A. GREGG 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser and Merchant, Section 2, Post-office, Parliville.) 

The agriculturists of this county are well represented in the bio- 
graphical department of the present volume, but perhaps no more 
worthily than by the subject of this sketch, who has passed his entire 
life in this part of Missouri. His father, David Gregg, a native of 
Tennessee, was married to Miss Nancy Adams, after which, at a very 
early day in the history of Missouri, he came to this State, and was 
a participant in the Indian tights aroun<l Cooper's Fort, in Howard 
county. Moving to Clay county, he pre-empted one of the tirst 
places entered in that county, but in the spring of 1837 he came to 
Platte count}', his famih' following the next fall. The improvements 
on the place had been made with his own hands, including the build- 
ing of the residence. His death occurred here after a well spent life 
of energy and industry July- 15, 1864. His wife survived until 1876. 
Of their family of four sons and seven daughters who grew to matu- 
rity, all are now living but one sister, and are residents of this county 
except a brother, in Jackson county, Kan. 

Thomas A. was Ijorn in Clay county December 16, 1831, and was 
brought up to know what hard work meant. His education was such 
as could l)c ()l)tained in the common schools. February 25, 1858, he 
was married near Platte city to Miss Cordelia Lewis, daughter of 
William Lewis, an early settler from Kentucky, though she was born 
and reared here. Mr. G. now commenced farming in decided earnest- 
ness. In 18(54 he went to Buchanan county, but returned to Platte 
county in 1870, when he bought a farm which was subsequently sold. 
Later he purchased his jiresent place and has since been occupied in 
cultivating it. In 1879 he engaged in the mercantile business at New 
Market, sold goods there two years and then moved his stock to 
Tracy, where ho bought a lot and erected a l)usiuess house. A year 
after he disposed of this and went to Parkville, from which place in 
about a year he came upon his tai-m with a stock of goods, building a 
store for that purpose upon his land. He carries a small but desir- 
able stock of general merchandise and has been enjoying a good trade. 
His farm embraces 130 acres, well improved. Mr. Gregg has filled 
the position of township treasurer and has also been assessor. He 
and his wife have a family of four children: William L., married 
and on the farm with his father; Ida A., Nannie May and Thomas 
H. Mr. and Mrs. Gregg are mcml)ers of the Christian Church, as is 
also the oldest son. 

JAMES O. JOHNSON 

(Of the Arm of Johnson & Myers, Dealers in General Merchandise, Linkville and 
Farley) . 

Mr. Johnson, one of the most enterprising, young business men in 
Platte county, carrying a good stock and doing a large retail trade, is 



878 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

still two years less than thirty years of age, and began mercantile 
business in 1881. Previous to this he had received a most excellent 
commercial education, besides having received the benefits of two 
terms of instruction at the State University, at Columbia, Mo. For 
some time he was a student at Spaulding's Business College, at Kan- 
sas City, from which he subsequently graduated. Upon establishing 
himself in business at this place, Mr. Johnson became associated with 
H. G. S. Me3'er, and the partnership then formed has since continued ^ 
In addition to the store at Linkville, they also conduct one at Farle^s 
which Mr. M. manages to the mutual benefit of all concerned therein. 
Both gentlemen are possessed of great energy and enterprise and 
have pushed their business with all the vigor they possess, the result 
of which can not be fairly estimated by us. Suffice it to say that 
their stores are among the most popular in the county. Mr. Johnson 
was born in Platte county, September 27, 1857, and was the son of 
Louis G. Johnson, a native of Sweden, born November 22, 1824, and 
who emigrated to the United States in 1854. Going to Illinois, he 
remained near Rock Island for one year, at that time coming to Platte 
county in 1855. Here he commenced his farming operations, and in 
185G was married to Miss Patsey A. Childres, who was born near Wes- 
ton, this county. Mr. J. moved to Kansas in 1858, and for two years 
continued to till the soil in Doniphan county, near Troy. In 1860 he 
purchased a farm near Leavenworth, combining the stock business 
with his previous occupation. Selling out at an advance of $3,000 on 
the cost, he bought property in the city of Leavenworth in 1866, 
which he subsequently exchanged for the old " Wrap " farm in this 
county, in 1871. In 1882 Mr. J. disposed of this place at a profit of 
$3,000, buying fifty-one acres of land in Kansas City, on which he 
made some improvements ; this tract is now quite valuable. He is 
now engaged very successfully in the stock business thirty miles 
below Topeka, Kan. There was one other child in the family besides 
James O., Fannie, a young lady of superior intelligence, who has 
passed two years at the college at Parkville, Mo., and who is now 
attending school at Topeka. The sul)ject of this sketch was married 
in 1881 to Miss Mina J. Fulcher, a daughter of Jacob Fulcher, of this 
county. To them have been liorn two children : Mabel V. and an 
infant. Mrs. Johnson is connected with the M.E. Church. Her hus- 
band is a member of the I. O. O. F. 

ELI JACKSON LINK 

fLinkville). 

A gallant soldier for four years in the Confederate army during the 
late war, and a man whose life has been an active one, and one not 
without the substantial reward of years of toil, Mr. Link is now living 
in comparative retirement in this place. He has 280 acres of choice 
land, and has made his princi})al occupation the raising of stock and 
farming. As might be supposed at a glance, he is a Kentuckian by 
birth, born in Bourbon county December 25, 1829. His father. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 87!;) 

Israel Link, after growing to manhood, was married in Kentucky to 
Miss Elizabeth C. Hufford, of Scott county, that State. Heaven 
blessed them with three children, viz. : David I., born February 28, 
1827, and now living near Linkville, this county, where he is success- 
fully engaged in farming; Sarah E., born March 7, 1833, and mar- 
ried to Mr. P. N. Comfort, also an agriculturist, and Eli Jackson, 
the subject of this sketch. The latter was brought up iu his native 
State, and in 1840 accompanied his parents to Missouri. He soon 
took up his permanent location in Platte county, and has since re- 
mained here, a period of many years. His time has been occupied 
almost exclusively in tilling the soil. During his service in the war 
he [)articipated in the battle of Lexington, where he received a wound. 
Li 1852 Mr. Link was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Frances, 
also originally of Kentucky birth. They have had eight children : 
Israel, boru December 30, 1853; Isadore, born May 9, 1855 ; Virginia 
A., born October 18, 1856 ; Emmett, born December 24, 1857 ; John 
W., born June 18, 1859; Jeff, born February 18, 18G0 ; David A., 
born May 19, 1869, and Mary Jane, born September 29, 1871. Mr. 
and Mrs. Link belong to the Christian Church, and are quite active in 
its atlairs. Mr. L. votes the Democratic ticket. He and his family 
are among the influential residents of the county, and especially are 
they highly esteemed in the community where they make their home. 

ZACHARIAH MILLS 

(Farmer, Stock-raiser, Section 30, Post-office, Linliville). 

After having reached manhood in Daviess county, Missouri, where 
he was brought up on a farm, receiving a common-school edu- 
cation, Mr. Mills came to Platte county in 1849, and became occupied 
in farming, contracting and bridge liuilding. After following this for 
some time he was married March 7, 1855, to Miss Elsie Smith, 
daughter of Thomas Smith, an early settler from Tennessee ; she was 
born in Cooper county. Mo. This wife died October 27, 1879, leav- 
ing six children: William D., married ; Francis N. and David M., in 
Kansas; and Henry T., John C. and Marietta, at home. April 9, 1882, 
Mr. Mills was married to Miss Olivia Waller, daughter of William and 
Louisa Waller, originally from Maryland, but one of the early settlers 
from Kentucky to this State. After his first marriage Mr. Mills im- 
proved a farm of 160 acres in Daviess county, which he sold in 1863, 
then coming to Platte county and i)uying property near Farley, which 
he continued to cultivate until the spring of 1883. At this time he 
moved to his present farm near Linkville, where he has 120 acres upon 
which is a good two-story residence and other improvements. In 
June, 18()1, he enlisted in the State troops under Jackson's call, and 
in the spring of 1862 re-enlisted in the regular Confederate service, in 
Co. B, of Elijah Gates' regiment. He was in the engagements of 
Carthage, Wilson's Creek, Lexington, Pea Ridge and Corinth, after 
which he returned to Missouri and served in the State troops until 
1863, then coinimr home. Mr. Mills came originally from Cocko 



OOU HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

couuty, Temi., where he was l)orn November 2, 1832. His parents 
were Henry and Martha Smith Mills, the latter a daughter of Thomas 
Smith. In 1839 the former moved to Missouri and located in Daviess 
county, where he entered land and improved a farm, on which he 
resided until his death, February 8, 1874. Mrs. Zachariah Mills is a 
member of the Christian Church. Her husliand belongs to the Chap- 
ter and Commandery of the Masonic Order, at Platte City. Mr. 
Mills is now comfortably situated in life and is well respected in this, 
community. 

THOMAS S. PRATT 

{"Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Barry). 

One of the oldest residents in Platte county, and one who has been 
prominently identified with its agricultural interests for nearly forty 
years, is this well known citizen, Thomas S. Pratt. He came upon 
the place which he now occupies from Kentucky in 1847, made the 
improvements upon it himself, and now, in the declining years of his 
life, has a comfortable competence of 240 acres of land, all of which 
is under fence. Better than all this, he has the esteem and confidence 
of the entire community in which so many years of his life have l)eeu 
spent. Born in Scott county, Ky., March <), 1813, he was a son of 
William Pratt, a native of South Carolina, who went to Kentucky 
when a young man and there married Miss Susie Reding, whose father, 
Joseph Reding, was one of the first settlers of Scott couuty from Vir- 
ginia, where Mrs. P. was born. Mr. Pratt was a gallant soldier in 
the War of 1812, and so also was his i)rother John, who also subse- 
quently received a military training at West Point, wliere he recently 
died. Thomas was reared in the county of his birth, and also at- 
tended school there, following from early boyhood the occupation 
which he has so industriously and energetically pursued in later years. 
In the spring of 1840 Mr. Pratt was married in Mercer couuty, Ky., 
Miss Diana Arnold becoming his wife. She was a daughter of Younger 
Arnold, Esq., of Woodford county, that State. Some seven years 
after, Mr. Pratt l)ecame identified with the interests of Platte county, 
as previously mentioned, and which has since existed. February 9, 
1884, the companion of Mr. P. — she who had so long and faithfully 
stood by his side, encouraging and strengthening him in his eflbrts to 
gain a livelihood — was called away Ijy the ine.Korable hand of death. 
She had been the mother of ninfe children, eight of whom survive: 
Mary A., now Mrs. Alfred Arnold, of Smithville, Mo. ; William, An- 
drew, Thomas, and Joseph R., in New Mexico; Edgar, in Montana; 
Whitfield, in Clay county, and Susan J., wife of Samuel Blackmore, 
who is now keeping house for her father. The eldest daughter, Ellen, 
died when 14 j'eurs of age. Those not mentioned as not living else- 
where are now residents of this county. Mr. Pratt is a member of 
the I. O. O. F. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 881 



THOMAS J. SLAUGHTER 

(Of the firm of Slaughter & Elgin, Dealers in General Merchandise, LiuliviHe) . 

Mr. Slaughter, a thorough business man and of extensive experi- 
ence for one of his age, is one of the native horn residents of this 
county, and a man of wide acquaintance and great popuhirity. He 
was l)oru on the 20th of Octol>er, 1850, and was the son of Daniel S. 
Slaughter and Nancy, ?ie'e Clarke, both originally from Kentucky; 
the former came from Mercer county, th.at State, and was born April 
30, 1820. He followed the occupation of farming as his calling in 
life and became quite successful in that branch of industry. The youth 
of Thomas J. was passed in this vicinity and his education was here 
acquired, after which he commenced the avocation of teaching, in 
1872. After one j^ear's ex[)orience in the school-room he began trad- 
ing in stock, and continued it until 187.5, when he engaged as clerk in 
a mercantile establishment at this place. Subsequently he bought 
the interest of his employer and embarked in business on his own ac- 
count, in partnership with his l)rother, Jesse, in 1878. Mr. Slaugh. 
ter sold out some time later to his brother, and for a while thereafter 
devoted his attention to the real estate business. Since the first of 
January, 1884, he has been a member of the mercantile firm of 
Slaughter & Elgin. They have made a gratifying success in their line 
in this part of the county, a large share of their extensive patronage 
being due, doubtless, to Mr. Slaughter's popularity as a man and his 
knowledge of the people with whom he has to deal. The custom of 
the house is steadily on the increase. Mr. S. is a married man. Miss 
Belle Valandingham, of this county, having become his wife on Oc- 
tober 7, 1879. The com[)lement of their family circle consists of 
three children. Mat. S., born August 13, 1880; Clarke T., born July 
29, 1882, and Grace, born Deceinber 7, 1884. Mr. Slaughter has no 
small influence among his tViends in this locality, and he takes a warm 
interest in the advancement of the place. Politicall}^ he is a Demo- 
crat. He belongs to the Masonic Order; his wife is a member of the 
Christian Church. 

COL. GIDEON W. THOMPSON 

(Farmer and Breeder of Thoroughbred Short Horn Cattle). 

Not without justice. Col. Thompson is conceded to hold an enviable 
position among the prominent and successful men of Platte county. 
He served his county and State in a most acceptable manner during 
the wai', but has rendered it even more valuable service as an indus- 
trious farmer and law-abiding, useful citizen. He came to this county 
soon after reaching his majority, and had established himself in the 
business oF trading in stock at the outbreaking of the war, his operations 
extending both South and West. His belief and determination to do 
what he thought right prompted him to enlist under Gov. Jackson's 
call in June, and he was elected captain of a company at Barry. The 



»»2 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

following spring he entered the Third Missouri infantry, of Stein's 
division, ;ind upon its organization he was first elected major. Six 
months later, by the unanimous voice of his regiment, he became 
colonel, serving with that regiment until it was disbanded, in the 
spring of 1862. He now went into the regular Confederate service as 
colonel of the Third Missouri cavalry, Shelby's brigade and Marma- 
duke's division, in which he served until about the close of the war. 
He led his regiment with courage and ability, and saw much hard and 
dangerous service, but never flinched from performing his duty, as he 
saw it. Some of the engagements in which he particijiatod were those 
of Lexington, Pea Ridge, S[n-ingfield, Helena, Little Rock, and many 
others which space will not permit us to mention. At the battle of 
Indeiiendence he received a severe wound, from the effects of which 
he was disal)led for three months. After leaving the service he was 
disbanded in Texas, his surrender occurring at Shreveport. Return- 
ing to Platte county, where he arrived June 14, 1865, after an 
absence of four years, he resumed farming and the raising of and deal- 
ing in stock, which he has since continued and with snljstantial results. 
His farm contains 300 acres, situated in both Clay and Platte counties, 
the county line running through his place, all fenced, and about 100 
acres of which are in timber and blue grass pasture. His buildings 
are models of neatness. Col. Thompson owes his nativity to Todd 
county, Ky., where he was born February 28, 1823. His father, 
Robert Thom[)son, originally of North Carolina, was reared in Ken- 
tucky, and was married in Todd county to Miss Eveline Roberts, of 
that county, and daughter of Joseph Roberts. In 1825 the family 
became settlers in Cooper county. Mo., locating some eighteen miles 
south of Boonville, where Mr. Thompson entered land and lived until 
183(i. Moving then to Clay county, he made it his home until his 
death, which occurred near Liberty in 1857. Gideon W. was brought 
up in Clay county, spending his youthful days on the home farm and 
receiving the usual course of instruction in the common schools. 
About the time he arrived at the age of twenty-one he became a resi- 
dent of Platte county, which he has since made his permanent home. 
March 4, 1849, Col. Thompson was married in Boone county, Ky., 
to Miss Nancy Hansford, who was born and reared and educated there, 
and whose father was AVilliam Hansford, Escj. To them have been 
born five children : Martha, wife of George Sutton, of Jefferson county, 
Kan. ; Robert E., Elizabeth, wife of E. A. Chance, of Platte county ; 
James, of Jefferson county, Kan. ; and Gideon, of Georgetown, C(j1. 
Mrs. Thompson is a member of the Christian Church. The Colonel 
belongs to the Masonic Order at Barry. 

WINFIELD THORNHILL 

(■Linkville). 

Mr. Thornhill is the fortunate owner of 140 acres of land in May 
townshi)), a tract which is well improved and in good cultivation. He 
has been a resident of Platte county for some years, having come here 



i 



HISTOUY OV I'LATTl': COUNTY. 883 

fVoin liis iKitive State, Viririiiia. Ho was horn in Ciilpoper county, of 
tlio Old Dominion, on January 2.'), 1824. His [larcnts were Blueford 
and Lucy TJKnnliill (whose maiden name was Hawkins), both also 
Virii'inians \>y l)ii-tli, and during; tlu; lifetime of the father ho was en- 
•raiied in farn)ini;, with ([uite substantial results. Their family con- 
sisted of 10 cliiitlren, of whom there are seven now iiving, as follows : 
Almeda, wife of Alfred Hudson ; Wintiold, Hamilton, in Howard 
county. Mo. ; Sarah A., now Mrs. P. M. Finks, of RappsUiamiock 
(bounty, Va. ; Jame.s H., in Sumner county, Texas; George, lives in 
Darke county, Ohio ; Caroline, married Elliott Finks, hut he died in 
18C3 in Madison county, Va., where his widow now lives. The 
senior Mr. Thornhill and wife were hoth menihcrs of the Baptist 
Church. The subject of this sketch was brought up in the county 
of his birth, and there received such an education as could at that 
lime ho acquired in the common schools. Upon coming to Missouri 
he soon located in this county, and has since made his home 
within its boundaries. August 19, 1847, ho was married to Miss 
Eliza .1. Brown, daughter of John Blown, a native of Culpeper county, 
Va. They have boon blessed with a family of 12 children : MaryL., 
wife ol" William Porter, now living in Clinton county, Mo. ; All)ert C, 
Luc^y E., Martha, Eliza Jane, at home ; Nanc^y B., John B., in Colorado ; 
Emma, Claiborne tiackson. Flora B., Annie, and the youngest, James, 
at home with his parents. Mr. Thornhill has been a successful 
farmer during lit\', and now is somewhat retired from active duties 
around tlu^farm, the; care of which is given to the sons of Mr. T., who 
are men of intelligence and groat popularity throughout the vicinity of 
LinkvilK\ Mrs. Thornhill is a member of the Baptist Church. Her 
husband is a Democrat. 

WILLIAM C. WHITE 

(P.uMiiLT ami SU)ck-raisui- ami Pi'i>|)i-ii'li)r of I'rairic Viow Farm, Section 1, Post-olllce, 
Pai-kvillo). 

Tlu're are i)ut lew, if any, farms in May township that present a 
handsomer picture of advanced agriiadlure than the one I'oforred to 
\u the present sketch. Prairie View Farm, devoted mainly to stock- 
raising contains 175 acres, and though not as large iu extent, perhaps, 
as others in this vicinity, it is improved in such a manner, and has 
such natural advantages that it seems to be without an equal in this 
p;irt of the county. About lialf of the place is d(!votod to blue grass 
pasture, admirably adapted to the raising of thorough-bred sliort 
liorn cattle, of which Mr. White is making a specialty. He has a herd 
of 15 registered animals — short horns of the best grades — and gives 
much attention to breeding and dealing iu fine cattle and horses. His 
comf(U'lable ri'sidcnci^ is situated on a slight elevation, and his barn is 
one of the l)est in Platte county. Mr. White was horn in Clay county. 
Mo., Seplember 21, 1835, and was the son of G. Iv. WhitjO, who was 
horn and i)rought uj) in Estill county, K}'., whore he nfarried Miss 
Mary Ann Campbell, daughter of William Campbell, of Madison 



884 HISTORY or platte county. 

county, the same State. G. K. White came to Missouri in the fall of 
1834, and was a pioneer in Clay county, in the southern part of which 
he purchased a claim (near the present site of Kansas City) and im- 
proved a farm. He died at the residence of his son, William C, 
April 6, 1881. The subject of this sketch was brought to Platte 
county in 1843, and was reared on the home farm. He spent some 
time in the primary schools, and was then sent to the Seminary at 
Camden Point, where he received a good education. In 1859 he took 
a trip to Texas, but the same season returned to Platte county, where, 
on the 18th of August, of that year, he was married to Miss Addie 
Hazelrigg, whose father, James G. Hazelrigg, was of Montgomery 
county, Ky. ; she was also born and brought up there. After his mar- 
riage Mr. White located on a farm, near Parkville, continuing there- 
on several years. In 1877 he removed on his present homestead. To 
Mr. and Mrs. W. have been born one son which died in infancy. 
They have living with them two sons of a deceased sister. White 
McGee, aged 16, and now at Parkville College, and Theodore McGee, 
13 years old, who has developed nmch musical talent, and is an apt 
performer on the violin. Miss Anna AVhite, a sister of Mr. W. and a 
young lady of excellent education and rare accomplishments, has 
found a pleasant home in the family of her brother for several years. 
She is also an accomplished musician. Mr. White, wife and sister 
are members of the Christian Church. The former belongs to the 
Masonic Lodge at Barry, and is also connected with the Commandery 
at Platte City. 




CHAPTEE XXI. 

WALDRON TOWNSHIP. 

Formation, Boundary, etc. — Physical Features — Early Settlers — Waldron — Where 
Located — By Whom Laid Out — Present Business — Biographical. 

FORMATION, BOUNDARY, ETC. 

Wiildron township was taken from Pettis and the greater portion of 
it is included in the Congressional township 51, range 35. It is 
bounded on the north and east by Pettis township, and on the south 
and west by the Missouri river. It is the smallest township in the 
county both in area and population. The census of 1880 gave the 
number of inhabitants at 840. 

PHYSICAL FEATURES. 

The surface is divided into three portions, viz. : The level bot- 
tom land in the south ; a timbered and rough country along the 
bluft's, and the rolling land in the north portion. Here are to be 
found some of the substantial farmers of the southern portion of the 
county. 

EARLY SETTLERS. 

The early settlers of Waldron township were, many of them, early 
settlers of Pettis, and the history of this, township is so clo.sely con- 
nected with that of Pettis, from which it was taken, that it will not 
be repeated at this place. For its history the reader is referred to 
that of Pettis township. Among the early settlers were Abram Zo- 
brisky, Geo. S. Park, Richard Bal>cock, W. Moore, B. Martin, A. 
Bowman, A. G. Brown, Doctor Ellis and John Diinnigan. 



Waldron, a town in the south-central portion of the township, is 
located on the Kansas City, St. Joseph and Council Bluffs Railroad, 
17 miles northwest from Kansas City, and was laid out by the Waldron 
Brothers, ft-om whom the town takes its name. They manifested con- 
siderable enterprise by erecting a steam flour and saw mill and estab- 
lishing stores. The town contains a population of about about 100 to 
150. F. M. McCormick's distilleiy is located here and it is noted 

(885) 



886 HISTORT OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

for the quality of its manufacture of haud-made sour mash whisky. 
There are three general stores, one drug store, one lumber yard and 
one mill. 



BIOGRAPHICAL. 



CHARLES BABCOCK 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section 12, Post-office, Waldron). 

Mr. Babcock is a native of Coshocton county, Ohio, born June 22, 
1822, and was the son of Zebina and Lucinda (Dustimer) Babcock, 
the former originally from Vermont and the latter a Virginian by 
l)irth. They were married in Coshocton county, Ohio, to which Mr. 
B. had gone when a j'oung man. Subsequently the family moved to 
Clinton county, Ind., which was their home for 10 years, and thence 
to Platte county. Mo., in 1838, where the father entered land and 
improved a farm. Here he resided the most of his life until his death, 
which occurred in June, 1854. Of their family of children, live sons 
and one daughter grew to maturity. Charles came to tliis county 
with his parents at the age of 15 years, here growing to manhood. 
He was married November 6, 1843, to Miss Paulina Moore, daughter 
of John Moore, one of the pioneers from Estill county, Ky. Mrs. B. 
was born in Jackson county, but was reared in Platte, her marriage 
occurring when she was in her sixteenth year. Some time after this 
Mr. Babcock located in the Platte bottoms, near where Waldron is 
now situated, settling on his present farm in August, 1854. Here he 
has since resided, a period now of over 30 years. His place embraces 
100 acres, upon which are good buildings and other improvements of 
a necessary order, and he is meeting with good success in the manage- 
ment of the farm. Mr. and Mrs. Bal)Cock have been blessed with 
nine children, viz. : Francis M., married and on the farm ; Samuel Z., 
married and living in Leavenworth county, K;is. ; George, married ; 
Sarah J., wife of William Newton Morrow, of Kansas; William A., 
married and in the county; Charles W., married; Mary A., now 
Mrs. Matt. Wills, of Kansas; Andrew J., a young man, and Henry 
Thomas. Mr. Babcock and his estimable wife are members of the 
M. E. Church. 

DOCTOR ELLIS 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section 13, Post-offlce, Waldron). 

Prominent among the old and time-honored citizens of Platte 
county, whose names deserve to be handed down to future generations 
as worthy of more than a passing memory, is Doctor Ellis, the subject 
of the present sketch. For nearly half a centuiy he has been a resi- 



niSTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 887 

dent of tho comity, iiml hii>^ coiitiMbuted very materially to the 
advancoinont ot" its ajTricultiii-al and pul)lie interests. His father, 
Benjamin Ellis, a native of North Carolina, married there Miss Sarah 
Copeland, of the same State, and in an early day the family settled 
in Smith county, Tenn. In 1813 they came from there to Montgom- 
eiy county, Mo., and were amonuj the first five families to locate in this 
vi(Mnity. This was indeed in tiie primitive days of the history of Mis- 
souri, and to Mr. Ellis many, many changes are visihli; wliicli havt 
hccn wrought almost before his ver^' e3'es. Benj. Ellis finally took 
up his location in Texas county, Mo., where he died in his ninety- 
seventh year, in about 1848. In his family of (children were eight 
sons and five daughters who reached years of maturity, but only Doc- 
tor and a brother, now in California, are now living. The former was 
l)oru in Smith county, Tenn., May 4, 1810, and was brought by his 
parents to Montgomery county, this State, when but three years old. 
There his youth and early manhood were spent, and there, too, he 
married August 20, 1834, Miss Josephine Timberlake, daughter of 
Broaddns and Susan Timberlake, among the earliest settlers from Ken- 
tucky ; she was born in Madison county and came to Missouri when 
13 years of age. After his marriage Mr. Ellis remained in Mont- 
gomery county only one year, then residing in Lafayette county 
for two years. In the s[)ring of 1837 he came to Platte county and 
fhe spring following moved upon the farm which now constitutes his 
present homestead. He entered the original tract and has added to 
it from time to time until it nowcontains 236 acres, all under fence. 
On the farm are eight living si)riugs which never freeze, and in addi- 
tion are 2,000 apple trees, besides small fruits. Mr. Ellis was a par- 
tici|)aut in the INIexican War, being a teamster. He and his wife 
have been blessed by Heaven with 10 children, viz. : Susannah, who 
died whilst the wife of S. C. Morrow; Sallic Ann, wife of Perry C. 
Cavaner ; Sophia, wife of Jackson Brink; Josephine, wife of D. A. 
McKinzie ; Robert, married in DeKalb county ; B. F., of this county ; 
William, in Wyandotte county, Kan. ; John W., in Platte; Mary J., 
now Mi-s. James Waldron, of Fort Smith, Ark. One child is de- 
ceased, Senior D., who died when three years old. Mr. and Mrs. 
Ellis are members of the M. E. Church South. Thev are well re- 
spected residents of this county. 

GEORGE G. ENGELHARDT 

(Farmer aud Stock-raiser, Section 1, Post-office, WaUhou). 

Among the younger of the prominent agriculturists of Waldron 
Idwnship, we know of none more worthy of success than the one 
whose name heads this sketch. Not 3'et 32 years of age, he is the 
possessor of a comfortable farm of 200 acres situated eight miles south 
of Platte City, most of which is in cultivation. The improvements 
in the shape of buildings, etc., are of a good class. Having been 
brought up in Kentucky and Indiana, it is not surprising, yet none 
the less crc(lit;ible to him, that he has obtained such a start. He was 

51 



888 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

born ill Switzei'lantl county, Ind., September 6, 1853, iintl is of Ger- 
man ancestry, his parents, Henry D. and Mary (Deal) Engelhardt, 
having come originally from Bavaria, Germany, in 1847. They first 
located in Dearborn county, Ind., then in Switzerland county, also in 
Ohio county, and subsequently went to Kentucky, living for four 
years in Trimble county. In 1873 they came to Platte county, 
accompanied by their son George, and still reside here. George 
Engelhardt received a good education in the different phiCes 
where he made his home, and this has been of great advantage to him 
in carrying on his farm, for an education is as necessary in farming 
as in almost any other occupation. He is an unmarried man. He 
belongs to the Christian Church. 

AUGUST E. ENGELHARDT, M. D. 

(Physician and Surgeon, Waldron, Mo.). 

Dr. Engelhardt, one of the more recent acquisitions to tiie ranks 
of the medical fraternity in this county, has been engaged in prac- 
ticing at Waldron only since November of 1884. Sufficient time has 
elapsed, nevertheless, to judge of his ability and thoroughness in the 
practice, and he is rapidly taking a prominent place among the rising 
young physicians of this portion of Missouri. Born in Ohio county, 
Ind., August 28, 1856, he is of German extraction, his parents, 
Henry D. and Anna Mary Engelhardt, nee Deal, having been natives 
of Bavaria. Leaving their native .countrjs they emigrated to the 
United States in 1847 and located in Ohio county, Ind., going thence, 
in 1868, to Trimlile county, Ky. After remaining there five years, 
they came to Missouri in 1873 and took up their residence in Platte 
county, which they now make their home. August arrived at ma- 
turity in Platte county, and has received the benefits of an excellent 
education. In addition to the usual coui'se of instruction he took a 
complete course at Lecompton, Kan., where he graduated in 187S. 
This was supplemented with a commercial course at Leavenworth, 
after which he commenced teaching in Platte county, and also tanglit 
one term in Kansas. Desiring to qualif}' himself for the practice of 
medicine, he began its study under a well known physician of this 
county, Dr. Ferrel, taking his first course of lectures, in 1882, at the 
Physio-Modical Institute of Cincinnati. In 1883 he continued this 
study at Cincinnati under Drs. W. W. and W. H. Cook, completing 
the course in March, 1884. He now returned to Platte county and 
located at Farley, where he commenced practicing, which lie contin- 
ued for al)out seven months. Since that time he has made his home 
in Waldron, where, as intimated above, he is meeting with good suc- 
cess. He is well read in his profession, is a subscril)er to the leading 
medical journals of the da}' and keeps thoroughly posted as to the 
progress and development of the science of medicine. He is a mem- 
ber of the Christian Church. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 889 

JACOB HARRINGTON 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section 12, Post-office, Waldrou). 

Mr. Harriiigton, a man over whom 40 years have passed, is native 
to Missouri, liaviug been i)orn in Buchanan county; the date of his 
birth was February 20, 1839. Elisha Harrington, his father, originally 
from Tennessee, came to this State with his parents in about 1815, 
among the first settlers in Howard county ; he was reared there and 
while still a young man came to Clay county and married Miss Louisi- 
ana Martin, a Kentuckian Ijy birth, and a daughter of Isaac Martin. 
For two years succeeding this event Mr. Harrington and family 
resided in Buchanan county, and in 1837 the father entered land in 
Platte county, improving a farm about seven miles south of Platte 
City. To this original tract he added from time to time as able, and 
became one of the successful and largest property holders in the 
county, having at the time of his death the rise of 1,100 acres. 
Prosperous in the ordinary affairs of business life, he accumulated a 
comfortable fortune, owning a number of slaves prior to his death, 
which occurred in Fel)ruary, 1853, at the age of 50 years. He had 
been twice married, and i)y the first marriage had three sons and 
seven daughters ; by the second union there were four children, only 
two of whom are living. Jacob was the only sou by the first wife 
who grew to maturity, and only two of his sisters are now alive. 
Passing his boyhood days in this county upon the home farm, he de- 
cided to go West and accordingly in 1857 took a trip to Wyoming, 
remaining one season. After his return he was married March 25, 
1858, to Miss Martha Pearce, a daughter of Robert Pearcc, and sister 
to W. A. Pearce, whose biography will be found on a subsequent page 
of this volume. Mrs. Harrington's birthplace is in Clay count}', 
though the greater part of her life has been passed within the limits 
of Platte. In the spring of 1871 Mr. H. bought raw land which now 
constitutes his (jresent farm. This contains 120 acres improved in a 
good manner, upon which is a new and comfortable residence, and an 
orchard of 300 trees. In addition to this he owns 73 acres in the 
I'latte river bottoms. Mr. and Mrs. Harrington have a family of 
nine children : Francis L., married and at Waldron ; Sterling Price, 
a student in medicine ; E. Walter, Wheeler and Laura Lee, at home ; 
William W. is attending the Deaf and Dumb Asylum at Fulton : 
Marcilla, Robert M. and Susan E. Mr. Harrington, wife and son, 
Sterling, are members of the Christian Church. Himself and eldest 
two sons are connected with the Masonic Order at Farley. 

GEORGE W. MOORE 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section 2, Post-office, Waldron). 

It is not very often that there comes under our personal observation 
the case of a man living on one farm all his life, or after 35 j-ears of 
improvement seeing the same place undergoing cultivation and pro- 



890 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

duciug as well as when first sowed or broken. But this man per- 
haps is an exception to the ordinary chiss, for he was born on his 
present farm May 14, 1849, his father beino' ^yilliam Moore, a native 
of Estill county, Ky. The latter accompanied his parents to Missouri 
when a mere lad, John Moore, his father, being one of the pioneers 
of Jackson county, and afterwards of Platte county. Upon reaching 
manhood William Moore married, July 4, 1839, Miss Elizabeth Wil- 
son, daughter of Isaac Wilson, a pioneer from Kentucky, Mrs. M. ' 
having been born in that State. The family soon located in the neigh- 
borhood of where the subject of this sketch now resides (in 1844), 
and there the father died Fel)ruar3' 28, 1880. On this farm George 
W. remained during his youth, acquiring sucli an education as he 
could receive from the common schools when not occupied with farm 
duties. On the 11th of December, 1870, Mr. Moore was married to 
Miss Viranda J. Carpenter, a daughter of Zenith Carpenter, originally 
from Tennessee, in which State she was born, though reared in Platte 
county. They have six children: William L., Edward H., Anna B. 
and Lizzie B., twins; Maud V. and G. Arthur. Mr. Moore is the 
owner of nearly 300 acres of land, including the homestead, over 200 
of which are in cultivation. His orchard contains about 200 trees of 
select fruits. Mr. Moore is the only son of his father's family of 
children, one sister, Susan E., being the wife of Benj. F. Ellis, of this 
county, mentioned elsewhere. 

JOHN T. Mccormick 

(Of the firm of McCormick & Simpson, Merchants, at Waldron, Mo.). 

The general merchandising business of the firm just mentioned 
was formed by them in 1879, and has since lieen conducted with 
uniform good success and profit. Messrs. McCormick & Simpson 
carry a stock of about $5,000, and do an annual business of nearly 
$20,000, all on a cash basis — figures that themselves speak enougii 
for the business ability and popularity of the proprietors of the house. 
Mr. McCormick, on his mother's side, is originally of Scotch ances- 
try, branches of the famil}' having come to this country away back 
in its early history, from Scotland. His father, J. R. McCormick, a 
native of Culpeper county, Va., married Miss Angeline H. Corbin, 
of the same county, a daughter of Micham Corbin. The grandpar- 
ents on both sides were gallant participants in the War of 1812. J. 
R. McCormick was one of the commissioners of the county where he 
so long resided, for many years. He was the owner of a small plan- 
tation, was a more than ordinarily successful business man, and at 
his death in 18(38 left a comf()rtal)le estate to his family. Before the 
war he owned a number of slaves. John T. McCormick, coming of 
such a family, enjoyed excellent opportunities in youth for applying 
himself to whatever occupation he might choose. His education was 
acquired at private schools which he was attending when the mutter- 
ings of war first swept over the country. At the age of 15, in the 
summer of 1862, he enlisted in Co. D, Fourth Virgiuia cavalry, and 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 891 

served until the close of that long and terrible conflict. He partici- 
pated in the engagements on the retreat of the army from the Penin- 
sula for about ten days, the Seven Day's fight around Richmond, 
Brandy Station, Second Manassas, Gettysburg, and, in fact, all the 
principal encounters with the army of Northern Virginia. He sur- 
rendered with the regiment at Appomattox, soon thereafter returning 
to his home. Subsequently, having a desire to prosecute his studies 
at school, which had been so interrupted by the war, he was a student 
at a select school some three months. In the winter of 1865 he went 
to Washington City and worked for a time at the newspaper business, 
remaining there until March, 1866. Coming West, he located in 
Platte county. Mo., and for two years was engaged in teaching. 
After farming and dealing in wheat in Camden Point a short time he 
came to Waldron in the spring of 1879, and his career from that time 
to the present has been noted above. The stock which is carried here 
embraces dry goods, groceries, clothing, hardware, etc., a complete 
line of general merchandise. They occupy and own a store Imilding 
containing two rooms, 20.\60 feet in dimensions. Mr. McCormick has 
been twice married ; first, to Miss Mary V. Stallard, daughter of Ran- 
dolph Stallard, in September, 1868. She died in February, 1882, 
leaving four children: Lula J., Elbert R., James R. and William T. 
His second marriage occurred in St. Joseph, January 24, 1884, when 
Miss Jennie Miller became his wife. Her father, John Miller, now of 
California, was formerly from Illinois, in which State she was born, 
though reared and educated in St. Joseph. Mrs. McCormick is a 
member of the M. E. Church ; her husband is a Mason. Mr. McC. 
will soon be 38 vears old, having been born in Culpeper countv, Va., 
August 1, 1847". 

WESTON A. PEARCE 

(F.armer and Stock-raiser, Section 12, Post-office, Waldrou). 

Mr. Pearce is a descendant of one of the bravest soldiers who par- 
ticipated in the War of 1812, his father, Robert Pearce, having enlisted 
in that conflict, througli wliich he served with distinguished gallantry. 
He came to Howard county. Mo., in the fall of 1819, and for a long 
time worked at his trade of wheelwright in Clay county. In 1847 he 
took up his location in Platte count}', l)ought a farm and improved it, 
and resided here until his death, in 1882 — one of the oldest and most 
highly respected citizens of the county. He was originally from 
Greene county, Tenn. (born May 25, 1795), and after growin": to man- 
hood there, was married to Miss Mary Campl)ell, of the same State, and 
who is also deceased. Weston A. Pearce was l)oru at an early day in 
the history of Clay county, February 19, 1828, and accompanied his 
parents to this county upon their removal here. So many years of 
continual residence in this immediate part of the State has tended to 
place him among the best known residents of Clay and Platte coun- 
ties, and his life history is immediately interwoven with the history 
of these two counties. His marriage occurred here July 5, 1854, 
when Miss Frances M. Baldwin, daughter of Martin Baldwin, formerly 



892 HISTOKY OF PLATTE COUKTY. 

of Ray county, Mo., and one of the early settlers here, became his 
wife. Her father was born January 3, 1814, and her mother, in 
Marion county, Ky., April 26, 1814. After this event Mr. P. pur- 
chased the laud and settled on the place which has since continued to 
be his home. One hundred acres are embraced within the farm, 
which is situated about one mile from Waldron, and nearly all of this 
is in cultivation. A good orchard is on the place, and necessary out- 
buildings. Mr. and Mrs. Pearce have reared a worthy family of' 
children, nine in number, namely: Clarissa, wife of John Kampheif- 
uer, of this county ; Florence, now Mrs. William Babcock, also in 
this county; Mary, John F., Martin, Cleora, George, Henry and 
Thomas. Mr. Pearce has a large and appreciative circle of friends in 
this vicinity, who hold him in the highest esteem. 

HENRY SEARCY 

(Farmer aad Stook-raiser, Sectiou 1, Post-offlce, Waldron). 

The father of the subject of this sketch, Christopher Searcy, was a 
native of Kentucky, and after reaching manhood was married to Miss 
Ellen Spencer, of the same State. Sul)sequentlv, or in the year 
1839, he came to Platte county, Mo., l)ut later went to Texas. Of 
their familj' of children born to them, Henry, our subject, was 
born after the family had located in this county, on the 22d of 
March, 1841, and in this vicinity his youth was spent, the duties of 
the home farm occupying his attention for a long time. One year 
was passed in Leavenworth county, Kan. About the 3'ear 1866 he 
settled in the Platte bottoms, where he gave his time and labor to 
tilling the soil, and in the spring of 1869 he took up his residence on 
the place which has since been his home. This, under his careful 
management, has been improved in an excellent manner, and is in 
good cultivation. It embraces 130 acres, and in its conduct Mr. 
Searcy has met with the success which his industry deserves. He 
was married in Platte county Deceml)er '28, 186.5, to Miss Elizabeth 
L. Babcock, daughter of Richard Btibcook, of this county, but for- 
merly from Ohio. . Mrs. S. is well known in this vicinity, having 
spent her entire life here. Their family consists of two children, 
William R. and Lena E. They liave reared two others, C. Frank 
Foster, who has been with Mr. Searcy since he was 12 years old, and 
now is of age ; and Eli Babcock, .5 years old. Mrs. Searcy is a mem- 
ber of the M. E. Church South. Her husband formerly belonged to 
a lodge of the Ancient Order of Odd Fellows, at Farley, which is 
now discontinued. 

JOHN W. STUCKEY 

CFarraor and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Waldonl. 

Mr. Stuckey is a native of Virginia, i)orn and reared in Berkeley 
countv, now West Virginia, the date of his birth being September 17, 
1848." His parents, Jacob A. and Effic (Ferrill) Stuckey, Ixith Vir- 
ginians by birth, now reside in Berkeley county. John W. was 



HISTOIIY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 893 

afforded the usual advatages of attending tlie common schools, from 
which he received an ordinary education, and in 1869 he went to Oiiio, 
stop|)ingfor at)ont five months in Licking county. Coming westward 
to Missouri in Octol)er, of the same year, he located in Platte county 
and was engaged in working on a farm by the month for something 
over a year. He and his brother then rented a farm in the northern part 
of the county and in company with S. R. Stuckey cultivated land for 
two years. February (5, 1873, Mr. S. was married in this county to 
Miss Anna M. Funk, daughter of Abraham Funk, a merchant of 
Hampton, but now of Franklin county, Kan. Though born in 
Pennsylvania, she was principally reared in Leavenworth, Kan. After 
his marriage, Mr. Stuckey farmed on I'entcd land for a few years and 
subsequently l)oughta place north of Platte City, which he afterwards 
sold, purchasing his present homestead in October, 1883. He has 
217 acres well improved and nearly all in grass, and expects to make 
the stock business a prominent feature of his business. An almost 
new residence adorns his place, and upon it is also a young orchard of 
al)out 500 trees, all select varieties of fruit and of different kinds. 
The family of Mr. and Mrs. Stuckey numliers three children: EfEe 
F., Sallie B. and Mollie. Two are deceased, Maggie M., died at the 
age of seven years, and Lucy, died when five years old. 

GEORGE WHEELER 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section 30, Post-offlce, Waldron). 

One of the neatest farms in Waldron township is that owned by Mr. 
Wheeler, containing some 200 acres and situated al)out two miles east 
of Waldron, in the Platte river liottoms. Nearly 140 acres are in cul- 
tivation, and upon it is a good residence and other necessary buildings, 
together witii a young orchard. Having come from Kentucky origin- 
ally, he has advanced ideas as to how a farm should be conducted, and 
endeavors to coml)iue the practical with the theoretical in its manage- 
ment. Born in Jefferson county^ Ky., March 14, 1823, he was the 
son of Ignatius and Jennie (James) Wheeler, also Kentuckians by 
birth, their deaths occurring in Jefferson county, that State, the former 
in 1883 and the latter in 1882. George remained in the county of 
his birth until grown, being married there in 1847 to Miss Nancy G. 
Woodsmall, a daughter of John Woodsniall. She was born on 
the farm adjoining her husband's. Li the spring of the year 
1855 Mr. Wheeler came to Missouri and located in Platte county, 
at Parkville, where he operated a saw and flouring mill for 17 years, 
or up to about 1872. Then he came upon the farm spoken of 
above, where he has since remained. Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler 
have reared a worthy family of children : Henry, married, and in 
Carroll county ; Roxanna, wife of B. J. Colman, in Jefl'erson county, 
Kan. ; Metitia J., wife of Gus. Threlkeld, of Jackson county, Mo., 
and John L., a graduate of Central College, and now pursuing the 
study of law at Kansas City. One son, George, died when 10 years 
old. Mr. Wheeler and wife are members of the M. E. Church South 
at Waldron. 



CHAPTER XXn. 

PRESTON TOWNSHIP. 

Boundary — Physical Features — Early Settlers — Ridgely — Early Merchants in the 
Town — Business Outlook — Edgerton — One of the Most Important Towns in the 
County — Present Business Interests — Early Churches — Union Mills and Dis- 
tillery — Biographical. 

BOUNDARY AND PHYSICAL FEATURES. 

There has been do changes in Preston township since its organiza- 
tion. It is bounded on the north b}' Buchanan county, on the east 
by Clay county, on the south by Carroll township, and on the west 
by Green township, from which it is separated by the Platte river. 
Preston township is rather broken ; it is well watered by the Platte 
river, Smith's Fork, Dick's grove and Owl creek. The highlands are 
well adapted to wheat growing, and the bottom land to corn. All 
the arable lauds in the township are settled. 

EARLY SETTLERS. 

Among the early settlers of the township were Thornton Guinn, 
— Cook, Dr. Gregory, John A. Berry, Christopher Black, Noah 
Berry, Eev. Thomas Hurst, Valentine Bernard, Archibald Hill, Pey- 
ton Murphy, James Green, Messrs. Masterson, Sexton, Morgan, Hin- 
ton. Hunter and others. 



From EdwardV' Atlas of Platte county, we take the following : 
Ridgely was laid out by Christopher Black, Preston Akers, Samuel 
Phillips and Theodorick Fitzgerald, but prior to the establishment 
of Ridgeley, a town about one-half mile north of the present location 
was started by Jeremiah Farmer, which was by some called " Hell 
Town." The name killed it, and Ridgely supplied its place. 

An interloper by the name of Brown kept a grocery at the former 
place in 1844. He joined an expedition to rob the Santa Fe traders 
coming into Independence to buy goods. They met a train on the 
Arkansas river, and killed a wealthy Mexican named Jarvis, for which 
Brown and John McDaniel were hanged in St. Louis in 1845. Ridgely 
is in the midst of an intelligent and thrifty population, and does 
(894) 



HISTORY OF PLATTE CODNTT. 895 

considerable business, the principal business houses being C. F. Chris- 
man and Homer Denman. Dr. John Robinson is the physician of the 
town ; his father was one of the oldest medical practitioners of the 
county. Drs. Sims, Phillips and Oden have each plied the vocation 
of the healing art in this part of the county, while in the northern 
portion, at or near Edgerton, were Drs. Gregory and Dunlap and 
Jones, the latter still living. 

C. F. Chrisman is postmaster. The present population of the place 
is about 50. Edgerton is its shipping point. 

EDGERTON. 

This town owes its l)irth and growth to the Chicago, Rock Island and 
Pacific Railroad, and, with the exception of Platte City and Weston, 
is probably the most important town in the county. Although com- 
paratively a new town, it is situated in the vicinity of a fine, rich 
country, in a high state of cultivation, as well as in the midst of an enter- 
prising and intelligent population. A. fine mercantile business is done 
here, and large quantities of produce and stock are shipped for the 
Eastern markets. 

The business interest is represented by 1 bank, 1 newspaper, (i 
general stores, 2 drug stores, 3 grocery stores, 1 confectioner, 
2 boot and shoe stores, 1 millinery establishment, 1 hardware store, 
1 furniture store, 1 harness and saddlery shop, 2 grain dealers, 1 lum- 
ber yard, 2 blacksmith shops and 1 hotel. 

EARLY CHURCHES. 

The Primitive Baptists were the pioneer denomination to organize a 
religious society, and they built a log building near Edgerton early 
ill the "Follies." Rev. William Trapp, who was a farmer, was the first 
preacher of the denomination. The Methodists formed a class soon 
after, and the Missionarj' Baptists and Christians each subsequently 
effected an organization. The Missionary Baptists built the second 
house of worship and called it Mt. Zion. The Methodists built in 
about 1847 at Ridgely. The Primitive Baptists at first outnumbei-ed 
either of the other denominations. At the present time the Mission- 
ary Baptists and Christian communicants number about the same, and 
next the Methodists, the Primitive Baptists having the smallest num- 
ber. In the early history of the county pi-ivate schools were taught 
near Edgerton about three months in the year, and also one at Ridgely 
at an early period. 



896 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTT. 



UNION MILLS AND DISTILLERY. 

The Union Mills and Distillery, located about one and one-half 
miles northwest of Edgerton, are owned by G. W. Johnson. These 
are good mills and the product of the mill and distillery are of supe- 
rior quality. 



BIOGRAPHICAL. 



ROBERT BARER 

(Farmer, Section 12, Post-office, Ridi^ely). 

Mr. Baber, for many years a farmer in comfortable circumstances 
in Preston township, and a man with an extensive acquaintance among 
the people of this county, was born in Pulaski county, Ky., on the 
22d of August, 1825, and was the son of John Baber, a Kentuukian 
by birth, whose father, Robert Baber, was originally from Virginia. 
During the journey of the hitter with his family from that State to 
Kentucky, John, his son, was born. After reaching manhood he was 
married to Miss Delila Davis, of the same State as himself. During 
the War of 1812 he was a gallant soldier in defense of this country 
against the invasion of foreign troops, and was an active participant 
in the engagement at New Orleans. In the fall of 1841 the family 
removed to Missouri, taking up their location in Platte county, where 
they lived for eight years. In 1849 they went to Texas, but the fall 
of the next year found them once again residents of Platte. Here, 
or on the place which our subject now occupies, Robert's father died, 
in 1872, aged 72 years, having been born in 1800. His widow is still 
living, at the age of 81. Robert Baber accompanied the family on 
their removal to this State, and also to Texas, I'eturning with them 
and settling whei'e he now lives in 1850, as above mentioned. Feb- 
ruary 28, 1856, he was married in this county to Miss Emma R. 
Kiuisly, whose parents were Thomas and Martha (Morris) Kimsly. 
Mr. K. caine to Missouri from Tennessee when a young man, and his 
wife from Kentucky. Mrs. Bal)er was born in Howard county, Mo. 
They have a family of seven boys and four girls : John T. , married and a 
resident of this county; Landon D. and Thomas J., twins; James 
M., married and in this county ; Andrew J., George W., married and 
in the county ; David P., Martha J., Delila Ann, Lucy E. and Mari- 
etta. Mr. and Mrs. Baber are members of the Missionary Baptist 
Church. Mr. B. has a farm of 238 acres, all fenced, al)out 100 acres 
of which are in cultivation. His orchard is a good one and in tine 
bearing condition. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 897 

CAPT. CHARLES F. CHRISMAN 

(Dealer in General Mercliaiulise, aad Farmer aud Stock-raiser, Post-offlce, Ridgely). 

Capt. Clirisman has I)eeii engaged in merchandisiug at Ridgely for 
nearly thirty years coiitianously, witli an exception of a short time 
during the Civil War. He came to this county a young man long ago, 
and without a dollar. But liy his industry and close attention to 
business, his fair dealing and economy, he has accumulated a cora- 
fortaljle property. Capt. Chrisman has long been one of the leading 
merchants of the county. Besides his l)usiness interests he is also 
prominently interested in farming and stock raising, and has two val- 
uable farms in tlie count3^ One of his places contains 160 acres, and 
the other 227 acres, both being well improved. He was born in Union 
county, Indiana, in 1S.30, and when he was 14 years of age went with 
his parents, who removed to Bath county, Ky. He completed his 
adolescence in Kentucky and received an excellent common school 
education, being a youth of a liright, quick mind and anxious to 
quality himself l)y study for business life. However, on the outbreak 
of the Mexican War, in 1846, he enlisted for the service in the distant 
republic beyond the Rio Grande, and was in the regiment of which 
John C. Breckinridge was major, and Thomas T. Crittenden, a son 
of John J., was lieutenant-colonel. All the world is familiar with 
the gallant death of young Crittenden. After the war young Chris- 
man returned home and engaged in teaching school, which he followed 
until a 3'ear or two after he came to Missouri. But by the year 1856 
he had accumulated a nucleus of means to begin merchandising with, 
it being the aml)ition of his life to become a successful merchant. 
He accordingly opened a stock of goods at Ridgely and carried on 
business with excellent success up to the outbreak of the Civil War. 
He then promptly volunteered in the State Guard (Southern service), 
and was elected captain of Co. G, of the Second Missouri, Fifth 
division. This service was enlisted for six months, but he was out 
about seven months. During that time he was in the l)attles of Blue 
Mills, Pea Ridge and some others of less importance. Returning 
home after this, Capt. Chrisman resumed charge of his store and filled 
the office of postmaster, so that the office might not be taken 
away for the want of some one to perform its duties. But in a 
short time the condition of aftairs became so critical that he 
was compelled to leave the country, and, accordingly, like the 
Arabs of old, he quietly boxed up his goods, folded his tent, and 
silently departed. He went to Montana and did not return until 
after the close of the war. But coming back in 1865, Capt. Chrisman 
resumed Imsiness at Ridgely, becoming a member of the firm of Chris- 
man & Conway. Four years later he bought out Mr. Conway and has 
ever since continued the business alone. In 1852 Capt. Chrisman was 
married to Miss Hannah, a daughter of Isaac Crouch, of Bath county, 
Ky. They have three children, Horace, Charles and John. Mrs. 



898 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

Chrisiuau was taken away by death June 30, 1884. She was an 
excellent woman, a devoted wife and mother, a kind and hospitable 
neighbor, and a true-hearted Christian lady. Capt. Chrisman is 
one of the leading men of Preston township. Upright and honorable 
in every sense of the word, he is at the same time a genial, popular 
man and e.xercises a marked influence for good in the community 
where he resides. He is a son of John and Elizabeth Chrisman, 
the father a native of Maryland, but the mother originally of Vir- 
ginia. They settled in Indiana in an early day and sulisequently 
in Bath county, Ky., where they resided until their deaths. The 
father was a man of high character, and one whose word for what- 
ever he gave it was considered as good as any man's bond. He 
was given a good start in life l)y his father but lost it in the cotton 
trade between New Orleans and Norfolk, by the sinking of a large 
cargo of cotton. Subsequently he went to work with courage and 
resolution — not returning home like the prodigal son — and made 
another start by his own industry and ability. He had , too much 
self-respect to ask anything further from his parents, and would not 
have partaken of the fatted calf if it had been offered at a feast under 
his father's roof in honor of his return. He went his own way in 
the world, and, according to the best accounts, did better in the 
long run than the prodigal son, who went whining back to receive 
the sympathy of his father and the sneers of his brother. 

CAPT. WILLIAM COCKRILL 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section 1, Post-offlce, Ridgely). 

On the 15th of May, 1831, in Grayson count3s Ky., there was born 
to James and Lucinda (Sirls) Cockrill a son, whom we now take as 
the subject of this sketch — a man who has risen to a well merited 
prominence among the citizens of this county, and one respected by 
all for his sterling worth. James Cockiill was a Virginian by birth, 
l)ut his wife was originally from Kentucky. In 1856 the family re- 
moved to Missouri and located in Platte county, where Mr. C. bought 
land and improved a farm. He was occupied with agricultural pur- 
suits only a short time after his removal to this vicinity, death putting 
an end to what was the promise of an unusually successful career. 
He died in August, 1858. During his early years William Cockrill 
was denied the privileges of receiving much of an education outside 
of what could be obtained by self-application. But, of determined 
purpose and will for securing something of a knowledge of books, 
he applied himself closely, and, as proven in later years, to advan- 
tage. His occupation in his younger days was teaming and hauling 
from Louisville to Nashville for a number of years. In November, 
1855, he was married in his native county to Miss Martha Jane Bratchc, 
an old schoolmate, and a daughter of John A. Bratche, originally 
from North Carolina. Mrs. C. was born, reared and educated in 
Kentucky. During the late war Capt. Cockrill served in the State 
militia, and, just previous to the close of the conflict, was commis- 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 809 

sioned captain. The Captain is the owner of .310 acres of fenced land, 
upon which is a comparatively new residence, barns, etc. To his 
present position he has risen entirely by his own efforts, having from 
the very first nothing to rely upon but his own energy and will. He 
is not personally occupied to any great extent in agricultural pursuits, 
his land being rented, while he loans his money. Capt. and Mrs. 
Cockrill have no children of their own, but have an adopted nephew, 
William Cockrill, whose mother is dead ; he is five years old. 

THOMAS J. DOKE 

(Of Doke & Sons, Dealers iu Druses, Groceries and Hardware, and Grain Sliippers, 
Edgertou). 

The parents of Mr. Doke were John L. and Nancy (Yeager) Doke, 
originally from the vicinity of Danville, Ky. The family came to this 
State in 1854, and settled a farm near New London, in Ralls county, 
where the parents made their home some fourteen or fifteen years. 
The father became a leading farmer of that county, besides being 
largel}' engaged in the mule trade, shipping to Southern markets. He 
was also a prominent slaveholder of Ralls comity. At the outbreak 
of the war, Mr. Doke, Sr., had large amounts of money due him in the 
South for mules he had sold on time, as was then the custom in the 
Southern mule trade. These debts he of course failed to collect on 
account of the war, the loss of which greatly embarrassed him at 
home. But, added to these misfortunes, came the loss of his negi'oes 
by the emancipation proclamation and repeated robberies by preda- 
tory bands of soldiery, leaving him little or nothing except his farm 
and other real estate, which were rendered valueless for a time by the 
war, notwithstanding he had unavoidable liabilities to meet. All iu 
all, he was ))ractically broken ui), and in his old age, although his life 
had been one of industry and success, he was left with but little to go 
upon. This seemed a strange ending to the affairs of one who had 
won and deserved success, anil who has ever been a steadfast believer 
in the goodness and wisdom of Providence. But the ways of Provi- 
dence are past finding out, and at last all may possibly prove for the 
best, though at the present writing the dubiousness of such a result 
looks several sizes larger than a man's hand. In any circumstances, 
however, we all know that Allah is good! In 1875 Mr. Doke, Sr., 
removed to Lafayette county, and four years later he and his good 
wife went to make their home with one of their children in Bates 
county. Thomas J. Doke, the subject of this sketch, was born near 
Danville, Ky., November 12, 1832. November 22, 1853, he was mar- 
ried to Miss Martha H., daughter of Henry and Mary Bruce. The 
following spring Mr. Doke removed to Missouri and settled in Ralls 
county. Twelve years later he removed to Platte county, and located 
near the present site of Edgertou. In 1877 he engaged in merchandis- 
ing here and has been in the trade continuously ever since. His sons, 
John H. and Will J., are now his partners, and they have one of the 
leading business establishments of Edgertou. They carry full country 



i'OO ^ HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

stocks of groceries and hiirtlware luul have an excellent cnstom. They 
are also largely engaged in the grain trade, and arc tlio leading grain 
shippers from this point. Mr. and Mrs. Doko have had nine children, 
four of whom iire living : John II., William .)., Fielding Y. and Mollie 
B. Smith. Mr. and Mrs. Dokc are worth}' and exemplary members of 
the Baptist Church, and Mr. Dokc is a member of the Masonic Order. 
He is also a member of the town council, and has always taken a worthy 
and public-spirited interest in the welfare and prosperity of Edgerton; 
being from the beginning one of the leading, enterprising men of the 
place. 

REV. THOMAS HURST 

(Retired Minister of the M. E. Church South, Post-offlce, Ridgely, Platte County, Mo.). 

Rev. Mr. Hurst is a native of Ohio, born near Chillicothe, in Ross 
county, November 11, 1805. He was a son of Levi and Sophia 
(Badley) Hurst, formerly of Baltimore, Md. Rev. Mr. Hurst's 
l)aternal grandfather was James Hurst, who came over to Baltimore 
from Isle of Wight, Eng., about the middle of the last century. The 
maternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch was William 
Badley, of an early colonial family at Baltimore. In about 1800 
Rev. Mr. Hurst's parents removed from Baltimore to Chillicothe, O., 
or to the locality which afterwards became the site of Chillicothe. 
The father and mother and three children made the entire journey in 
a cart drawn by one horse, Iiringing with them such household uten- 
sils as were indispensable for cooking, bedding and personal wear. 
Locating on the site of Chillicothe, they resided there for two or 
three years, and the father, who was one of the pioneers of the place, 
built the first brick house erected there. Subsequently, he bought 
a farm in the vicinity and engaged in farming. He became very 
successfid, and lived to the advanced age of 90 years. He left a 
comfortable property — enough to give all his children a sul)stantial 
start in life. His wife died the following ye:ir after his demise, in 
18(3l. She was 90 years of age. They had 10 children (eight sons 
and two daughters). Rev. Tiiomas Hurst, who was the seventh in 
their family of children, was reared near Chillicothe, and received 
only such a common school education as was obtainable at that early 
day. On the 27th of May, 1X27, he was married to Miss Catherine 
L. Street, a daughter of Bazzel and Hannah Street, both of pioneer 
families in Ohio. She survived \\vv marriage, however, only a few 
years, leaving at her death two children, George W. antl Sarah A., 
who are still living. To his second wif(! Mr. Hurst was married 
August?, 1834. She was a Miss Sarah Prichard. In IS.OS, Mr. Hurst 
immigrated to Missouri, and settled in Platte county. For 10 years 
before this he had been regularly engaged in the ministry of the M. 
E. Church, liut all the time was more or less actively interested in farm- 
ing and stock-raising. .He was licensed to preach in Frankfort, O., by 
Rev. James M. Triml)le, in 1840. Seven years later he was regularly 
ordained a deacon of the M. E. Church, Bishoi) Edwin O. James offi- 
ciating. In 1854, Rev. Mr. Hurst was made an ekler in the M. 



lll.STtUn' OF ri>ATTF, COUNTY. !U)1 

E. Church South, by liisliop II. II. KaviiiiMiigli. A zoidous aiicl uso- 
Ciil mini.sler before he c;iiiio to Missouri, subsequeiiUy, for 15 years, ho 
was ii ro<;uhir circuit rider iu thi.s State. But in 1808, on account of 
his iou<!; and useful services for tlie church and iiis advanciiifr years, he 
was, with many expressions of warm apj)reciMtion for what lie liad 
(h)ne, and wilii tiie liearty good wishes of liis foHow-iainisters, honor- 
al)ly retired, or " superannuated," by act of the Conference. Since 
tlien ho lias, of course, not l)eon engaged in the i-eguhir ministry, 
but has, nevertiieless, continued to take a warm intei'ost in tlie 
w .dfaro of tho church and the ti'ium[)h of Gospel teachings, and 
wherever ho could do good his services have not been withhidd. 
^Jy his second wife Mr. Hurst had seven children : Jesse, who dietl in 
infancy ; Minerva J., wifi^ of William Shackleford ; Mary E., wife of 
James Scott; Levi A., Matilda, wife of S. M. Crockett, and iMalissa 
Iv, wife of David E. Shafer, and Martha, now deceased. Tho 
mother of those died in 1877. Levi A. Hni'st (sou of Rev. Thomas 
Ilurst;) was married to Miss Gertrude McLanc daughter of AlTen 
M'-'Lano, of Delaware. Her grandfather was Col. Allen McLanc^ 
from whom .John 11. McLane, editor and projirielor of the Cincinnati 
Eitquiirr, was also a descendant. Mrs. Hurst ha^in her possession 
!o wator-pitcher i)rosouted to her graiulfather liy tho committee of 
ai-rangemeuts at Washington, who had charge of tho coromouies in 
honor of tho visit of Gen. Lal'ayotte to this country in 1824. Col. 
McLane was one of tho surviving veterans at that time, of the War for 
Indeptnitlenco, and was a personal and close acHjnaintanco of both 
Washington and Lafayette, each of w'hom had froiinently had occa- 
sion to compliment his gallantry and ability as an ofKcicr in their 
official rei)orts. On one side of tho pitcher is a Inist picture of (Jen. 
^Vashington, under which is engraved — " The Father of his Country ; 
I'^irst in War, First in Peace, and First in the Hearts of his Country- 
inon." On the other side of the pitcher is a picture of Gen. 
Lafayette, over which is inscribed — " In comnieuioratiou of the visit 
of Gen. Lafayette to the United States of America, in the year 1824." 
Encircling thei)icturo is "Fayette, tho nation's guest." In front of 
the pitcher is presented an eagle bearing in its mouth tho motto, 
" E pinribns Unum." Encircling the eagle are tho words, " Repub- 
licans are not always ungratt^fuK To their l)rother soldier. Col. Allen 
McLani\" 

Mrs. Ilnrst has also in her possession another family relic, which is 
an oil painting, repi'esenting a scono in the Revolution, in which her 
grandfather, Allen McLano, who belonged to Maj. Lee's famous legion 
of horse, had a desperate encounter with the I^ritish. The [)icture is 
3;)x42 inches. 

PAYTON NEWMAN 

(Fanner mul Stocli-raiser, Post-oftlce, Kiilgely). 

The branch of the Newman family of which tho subject of tho pro- 
sent sketch is a re|)resentativo came originally, so far as this country 
is concerned, from North Carolina. Mr. Newman was .a son of Will- 



902 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

iam and Elizabeth Newman, who at the time of his hirth were residents 
of West Virginia. He was born in Cabell county of that State, June 
27, 1818. His father, before removino; to Missouri, had served in 
the office of consta])le, in both Lawrence and Greenup counties in 
Kentucky, a position in that State in those days of considerable 
more dignity and importance than the office is in Missouri. He was 
a farmer by occupation, however, and followed that almost exclusively 
throughout his life, except the six or eight years during which he 
discharged the duties ol" constable. From Kentucky the family re- 
moved to Missouri, and two years later settled in Platte county, near 
llidgely, in 1838. Hero the parents resided until tlunr deaths, the 
father dying in 1865, and the niotiier in 1869. Both were earnest 
members of the Baptist Church. Peyton Newman was in his twen- 
tieth year when became to Platte county with his parents. It should 
liave been remarked, however, which was omitted by oversight, that 
the family first settled in Kentucky from West Virginia, and resided 
there for a number of years, and until their removal to Missouri. 
The subject of this sketch was })rincipally reared in Kentucky. He 
completed his majority, however, in Platte county, and in 1842 was 
married to Miss Susan, a daughter of Lance ami Fannie Woodward, 
from Madison county, Ky. Mr. Newman had engaged in farming for 
himself before he was married, and he continued farming and stock- 
raising up to the outbreak of the Civil War. But in 18()1 he enlisted 
in the Southern service under Gen. Price and served for al)Out six 
months. During that time he was in the battle of Pea Ridge and 
some other engagements of less importance. But being taken pris- 
oner, he was compelled to take what was called the ironclad oath and 
was afterwards not in the service any more. He therefore resumed 
farming and stock-raising, and has so continued ever since. Mr. 
Newman has been very successful and has accumulated a comfortable 
property. Ho has a line farm of nearly .500 acres, all handsomely 
im[)roved, including a commodious residence, erected at a cost of 
nciarly $4,000, two excellent l)arus and other buildings and better- 
ments to correspond. He is making a specialty of tine short horn 
cattle and of feeding beef cattle for the wholesale markets. He has 
a good herd of short horns and much other valualjle stock. Mr. and 
Mrs. Newman have reared ten children to mature years: Lance W. , 
an attorney by profession ; Payton S., a farmer ; Frances E., wife of 
R. W. Eads, of Clinton county; Martha R., wife of James Reece, of 
that county ; Amanda, wife of Alexamler Nevvby, of Colorado ; Alice, 
wife of Daniel H. Haydcn, of Platte county; Catherine, wife of J. 
W. Harris, of this county; William C. deceased, at the age of 24; 
Almeda, wife of Z. M. Barnett, of Jackson county, and Stephen S. 
deceased, at the age of 24, and Cecelia deceased, at the age of 
21. Mr. and Mrs. Newman are members of the Baptist Church. 



mSTOKY OK I'LATTK COUNTY. 903 



DAVID D. NKWMAN 

(l''armer, i'osl-oUlcc, Kdgertoii). 

Diivid D. is ;i hrotlicr to Pjiyton Nowinaii, wliosc; skiitcli precedes 
lliis, and ill which an oiilliiic of Iho family history lias beoii given. 
David D. was horn in IjawriMico county, Ky., February 28, 1820, 
and was therefore sixtiHMi years of ago when the lainily eaiue to Mis- 
souri. Afterwards, in March, 1843, he was married to Miss Miuy A., 
a daughter of tlohn and Nancy Dodson, from Virginia to this State by 
way of 'renuossee. Mr. Newman was roared to the ocotipation of a 
{'armor and has followed that all his life, oi' from boyhood up to the 
present tinu-. liy industry and good managenu'iil lu; has boon fairly 
successful and has accumulatoil a modest independenco. lie has an 
excidlent homestead of ai)()ut 200 acres, well stocked and well im- 
proved, and considerable other property, real, personal and mixed. 
Mr. and Mrs. Newman have been blewscrd with a family of thirteen 
clii<lreu : Nancy, wife of William B. Staiidiford ; lOlizabeth, late wife 
ol li. II. Black, but who died in 1872, leaving four children, three of 
whom arci now living; Susan .!., wife of J. N. Moody, deceased, and 
afterwards consort of George W. Slee[)er ; John, a wagonmaker at 
Kdgerlon ; lOi'asliis P., ear inspector of the Chicago, Rock Island and 
Pacific^ Railroad ('ompany ; James H., a, faianer ; Cornelia K., wife of 
A. (i. Mitchell; Marth.a A., wife of Alfred Liggett; Mary A., Sarah 
P.. wife of J. R. Cox ; William P., Theodore L. and David 1). Alex- 
andi>r Newnum is a grandson of the subject of this sketch, aiul all (he 
family are meml)ers of tlu> Baptist Church at Edgerton, Mr. Newman 
himself Ix'ing a deacon in tlu^ church. He is a meml)cr of the A. F. 
ami A. M. ■ 

GFOlKiF RADKR 

(l''{ii'iiR'i' iuul Stock-raisor). 

Mr. Radcr, a loading land owner and one of the successful agricml- 
turists of the county, was born in liockingham county, of tlie Old 
Douiiiiiou, March 18, 1830, his parents also being natives of that 
State. His father, ,Iohu Radei', a successful farmer, moved from 
Rockingham to Rockbridge, four mih>s from Lexington, and tliore 
remainiul until his death, leaving a landed estate of 472 acres. His 
sou, George, received a common school education in youth, and when 
leu 3'ears of age began to learn the (carpenter's trade, to which ho 
applied himself afterwards for some time. In 1854 ho emigi-attnl to 
Missouri, and in 18511 took up his chosen calling again. (Sioing to 
Colorado he remained there until 18()5, occupied the wdiile in freight- 
ing and mining. Returning now to Platte county, he commenced 
farming, and has since eont imied it with no ordinary- degree of success. 
He is much interested in the stock business, and makes a specialty of 
gr.ided cattle, hogs, etc., his annual sliii)monts anKUinting to a neat 
sum. On March IH, 18t!7, Mr. Rader was married to Miss Joanna 
\\'hitlock, who was born in this county. Her father, Preston 

52 



904 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

Whitlock, was a Kentuckian by birth, as was also her mother, whose 
maitlen name was Lavinia Grover. At the time of the death of the 
former he owned 400 acres of hmd in Platte county ; he died in 1875, 
being a member of the Presbyterian Church. In his political prefer- 
ences he was a Democrat. Mrs. Rader was one of twelve children. 
Her family were early settlers here, having settled in the county in 1836. 
Mr. and Mrs. Rader have four children, viz. : Frank, born Decem- 
ber 8, 1867 ; David, born September 30, 1869 ; Ann, born February 
22, 1876, and Kate, born Feln-uary 28, 1879. Mrs. Rader is a mem- 
ber of the Christian Church. Mr. Rader is a Democrat politically. 
He is a man of wide and varied information, and well posted on the 
general topics of the day, the knowledge he has obtained being the 
result of deep and careful study. 

ALEXANDER M. ROBINSON, M. D. 

(Retired Physician and Surgeon, Ridgely.) 

The following sketch of the life of Dr. Robinson is reproduced 
from the United States Biographical Dictionary (Missouri volume), 
published in 1878:— 

Alexander M. Robinson was born in Greenville District, S. C. 
November 17, 1802. His parents, John Monteith and Sarah (McClan- 
ahan) Robinson were natives of Virginia. His paternal grandfather 
was born in New Haven, Eng., and bis maternal grandfather was 
from Scotland. About the year 1790 Alexander's parents immigrated 
to South Carolina, where he, the seventh of a family of twelve chil- 
dren, was born. In 1810 his father removed to Bourbon county, Ky., 
where he received his education under the care of Thomas A. 
Marshall, afterward Judge of the Supreme Court of Kentucky. After 
leaving school he studied medicine, and in 1825—26 attended. lectures 
at Lexington, Ky., and practiced his profession for upward of half a 
century with distinguished success. 

In 1826 he removed to Missouri, settling first in Howard count}', 
and in a few years afterward removing to Boone county, from which 
he was elected in 1834 to the State Senate, serving a term of four 
years, at the expiration of whicii he served a term as one of the sec- 
retaries of the Senate. In 1842 he removed to Clay county, where 
he remained a year, still engaged in the practice of his profession. 
In 1843 he removed to Platte county, settling on a farm which he hail 
entered. In 1848 he represented the county in the State Legislature, 
and during the term was Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
Few men in the history of the State exercised more power over this 
body. At the close of the session his portrait was painted by George 
Bingham at the expense of the members and hung in Representative 
Hall, where it nmy still be seen. In 1852 he was the Senator from 
the district which then included Platte, Clinton and Clay counties, 
and was re-elected in 1856, the district being then composed of Clay 
and Clinton. Before the expiration of the last term he resigned in 
consequence of moving his residence from Platte to Lewis county. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 905 

In 1857 he was appointed hy President Buchanan one of the Superin- 
tendents of Indian atlairs. The dnties of this office he discharged 
with marked ability durinn; the four years of Buciianan's administra- 
tion, and six months of Lincoln's, when he resigned and returned to 
Clay county, where he resumed the practice of medicine a few months. 
Then he settled at Ridgely, Platte county, engaging in his profession, 
and returned to his farm in Clinton county, where he now lives at the 
advanced age of 75 years, in full possession of his faculties and uni- 
versally respected by all who know him. 

Dr. Roliinson was married in 1822, in Bonrlion county, Ky., to 
Miss Louisa Baysie, slaughter of E. Ba3'sie. Two children were born to 
them, one of whom, a son, survives and is now a practicing physician 
of Texas. In 1833 Dr. Robinson married Miss Catherine Ann Hughes, 
daughter of William Hughes, a farmer of Boone county, ilo. They 
have had six children, of whom three sons and a daughter are living. 

In religion Dr. Robinson has always been a free thinker. Politi- 
cally he is a Democrat. 

In 1825 he was made a Master Mason in Blue Spring Lodge, 
Fayette county, Ky. He afterwards received the Mark Master's de- 
gree in the Chapter, but moved to IMissouri and failed to advance to 
the superior degree in this body. In person he is six feet and one 
inch in height, and weighs about one hundred and sixty-five pounds. 
His address is polished and his general bearing dignified. 

J. M. ROBINSON, M. D. 

(Physician and Surgeon, Ridgely). 

Dr. J. M. Robinson is a son of Dr. Alexander M. Robinson and 
Catharine Ann (Hughes) Robinson, whose sketch (J. M.'s) precedes 
this, he being one of the leading pu'jlic men of the State in years 
gone by and a physician of Slate reputition. Dr. Robinson, Jr., was 
born in Platte county, February 14, 1847, and as he grew up received 
an advanced general education. He attended select schools in the 
vicinity of his father's homestead in Platte county, and also attended 
school at St. Louis for three years. After this he went to college at 
St. Joseph, Mo., for three years. In the meantime he had given 
considerable attention in a general way to the study of medicine, for 
which profession he was educated. But quitting school he began 
teaching at the same time, and used his means thus obtained to take 
his first course of lectures, aided l)y his father. He entered assidu- 
ously upon a regular course of study for the medical profession under 
his father, who was untiring in his eft"orts to give him as thorough a 
knowledge of that science as was possible outside of a college. But 
in 186(5 he matriculated at the St. Louis Medical College, where he 
took a regular course of two terms, graduating in the class of '69, 
when he was just 21 years old. After quitting medical college Dr. 
Robinson, Jr., returned home to Platte county and was received into 
partnership in the practice with his father. They practiced together 
with advantage to both for about three years. Since then Dr. Robin- 



906 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

son, Jr., has been engaged in the practice alone, and never changed 
his location. In his profession he has been not less successful than 
his distinguished father. Dr. Robinson, Jr., has acquired a wide and 
enviable reputation as a physician, and for years he has been recog- 
nized as l)eing at the head of his profession in this county. Eminently 
successful in the treatment of cases and in l)ui]ding up a large prac- 
tice, he has been hardly less so in a material point of view. Dr. Rob- 
inson, Jr., has accumulated a comfortable independence. November 
10, 1869, he was married to Miss Sarah A. Handley, a daughter of 
Dr. William C. Handley, an old and prominent physician of this 
county, from Kentucky. Dr. and Mrs. R. have five children, Lela 
L., William M., and Johnnie A., an infant. Two others died in in- 
fancy. In politics Dr. Robinson is a Jetfersonian Democrat and in 
religion — well, in fact, he has no religion to speak of; or, rather, he 
is what may be called a Rationalist, with a strong leaning toward 
Agnosticism. But, nevertheless, he is a fine physician and a most 
excellent, exemplary and highly esteemed citizen. Besides he is a 
brother-in-law to the church, which is certainly good as far as it goes. 
Mrs. Robinson is a worthy and devout member of the M. E. Church 
South, and a most amiable, excellent lady. In person he is about five 
feet, ten inches high and weighs 128 pounds. 

DRS. ABRAHAM and WILLIAM SHAFER 

(Physicians and Surgeons, Edgerton). 

The Drs. Shafer, brothers, partners in the practice of medicine at 
Edgerton, are justly recognized as among the leading successful physi- 
cians of this part of the county. Both are gentlemen of superior 
general education, and are regular graduates of medicine, each having 
taken a complete course at . medical college and graduated with 
marked honor. 

Dr. Abraham Shafer is the senior of the two in the practice, having 
commenced in 1873, ever since which he has been actively occupied 
with the duties of his profession. He was l)orn in this county in the 
year 1849, and was reared on his father's farm. His early youth was 
spent in the common schools, and later along he studied the higher 
branches at the Platte City Academy and the State University. In 
1870 Dr. Shafer, Sr., began the study of medicine under Dr. J. M. 
Allen, of Liberty, and in due time entered the Medical College of 
Kansas City, which he attended for one term. From there he matri- 
culated at ihe St. Louis Medical College, and continued a student in 
that institution for one term, or uutil the spring of 1873. Dr. Shafer, 
Sr., then located at Arnold Station, in Clay county, where he engaged 
in the practice of his profession, and afterwards continued there for 
nearly ten years. During that time, in 1875-70, he attended another 
term at the St. Louis Medical College, and graduated the following 
spring, or in 187(5. In 1882 Dr. Shafer, Sr., came to Edgerton and 
formed the present partnership with his brother, who, in the meantime, 
had become a physician. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 907 

Dr. Shafer, Jr., was bora in this county in the year 1852. Like 
his brother, he received a i^ood general education. Aftorvvards he 
taught school for a time, and in 1872 began the study of medicine 
under Dr. Allen. He attended lectures at the Missouri Medical Col- 
lege, of St. Louis, during the terms of 1874-75 and 1875-76, graduat- 
ing with distinction in the class of 1876. He then began the practice 
at Breckinridge, but within a year afterwards removed to Edgerton. 
Subsequently the partnership with his brother was formed, as stated 
above. Since then they have been in the active practice together and 
virtually have the control of the territory contiguous to Edgerton. 
They are both men of high standing in the community, and being 
physicians of approved skill and ability, they are of course successful 
in their profession. 

The Drs. Shafer are sons of Nicholas Shafer and wife, old and 
respected residents of this county. The fither was a native of Virginia, 
but the mother was born and reared in Ohio. The father was an ener- 
getic farmer, and one of the substantial, highly esteemed citizens of 
Platte county. 

JOSEPH SKAGGS 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Smithville). 

Mr. Skaggs, a successful and energetic farmer within the limits of 
Preston township, was born November 30, 1834, in Indiana, his pa- 
rents being Michael and Rutha (Paul) Skaggs, both Virginians by 
birth. The father was born in 1801, and died October 25, 1851 ; he 
followed agricultural pursuits as his calling in life. His wife died in 
Jackson county, Mo., in 1858. Joseph was one of a family of seven 
children. He accompanied his parents to Platte county when they came 
here and was brought up in this vicinity, his education being such as 
could be obtained in the common schools. He had no means with 
which to start in life for himself, but by industry and hard work, to- 
gether with a resistless perseverance, he has become comfortably sit- 
uated in life. He owns a good farm of 121 acres and has it well 
stocked. Li 1856 Mi\ Skaggs was married. Miss Harriet E. Ellis 
becoming his wife. She was born in Kentucky in 1837. They have 
six children living: Mary A., l)orn in June, 1857, and married to 
George Byrd in 1881 ; William T., married Ida Powell in 1882 ; Adda 
Miller, born in June, 1861, now the wife of Jacob McFall, of Clay 
couutv ; Joseph E., born Novetnl)er 11, 1866 ; Lucv G., l)orn Novem- 
ber 15, 1870, and Thurzaeller, l)orn March 17, 1874. Mr. Skaggs' 
mother i)elonged to the Reformed Cinircli, as he liimself tloes. His 
wife is connected with the Christian denomination. Politically he is 
a Democrat. 

WILLIAM SMITH 

(Farmer, and Gontractor and Builder, Post-office, Rixljiely). 

The subject of this sketch was born in Butler county. Pa., March 

31, 1831, and was a son of James and Barbara (Hooks) Smith, who 

were married May 4, 1804. William Smith was the tirst in their 

family of seven children. The father was a stone mason by trade, 



908 HISTORY or PLATTE COUNTY. 

and an industrious and useful citizen. He took an active interest in 
scliool matters, and did much to maintain good educational advantages 
in ttie vicinity where he resided. William Smith, the subject of this 
sketch, received a good common school education, and on the 18th of 
Decemi)er, 1S5B, was married to Miss Nannie, a daughter of Daniel 
and Lizzie (Fox) Pugh. In the meantime he iiad learned the carpen- 
ter's trade, and continued to work at his trade and carry on building 
as a contractor in Pennsylvania until his removal to Missouri in 1874. 
Since he emigrated to this State, Mr. Smith has kept up his trade and 
has l)ecc)me one of the prominent contractors and builders of this part 
of Platte county. At Ridgel}' he built the M. E. Church South and 
also the Christian Church. Besides these he has erected a number of 
other valuable buildings in this vicinity. Mr. Smith also has a vahuil)le 
farm of 100 acres adjacent to Ridgely, well stocked and well im- 
proved. He is a man of industrj' and energy, and is well respected by 
his acquaintances. 

ELDER JOHN W. TATE 
(Pastor of the Christian Church, Edgeiton). 
Rev. Mr. Tate was born in Harrison county. Ky., March 30, 1837, 
and was reared in Missouri. In 1857 he was married to Miss Nancy 
E., a daughter of Andrew and Mary Brown, formerly of Tennessee. 
In the meantime Mr. Tate was brought to Missouri by his father, who 
located in Jackson first and afterward removed to Clinton county. 
After his marriage he settled in Nodaway county and followed teach- 
ing and farming for about three years, during which time he prepared 
himself for the ministry, and for the succeeding 14 j'ears he was 
principally engaged with the duties of the ministry of the Christian 
Church in Nodaway, Holt, Atchison and Andrew counties. In 1874 
he went to Virginia, where he attended Bethany College, taking a 
regular course of four years and graduating with the degree ofB. L., 
under the i)i-esidency of Rev. Dr. W. K. Pendleton. While he was 
attending college, however, he was also occupied with the active work 
of the ministry, and was very successful in hi*> work, adding to the 
church during that time more than 200 persons. After his gradua- 
tion Rev. Mr. Tate returned to Missouri and took charge of the 
Christian Church at Mound City, in Holt county, but a yeiiv later was 
called to the jiastorate of some churches of his denomination in Atchi- 
son county, Mo., where he rem.ainod about 18 months. While there 
he was also interested in farming. At the end of that time he sold 
his farm and afterwards taught school, organizing, in company with 
Prof. D. A. Quick, what was known as the Rock Port College and 
Noruuil School. In 1880 Mr. Tate took charge of the pastorate of 
the Christian Church at Gower, in Clinton county, and was also inter- 
ested in farming in the vicinity of Gower. He preached there and at the 
neighboring churches until early in 1883, and then came to Edgertou. 
Since he has been here he has had charge of the Christian Church at 
this place, and has also been acting pastor of the churches at Smith- 
ville, Camden Point and Gower. Beside discharging these duties he 
is carrying on farming quite extensively, and has control of the Breck- 



HISTOltV OF PLATTE COUNTV. 909 

eiiridiTo or Walnut Grove Iknii of 320 acres near Edgertou. The 
place is well improved and well stocked, and Mr. Tate is making a 
specialty of breeding and raising fine short iiorn cattle for sale. He 
is also raising quite extensively the Poland-China breed of hogs. Mr. 
Tate was a son of Jose})li and Kauhel (Foster) Tate, both of old and 
respected Kentucky families. He is the only child living by their 
marriage, his mother having died when he was in the first year of his 
age, and an older sister having since died. After his mother's death 
the father removed to Lone Jack, Mo., and settled in Jackson 
countv ; afterwards removed to Clinton county and settled near the 
little town of Haynesville, where he lived until his death. He died 
October 11, 18()7. For many years Mr. Tate, Sr., had been a worthy 
and exomi)lary member of the Christian Church. 

JOHN W. THOMAS 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-offlco, Ridgely). 
The sul)ject of this sketch was born in Pike county, 111., January 4, 
1835, being the son of Samuel F. Thomas, a native of Alabama, who, 
after remaining there until grown to manhood, removed to Missouri. 
In 1834 he went to Illinois and thence to California, locating in Los 
Angeles, where he now makes his home. During his residence in 
Illinois he was township assessor in Pike county, serving in an accept- 
able manner for several years. His wife, to whom he was niarried in 
1830, was formerly Miss Elizabeth Wells, of Kentucky, born in 1807. 
She died in 1874, and of the family of children which she left, six are 
now living: George W., in Los Angeles, Cal. ; Selina, the wife of 
Woodson Wilkinson, and now a resident of California; Mary Jane, 
living in the same State; Samuel C, married to Elizabeth Turner, 
and a citizen of Pike county, 111. ; Sarah M., now Mrs. Robert Gil- 
kerson, of Illinois. John W. Thomas was brought up to the occupa- 
tion of farming, and has made it his chosen calling during life. He 
came to this county in 1869, and has continued to reside here since 
that time, one of the respected citizens of the vicinity. He owns KiO 
acres of land, improved and stocked with cattle, hogs, etc. Mr. 
Thomas was married'to Miss Mary J. Freeman, originally from Car- 
roll county, Temi., where she was born March 20, 1834. Her family 
moved to Pike county. 111., in 1844, where she remained until her 
marriage August 19, 1856. Her parents were Jordan L. and Sarah 
(Shipman) Freeman, the former a Kentuckian by birth, and the lat- 
ter from Tennessee, who were married in 1829. To them were born 
three boys and five girls : W. C, living at Louisiana, Mo. ; Jolin, in 
Pike county, 111. ; Isaac F., in Wisconsin; Elizabeth, in Illinois, as is 
also Sarah, who makes her home in Marion county ; ilartha S. and 
Eliza E. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas have i)een blessed with two children, 
Mary Margaret, born October 25, 1860, and married in March, 1878, 
to Thomas Kennedy ; they now live in Platte county, and Isaac Free- 
man, born in March, 1863. In his political preferences Mr. T. is a 
Democrat . Ho is a member of the Masonic Order, and belongs to the 
Baptist Church. His parents were members of the M. E. Church, 
while Mrs. Thomas' parents are connectedwith the Old School Baptists. 



CHAPTEK XXIII. 

CARROLL TOWNSHIP. 

Location, Area and Boundary — Physical Features — Early Settlers — Who They Were 
and Where From — Platte City — Its Situation — Known as the Falls of Platte 
River — Originally called Martinsville, after Zadoc Martin — A Sketch of Him — 
First Court Held in Tavern of Mike Faylor^ — First Sale of Lots After Tovrn 
Was Laid Out — Charter Obtained — Sketches of a few Pioneers — Early Build- 
ings — Churches, Etc. — Schools Established — Chronological Annals from 1862 
to 1878 — Postmasters of Platte City — Other Items — Public Schools — Business 
of the City — Exchange Bank of Wells & Co. — Biographical. 

LOCATION, AREA AND BOUNDARY. 

Carroll township is the central municipal division of the county, 
and contains the county seat. Its area is laro^er than that of any 
other township in the county, excepting Green, and embraces 62 
square miles. It is bounded on the north by Fair and Preston Town- 
ships, on the east by Clay county, on the south by May and Pettis 
townships, and on the west by Lee and Fair, from which it is sepa- 
rated by the Platte river. 

PHYSICAL FEATURES. 

Besides the stream mentioned (Platte river), there are a number of 
smaller water courses which water the township in many different 
localities. 

The land away from the river is generally high and rolling, and the 
larger part was originally covered with a dense forest, the greater 
portion of which has been cut to make room for the well cultivated 
farms which are now seen in every portion of the township. The 
township is well adapted to agricultural purposes, the soil, both bot- 
tom and upland, being excellent in quality and highly productive ; 
the chief cereal products are corn and wheat. 

EARLY SETTLERS. 

The early settlers of Carroll township were getierally from Ken- 
tucky, and, in fact, that grand old State has contributed more to the 
settlement of this entire region than any other two States combined. 



' Has already been spoken of as Fayler. 
(910) 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 911 

Her sons and her daughters have been in the front rank of civiliza- 
tion. Wherever they located, lived and died, there may be foiuid even 
to this day among the present generation many of the traits of char- 
acter which they possessed. 

Of course it is not expected that we will or can give the names of 
all the early settlers of Carroll township or any other township in the 
county. This would at the present time be almost impossible, as 
almost a half century has intervened since the pioneers began to make 
settlements, and no record has been kept or preserved save the record 
of the personal tax list of 1839, which doubtless gave the names of 
the greater portion at that time, the complete list of wiiich will be 
found in this work. 

AYe should be glad to record the names of all the men who braved 
the dangers and difficulty of pioneer times and present a brief sketch 
of their lives, together with a few of their prominent characteristics, 
but time and space would preclude us from us entering into details 
which would doubtless prove to be of much interest to the reader, and 
consequently we must content ourselves with the names of a few : 
Jesse Moriu, Mr. Compton, Michael Faylor, Lycurgus Shepard, 
Axiom Farmer, Thos. Woods,^ Thos. Flannery, Wm. M. Spratt, Ar- 
nold Chance, Turner Moore, Edward Brown, Col. John H. Winston, 
George P. Dorris, David Carson, Wm. Brindle, Beuj. Morton, J. H. 
and Stephen Johnson, and Messrs. White, Adkins, Dyke, Riley, Dr. 
Marshall, Dr. McFall, Dr. Shrock and others. 

The present population (or according to the census of 1880) of the 
township, including Platte City — which is 670 — is 2,782. 

PLATTE CITY. 

The following has been kindly furnished us by Wm. M. Paxton, Esq. 

Platte City is situated at the falls of Platte river. The falls, as 
Nature formed them, were beautiful. The bed of the river was au 
immense flat rock forming a perfectly level floor, extending from one 
side to the other. This rock is about two feet thick, and is supported 
by a thick bed of soapstone. Originally, the waters, were, perhaps, 
precipitated at the lower extremity of the rock in a cascade of eight or 
ten feet. But by the wearing away of the soapstone, some two hun- 
dred feet of the stone were gradually let down, until from the top to 
the bottom there was an inclined plane over which an unbroken sheet 



' still living, quite active and bright of memory and conversation, and celebrated 
his centennial birthday at his home, near Platte City, several years ago. 



912 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

of water smoothly descended. At an ordinary stage of the river the 
water on this inclined phme was only a few inches deep. It was the 
only ford on the lower Platte, and when Fort Leavenworth was located 
in 1828, the officers and soldiers used it on their way to and from 
Liberty, in Clay county. Bat at times the water was too high, and 
the soldiers had to swim the river. The following year, 1829, a mili- 
tary road was cut out from Fort Leavenworth to Barry, in Clay 
county, passing by the falls, and Zadoc Martin, a farmer of Clay 
county, was stationed on the east bank of Platte river to keep a 
government ferry. Up to that time the men of Fort Leavenworth 
had used an old Macanac boat for crossing the Missouri, but in 1829 
the ferry at the foi't, as well as that at the falls was placed in 
charge of Zadoc Martin. He was a stout, muscular man, and com- 
manded all about him with despotic power. His family, besides 
several negro men, consisted of his five sons. Green, Hardin D., Will- 
iam, Gill E. and James B. Martin, and three daughters, Millie, Jane 
and Josephine. His house was of lynn logs, and stood near the pre- 
sent residence of Ambrose Hewlett. He cleared out a field where the 
Catholic and A. M. E. Churches now stand ; and another where the 
City of Tracy is now built. He also had some thirty or forty acres 
in what is called the sand prairie, opposite the fort. He took a con- 
tract in 1830 to furnish beef for the garrison. His cattle were pur- 
chased in Clay county. The work at Fort Leavenworth required the 
employment of great numbers of laborers, carpenters and masons, 
and Mr. Martin did a large business at his two ferries. The boats for 
the ferries were made of hewed gunwales, and boards sawed by hand. 
Until 1837, Mr. Martin lived a laborious life in a vast solitude. 
There were no Indians settled in the county, aud the nearest white 
was at Fort Leavenworth. In 1835, Robert Cain got liberty to settle 
at Todd's Creek, and Joseph Todd three miles west of the falls. In 
1836 many from Clay county made claim, but were driven off i)y the 
soldiers, and their cabins in some cases were burned. The lands 
were the hunting grounds of the Sacs and Fox tribe of Indians. The 
nearest settlement of these Indians was at St. Joseph. Their right 
was extinguished by a contract made with them by Gen. Hughes. 
The land was then thrown open for settlement. Vast numbers of 
pioneers liastened to the new and fertile grounds. Much controversy 
prevailed. The pre-emption law of 1838 did much to quiet titles. The 
succeeding laws of 1840 and 1841 quieted controversy. Martin 
wanted to hold the whole country. He stalked around like a giant. 
He always carried a huge staff, and was not slow to use it. The falls 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 913 

were regarded as the most valuable property in the county. A dam 
was built, mill stones were hewed out from the lost roclv, so abundant 
in the Slate, and a flouring mill was erected. The business done was 
immense. Mr. Martin was in his glory ; he had the people as com- 
pletely under his heel as Pharaoh had in the days of Joseph. They 
had to come to him for bread. There was no other mill nearer than 
Smithville. 

His next step was to lay out the town of Martinsville. The original 
road from Barry passed through what is now Judge Norton's field, and 
passing by the African M. E. Church struck the river below the falls. 
He sold out permits, and failed to put the contracts in writing. Had 
he done so it would have forfeited his pre-emption. He claimed 
possession of the spring, and no enemy dare raise water from it. 
We can name but a few of the early inhabitants. Michael D. Faylor 
built a hotel of two rooms; Morin & Compton had a store. Some- 
what later Hope & Irwin built a saddler's shop, and George P. Dorris, 
Warren Samuel and S. & J. H. Johnston opened general stores. 
Dr. F. Marshall built a shop. Still later Alexander E. Cannon and 
W. M. Paxton opened lawyers' offices. Dr. J. W. Gibson and John 
D. Murray had cabins. In 1839 McCausland & Branham brought 
on merchandise. 

As yet Platte county had been attached to Clay for military and 
civil purposes, but on the 25th of March, 1839, the first court was 
held by Judge A. A. King, at the old log tavern of M. D. Faylor, in 
Martinsville, as mentioned elsewhere. Mr. Martin did not want his 
lands taken from him, but just over the hollow, on the present site of 
Platte City, there was a poor old man named George McAfee, who 
had a pre-emption on the (piarter upon which the falls were situated. 
The poor man's (lamb) land was therefore selected, and a trade made 
whereby the county was to enter so much of the southeast quarter of 
section 25, township 53, range 35, as lay east of Platte river, and that 
portion of it that embraced the falls was to be exchanged for 19 acres 
in the northwest quarter of section 36, upon which Martinsville was 
situated. This trade was afterwards literally carried out. Mr. 
McAfee never secured a cent for his property. His widow died a year 
ago at an advanced age, after having been in poverty. The land was 
entered according to law for the county. 

At the January term, 1840, of the county court, all necessary 
orders were made for the survey and sale of town lots. Stephen 
Johnston was appointed commissioner of the seat of justice ; the sur- 
veying was done by S. L. Leonard, and the first sale made of alter- 



914 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

nate lots the 3d of February, 1840. Lots on Main street brought 
from $200 to $700 each. The highest price was paid by G. P. Dorris 
for lot 1, block 39, now owned by Baker & Zarn. The town site was 
heavily timbered, but in a few weeks scarcely a tree was left stand- 
ing. It is believed, at this day, there is no tree of the native forest 
left standing in the town. 

In 1840, Mr. Martin had attached an upright saw to his mill, and 
was turning out a large amount of lumber. Carpenters and masons 
came from all quarters. The shanties were removed over from Mar- 
tinsville. Nearly all of the houses were of wood ; but James H. John- 
ston built the first brick house in the county, on lot 9, block 28, now 
occupied by Hewlett. Hope & Irwin built the frame on the east half 
of lot 8 ; David Hunt built on the west half of 8, and Stephen John- 
ston built the house, now owned by Clemings, on lot 7 — all in block 
25. These four are the only houses now standing which were built 
on Main street in 1840. 

There were several sales of lots in 1840. The receipts amounted 
to about $20,000. With this sum it was determined to build a court- 
house and jail. At the May term, 1840, Jesse Morin, D. A. Sutton^ 
and Elijah Moore were appointed commissioners for this purpose. 
Lots 10, 11 and 12, block 25, were selected for the court-house, and 
lots 7 and 8, block 23, for the jail. A handsome plan and specifica- 
tions were prepared by D. A. Sutton, who was a fine architect and 
excellent draughtsman. The picture of the old court-house, drawn by 
Mr. Sutton, may be found in the county clerk's office, well preserved. 
The county court about the same time established a free ferry across 
Platte river, at the foot of Main street. This incensed Mr. Martin, as 
it broke up his business in that line, and he talked of suing the county. 
Courts were held in a double log cabin, in the southwestern part of 
town, during the year 1840. In 1841, the spring term was held in a 
booth on G. P. Dorris' lot No. 1, block 31, and the fall term in 
Hope & Irwin's shop, on lot 8, block 25. Subsequent sessions were 
held in the court-house. A new circuit, embracing the five counties 
of the Platte Purchase, was formed, and Gen. D. K. Atchison was 
appointed judge. John Lewis took the contract for the log jail. The 
court-house was let out to David Hunt, Elijah Moore and other con- 
tractors. Hitherto preaching had been doiie in the open air or in 
private houses. But the court set aside the upper hall of the court- 
house for religious worship. It was supplied with seats by subscrip- 
tion. It was often used as a public hall. 

In 1845 a charter was obtained from the Legislature for Platte City, 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 915 

and an enterprising set of trustees was appointed. Main street was 
graded and sidewalks laid. About the same time, or a little earlier, a 
lattice bridge was constructed by the county court and declai-ed free 
for all passengers. It originally spanned from one abutment to the 
other, but it commenced swaying up stream and the middle pier was 
added. When the Mexican War broke out J. W. Denver was a dep- ' 
uty in the clerk's ofHce under his uncle, Ira Norris. He had mani- 
fested no warlike spirit until he hoard the clash of arms. He became 
excited and went to work with ardor to raise a company for service 
in the war. Such was his enthusiasm, eloquence and intrepidity that 
a company was soon led by him to the seat of war. The quiet, un- 
assuming boy became the heroic Gen. Denver. Still later many of 
our citizens volunteered to follow the renowned Gen. A. W. Doni- 
phan in his celebrated mai-ch to Santa Fe and the gulf. Zadoc Mar- 
tin and all of his family, except James, had by this time become dis- 
gusted with civilized life and had shaken off the dust of their feet 
and emigrated to Oregon. 

Elisha Green came to Platte county a!)out 1838 and settled in the 
Missouri bottom above Farley, and opened a large farm. About 
1845 he came to Platte City and became one of its most enterprising 
citizens. He erected the Green Hotel and the fine residence opposite ; 
entered into every scheme of public improvement, and labored for the 
advancement of the town until his death in 1855. 

Dr. Frederick Marshall came to Martinsville in 1838, and by his 
professional skill accumulated a moderate fortune. He built a fine 
brick residence on the hill overlooking the town, laid off the Marshall 
Cemiitery, and lent a helping hand to every laudable enterprise. He 
died in 1861 and. only heard the reveille of war. 

Howell Jenkins, a native of Wales, came to Platte City about 1845. 
He was a stonemason, and all the early tombs in our cemetery were 
the work of his hands. He built the fine and spacious stone buildinjr 
on lot 5, block 28, and the corner store occupied by Mrs. Beaumont. 
He subscribed liberally to every public enterprise. 

William C. Remington was a genial and kind-hearted gentleman. 
He was well educated and rose by his merits. He was elected asses- 
sor of the county and subsequently chosen circuit clerk. He built a 
fine brick house on lot 9, block 30, which was burned by Federal 
soldiers in 1864. He died young and much lamented. 

James B. Martin owned the water mills. He rebuilt the dam and 
mills, and constructed a spacious mansion on the hill between the 



916 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

African ^I. E. Chin'cli uiid Al)riun Ilcvvett's. His goiiial coiiii);in- 
ionship and festive disposition hrouglit iiini to an early dcatii. 

Tiie first fruit of tlio enterprise of tiio citizens was, perhaps, the 
Methodist Church, situated on lot 3, block 33. This was a frame 25x 
30 feet. It was built about 1847 by general subscription, and used 
h}' all denominations. It was l)urned by Federal troo[)s in 18(54. 

The Presbyterian Church and Masonic lodge was built about 1853. 
There is now before us the original subscrii)tion upon which the house 
was built. The lower story was to belong one-half to the OKI School 
and the other half to the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. The 
u[)per story was the property of the Masonic Lodge. Lot 6, block 
31, valued at $200, was given by S. A. Jack and M. N. Owen. J. B. 
Martin, L. C. Jack and William Jack each subscribed $50. H. B. 
Wallace and Alfred Jack each $30. E. H. Norton, $25 ; William 
Christian, $20; John Ferrier, Amos Roes and P. Lutes, $10; J. R. 
Daniel, R. M. Johnston, W. D. Bonncll, R. L. Waller, G. Mais, W. 
S. Almond, J. H. Stringfellow, L. F. HoUingsworth, P. R. Wag- 
gouner, J. A. Headley, R. D. Johnston, John Banc and B. Pollard, $5 
each. These sums were for the Cuml)eriand Church. The Old School 
Church raised no subscription, but Elisha Green and D. R. Atchison 
gave each $50; and Wm. B. Almond and W. M. Paxton guaranteed 
the remainder of $1,000. This house was burned by Federal soldiers 
in 1864. 

In 1855 the Christian and Baptist churches were built; the first 
on lot I, block 32, and the other on lot 10, l)lock 29. We do not 
know the subscribers. These houses were not burned with the others 
in 1864. The other churches were built after the war. 

About the year 1854 the enterprise of Elisha Green set on foot a 
project of building a Male Academy on lots 11 and 12, block 30. The 
leading citizens res[)onded liberally to Mr. Green's call, and three 
thousand dollars were raised. Among other subscribers were Dr. F. 
Marshall, Judge Norton, Dr. Wm. Baldwin, W. M. Paxton, II. B. 
Callahan, James Adkins, II. J. Froeland, H. Jenkins, Pliilij) Lutes, 
Amos Rees, W. B. Almond, J. B. Martin, Capt. A. Johnson and John 
Ferrier. A handsome and commodious brick house was built and a 
school opened. A year later Prof. F. G. (xaylord commenced his 
educational labors in Platte City. The Male Academy was burned l)y 
Ford and Jennison's men in 1864. 

In 1857 Prof. H. B. Todd, having determined to leave Camden 
Point, undertook to erect, by subscription, a large frame college on 
the hill south of town. The people of both the city and county took 



mSTOUY OV I'LATTIC COUNTY. 917 

Iiold of tlic. enl>;r[)rise with oiitliiisiasiii. Seven (liousaud dollars were 
soon raised. Tlie house was erected and iillod with young ladies. 
For throe years Prof. 'I'odd and iiis scliool were ohjoets of great in- 
Icrest. All he denian<l('(l was freely given. l)Ut t\w war (;aine on, 
and Mrs. Todd died, so (hat I'lof. Todd retired and Prof. A. P.. Jones 
look the school.' He gave it up and Prof. MeKinnis t.augiit a yt^ar. 
At the end of his term Prof. K. G. Gaylord tooic charge, and a line 
school \3 still taught l)y him. It is now known by the appropriate 
name of I)anght(!rs' (College. 

('IIRONOLOOICAL ANNALS. 

•Inly 1, lSii2. — The Platte Coantij Cotiservator was established at 
Plattc! City by Clark &, liournc. 

.Inly 1(5, 18(12. — Three misn ap|)reh(!nded for rol)i)ery, were; un- 
• lergoing examinalion at Platte City when a squad of liedlegs ontcriid 
llu! <u)ur( and, through th(ui' leader, demanded the release of the pris- 
oners. One of llie prisoners loaves with thom, but tho others remain 
foi- trial. Col. J. A. Pi'ic(\ (•ommanding at Weston, sends a squad of 
soldiers to attend IIk^ trial. 

July 10, 1,S()2. — Death of W. T. Darnall. 

November, 18()2. — Preachers in Platte City: Rev. G. S. Wood- 
ward, l^resbyterian ; Kov. S. W . Cosse, M. K. ; Rev. G. L. Moad, 
(Cumberland Presbyteri.in ; Kldcr A. B. Jones, Christian. 

November 15, l.S()2. — Elder Moses E. Lard commences a ))ro- 
ti-aeted meeting in Platte City. A revival progressing in the M. E. and 
Prcsljyterian Churches. 

January 7, IStvi. — Marriage of li. P. C. Wilson and Miss Carrie 
Murray. 

March 10, IM:',. — William Morin, while! aiding his fathei-, John P>. 
Morin, to apprehend a desperado name<l Basom, is shot by the latter, 
inllicting a dangerous but not fatal wound. 

March 17, IHtiH.— Draft of f)()0,000 men ordered, which causes 
uneasiness in Platte county. 

Sei)tember f), Ibli^J. — 'I'he Platte City yl</a,s — (irst numbei' issued 
by Menry Hutchison ; Democratic. 

Sep((Mnbei' 14, 18(i8. — Platte City Female Academy opened by 
Jones & Vinyaril. 

Septeml)er 5, 18(];5. — E. C. Cockrill dangerously ill at St. Joseph. 
Howell Jenkins opens a drug stores in Platte City. 



I Kor the war lii.story of Platte City iiiul tho liistory of Kansa.s troublos, connected 
Willi liie i)lace, rufei'uuee may be had to the chapters ou those subjects. 



918 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

August 10, 1863. — Little Willie Baldwin, son of Dr. Baldwin, 
died. 

September 25, 1863. — John G. Rapp and Tip Green hung by Red- 
legs near Farley, and their houses robbed. 

September 30, 1863. — All able-bodied men ordered to report to 
Maj. J. M. Clark, at Platte City, before October 7th. Signed, Jas. H. 
Moss, by E. H. Norton, acting adjutant. 

October 26, 1863. — A scouting party sent out by Capt. Johnston 
pursue and disperse a gang of Redlegs and recover their stolen stock. 
No further depredations by Redlegs. 

September 1, 1863. — Gangs of men in Federal uniform go from 
house to house, disarming the people, and, under pretended orders, 
search the premises of a neighborhood. The same or the next night 
a squad of Redlegs follow, and rob the people. 

October, 1863. — Rev. R. N. T. Holiaday is preacher in charge of 
the Platte City Methodist circuit. 

Business revives under the protection of the Paw-paw militia. Ste- 
phen Johnson John Zarn and Perry Keith open out their stores, and 
Howell Jenkins adds a dry goods department to his store. 

Thomas Herndon publishes his little volume of poems, entitled 
" Leaves from a Lawyer's Note-Book." 

The papers filled with. sheriff's sales for the November term of cir- 
cuit court. 

March 21, 1864. — Col. John H. Winston arrested by a squad of 
soldiers from St. Joseph. He was found concealed in his home, two 
miles east of Platte City, and was confined iu the prison until the close 
of the war. 

Gen. Guitar, Col. Williams and Col. Jacobson, of Gen. Rosecrans' 
staff, visited Platte City. 

It is charged that Col. J. C. Thornton is recruiting for the Southern 
army, in Platte and other counties. 

May 19, 1864. — The Sentinel can not contain the notices of sher- 
iff's sales for the May term of court, and has to issue a supplement. 

February, 1864. — Great complaints against the Paw-paw militia on 
account of their disloyalty. 

February 29. — Great sale of the personal property of the late W. 
T. Darnall, four miles south of Platte City. 

January 28, 1864. — A. F. Cox purchases the office of the Platte 
City Atlas, and removes the Sentinel to Platte City. 

January 20, 1864. — False and cruel hoax telegraphed from Jeffer- 
.son City, announcing the death of H. J. Wolf, our representative. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 919 

January 30, 1864. — Last issue of the Platte City Atlas by Harry 
Hutchinson. Subscribers are furnislied with the Sentinel. 

January 23, 1864. — John Oliver accidentally shot by a friend 
carelessly handling a pistol. Though his wound was severe, yet he 
survived. 

June 23, 1864. — Thompson and Ragdale, deserters, captured and 
sent under a guard to Weston, but rescued by bushwhackers at Bee 
creek. 

June 22. — J. H. Linsley robbed by bushwhackers. 

September 12, 1864. — Platte City Male and Female Academy 
opens, under Prof. W. C. McKinnis, with Dr. Jos. M. Holt and lady 
in charge of the boarding department. 

October 3, 1864. — Democratic county convention at Platte City. 
Nominees : Woods for sheriff, Layton for county judge. Belt for cir- 
cuit clerk, Lewis for county clerk, Bonnell for treasurer, Wilson and 
Burnes for Legislature. Judge Norton spoke. 

November — Circuit court held at the Baptist church, by Judge Heron ; 
1,600 cases; an immense amount of land sold. 

December. — Judge Lii3'ton offers $200 bounty for volunteers to 
fill Platte county's quota of 160 men. 

February 20, 1865. — A. G. Beller takes the place of H. Howard 
as editor of the Border Times, in Weston. 

John Doniphan is Senator ; John Wilson andL. Guinn, Representa- 
tives, and Samuel A. Gilbert is member of the State Constitutional 
Convention. 

October 6, 186.5. — First number of the Standard appeared in 
AYeston. 

July 1, 1865. — The new Constitution of Missouri went into effect. 

July, 1866. — The Reveille established at Platte City ; T. W. Park, 
editor. 

August 24, 1866. — First grand tournament at the Platte City fair 
grounds. 

The new court house was erected this year at a cost of $120,000. 

Late in the fall grasshoppers appeared and deposited their eggs, 
which hatched out the next spring. 

January 5, 1866. — Henry J. Freeland killed. 

February 3, 1867. — Death of Judge J. H. Layton. 

July, 1867. — Philander Lucas appointed circuit judge in i)lace of 
Judge King. 

Farmers' Saving Association formed ; Clint. Cockrill, president ; 
53 



920 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

And. Tribhle, cushiei- ; Merryman, Miller, Chesnut and Paxton, 

directors. „ „ 

Attorneys in Platte City. -Baker & Robertson, Merryman & Pax- 
ton J. C. Greenawalt, H. A. B. Anderson and E. H. Norton. 

July 1867 -The committee to build the M. E. and Presbyterian 
Churches and Masonic Hall in Platte City advertise for bids. 

September 24.— County fair commenced. 

March, 1867. —Revival in the Methodist Church, under the preacli- 
incrs of Leftwich and Austin, and 50 additions. 

April 13. — Death of Hon. D. D. Burnes. 

M.IV 1867. — Reported county indebtedness, $359,317.13. 

June', 1867. —The second visit of grasshoppers, and great damage 

'°juiie 9 I'^^^l — Tbe Landmark and Reveille consolidated, and 
thereafteVthe latter was issued at Platte City by T. W. Park. 

July, 1871. -The Platform in Weston started, and died within the 

^'"octXr 27, 1871.— The Democrat started at Platte City by L. 

Shepard. , ^■ ^ 

September 22, 1871. - Dr. Thos. Beaumont died 

Au<rustl2, 1871. -The fair ground meeting ot the Reform De- 
mocrlcy, with A. Tribble chairman and Jas. Adkins secretary which 
inauc^urated the " sorehead " movement, which finally triumphed. 

November 28, 1871. - Marriage of Henry Coleman and Marinm 

^November 23, 1871. - Marriage of Douglas 'George and Laura 

^ Ttellllking house of Merryman, Paxton & Cockrill opened. 

January 8, 1872. -Large meeting at the court-house J. H. Win- 
ston, chafrman ; W. M. Paxton, secretary. The soreheads pass then 

resolutions. 

Septeml.cr 1, 1878. -Platte county fair commenced. 

POSTMASTERS OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

James IL Johnston was the first postmaster. He was appointed 
postmaster of Martinsville about 1838. When the town took the 
name of Platte City, he still held the office and until abou 1850 

The next probably was Thomas Metcalfe. He died about 12 
and was succeeded by Perry Keith. He continued ,n office until 
about the beginning of the war. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 921 

Then Howell Jenkins held the office until 1869, and Charles B. 
Kurtz received the appointment in February, 18(!9, and i.^ the present 
incuml)ent. 

OTHER ITEMS. 

Of the educational facilities of the place we have spoken elsewhere, 
and the several churches have received prominent mention in a por- 
tion of our work devoted especially to that matter. 

PUHLIC SCHOOLS. 

The public graded schools of the Platte City school district had iu 
1879 an enumeration of white persons of school age of 251, and of 
colored persons of 156; total, 407. The enrollment for both white 
(184) and colored (73) children for the same year was 257. We 
have given these figures as conveying some idea of the attendance at 
the public schools at the present day. We have deemed it unneces- 
sary to enter into any more of a tabular statement, as the figures 
would prove of no material interest. However, we would refer our 
readers to the report of the State Superintendent of Schools for the 
past year. 

BUSINESS OF PLATTE CITY. 

The fertility of the agricultural district tributary to Platte City 
makes it one of the best business points for a town of its size in the 
State, and its merchants have a high rating for character and integrity, 
as well as sound financial condition. They have pursued a safe,"con- 
servati ve course in buying, and in selling they have been very liberal in 
the treatment of their customers. The business of the place is 
represented by two newspapers, two banks, about 30 stores, includ- 
ing general dealers, dry goods, groceries, drugs, boots and shoes, 
books and stationery, hardware, agricultural implements, etc. 

One important feature of the financial interests of Platte City is the 

EXCHANGE BANK OF WELLS & CO., 

a private bank, organized July 1, 1879, by Wm. C. Wells and 
Stephen C. Woodson. On May 1, 1883, Archie R. Jack became a 
member of the firm, and August 21, 1883, Wm. F. Norton, was ad- 
mitted into the partnership, the firm being composed of Wm. C. 
Willis, S. C. Woodson, A. R. Jack and Wm. F. Norton and remain- 
ing so until January 1, 1885, when Mr. Woodson removed to St. 
Joseph, Mo. He then sold his interest to the other members of ij,,. 
firm. This is one of the firmly established institutions of the <-r)niitv. 



922 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 



BIOGEAPHICAL. 



WILLIAM R. ADAMS 

(Farmer aud Stock-raiser, Post-ofBce, Smithville). 

Among those iu Platte county who are prominently identified with 
the stock industx'V, Mr. Adams is deserving of special mention ; for 
upon his place are to he found some excellent representative thorough- 
bred cattle, aud his annual sales and shipments denote him to be one 
of the foremost in this line of industry hereabouts. He was boru 
near Dover, Lafayette county, Mo., June 15, 1841 ; his father, Smith 
Adams, a farmer during his lifetime, having come originally from 
Garrard county, Ky. He remained there until 1836, when he came 
to this State, and until 1844 located iu Ray county, not far from Rich- 
mond. In 1845 he went to Caldwell count}', where he came into 
possession of 1,000 acres of land. Disposing of this subsequently, 
however, he took a trip to Texas for the l)enetit of his wife's health, 
but she died in 1852, and he then returned to Missouri — to Buchanan 
county — where farming occupied his attention until 1871. He now 
became a resident of St. Joseph and so continued until his death in 
1883, at the age of 67, he having been born August 3, 1814. His 
marriage occurred in 1836 to Miss Talitha C. Ramsey, of Kentucky, 
aud to them were born four children, that are now living: William 
R., Mary E., wife of J. D. Hubbard, of St. Joseph; K. R., wife of 
E. Penny, near that city, and Edward M. The latter went to Cali- 
fornia at the age of 25 and is farming there. Both parents were 
members of the Christian Church; and the father was a Mason. 
William R. Adams, at the age of 18 years, embarked in life on his 
own account and received quite a comfortable start from his father. 
He has attended closely to business ever since then, and now has a 
comfortable place. The short horn trade attracted his spare moments 
in 1870, and at this time he is a leading follower of this industry. 
On his place are about forty head of thoroughbred short horns, and 
recently he has become interested in the raising of Jersey cattle, the 
latter grade having proven a very {jrotitablc investment. His farm 
contains 200 acres, in addition to which he has 60 acres in Kentucky. 
Mr. Adams has been twice married ; first to Lavinia E. Bosely, who 
bore him two children : Martha A., born in Feljruary, 1862, and 
Montgomery, born April 29, 1866. His second marriage occurred 
August 29, 1865, when Miss Joe H. Hardy became his wife. She w:i> 
born June 15, 1838, in Carroll county. Miss. They have had six 
children: Mary T., Olmstead, Jennie, Katie, Smith and William. 
Mrs. Adams was a daughter of Abraham Hardy, a Virginian by birtli, 
and Mary A. Baker, also from that State. They moved to Mississippi 
in 1836 and came to Missouri in 1845, where Mr. H. died in 1854. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 923 

He belonged to the Presbyterian Cluircli. Mr. Adams is a member 
of tlie Kniglits Templar, of the Masonic Order, and in politics is a 
Democrat. He and wife are connected with the Christian Church. 

ROBEET D. ASHER 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-offlce, Smithville). 
The subject of this sketch is a man well known to the people of this 
p(jrtion of Missouri, for his whole life has been passed within the 
Ijoundaries of this and Clay counties. He was born in the latter 
county September 14, 1831, and in early youth worked upon the home 
farm. His father, William Asher, a Virginian by birth, was born in 
Culpeper county, October 17, 1771, and in 1815 moved to MadisoQ 
county, Ky., where he followed the cooperage business. Coming to 
Clay county, Mo., in 1828, he remained there until 183(5, when Platte 
county became his homo. At the time of his deatli, in 1845, he was 
farming. His wife, Lucinda Clayton, to whom he was married in 
1813, was born in Spottsylvania county, Va., in 1772. The father was 
a gallant soldier in the War of 1812, and in his farming operations 
met with average success. His wife was a member of the Christian 
Church. Robert D. Asher was one of three children, the others being 
Eliza, who died in infancy, and William C, born December 16, 1816. 
He went to California in 1849, and engaged in the hotel business. 
Robert D. grew to manliood here, and on Januarj' IS, 1857, was mar- 
ried to Miss Mary E. Russell, a native of Henry county, Ky., born 
April 15, 1836. He was a uaeraber of the Christian Church. Mrs. 
Asher's parents are connected with the M. E. Church. She died 
June 25, 1881, leaving si.x children living and four deceased. Those 
living are: William C., in Clay county ; James R., in Platte; John 
R., in Clay ; Nan P., born November 7, 1868 ; Anna V., born Aprif 
20, 1872, and Thomas J., born May 15, 1875. Mr. Asher's second 
marriage occurred December 15, 1882, to Lydia A. Hinton, of this 
couuty, born May 15, 1848. They have two children, Willie and 
Louis E. Mrs. Asher's father, John Hinton, originally from Fleming 
county, Ky., moved to Platte county. Mo., in 1844. Siiortly l)efore 
leaving his native place he had been married to Miss Eliza Cox, of 
that locality. The former was in the Mexican War, and also in the 
late civil strife on the side of the Union. Mr. Asher is a memlier 
of the Christian Church. He commenced in life for himself in 1859, 
and since that time has been actively and successfully engaged in 
tilling the soil. He owns 120 acres of land, well improved and 
stocked, and is in a comfortable condition, notwithstanding he has 
met with reverses. He and his wife are members of the Christian 
Church. Mrs. Asher's parents are connected with the M. E. Cliurch. 

JAMES ANDREW BALDWIN, M. D. 

(■physician and Surgeon, Platte Cityl. 
Dr. Baldwin's father. Dr. William Baldwin, was one of the early 
and prominent phj-sicians of Platte couuty. He now makes his 



924 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

home at St. Paul, Minn., where he is living in comfortable retirement. 
Dr. William Baldwin was a native of Masnn county, Ky., born at the 
town of Washington, March 4, 1813. His general education was 
received at the University of Ohio. Subsequently he studied medi- 
cine and attended both the Medical College of Ohio and the University 
of Pennsylvania (Medical Department) at Philadelphia, from which 
latter he graduated with honor. Dr. Baldwin, pere, then located at We- 
tumpka, Ala., but three years later, removed to Martinsville, Platte 
count}', and afterwards practiced medicine in this county for nearly 
thirty years, becoming one of the leading physicians of the county. 
He went to St. Paul in 1868. In 1845 he was married in Platte 
county to Miss Ann L. Johnson, a daughter of Capt. Andrew John- 
son, of the regular U. S. army. Dr. James A. Baldwin, born of 
this union in Platte county, April 12, 1847, was reared in this county. 
Ill early youth he attended the common schools and then took a 
course at Gaylord's Academy, in Platte City. At the age of 18, Dr. 
Baldwin began the i-egular study of medicine under his father and 
continued to study under him for three years. He then matriculated 
at the University of Louisville (Medical Department) at Louisville, 
Ky., where he took a regular course of two terms and graduated with 
credit in the class of 1869. Dr. Baldwin, our subject, then located at 
Minneapolis, Minn., where he practiced for a short time, removing 
thence to Spring Hill, Johnson count}', Kan. At the latter place he 
built up a large practice, and continued there for aljout seven years. 
But in 1878 he returned to Phitte county, and located at Platte City, 
where he has ever since been engaged in the practice of his profession. 
He has l)uilt up a good practice and is assuming a leading place in the 
medical profession of this part of the State. For several years he 
was secretary of the Johnson and Miama CoHnty Medical Societies, 
of Kansas, and a member of the State Medical Society of that State. 

He is now a member of the Platte County Medical Society, and is 
Commissioner of health for Platte City, an office he has held for the 
last four years. In the fall of 1878 Dr. Baldwin was married to Mis- 
Minnie R., a daughter of Dr. E. C. Redman, an early and promineni 
physician of Platte county. Mrs. Baldwin is a graduate of Gaylord'.- 
Academy at Platte City. The Dr. and Mrs. B. have two chihlren : 
Florence Dixie and William Redman. The Doctor is a meml)er of 
the Old School Presl>yterian Cluirch, and his wife is a member of the 
Christian Denomination. The Doctor is also a prominent Mason and 
a leading meml)er of the Masonic Order — also Nebraska Lodse, No. 
12, I. 0.0. F. 

WALTER R. BLEDSOE 
(Of the Ann of Meyer & Bledsoe, Merchants, flaraptou, Mo.). 

Mr. Bledsoe, a young business man of thorough-going enterprise, 
estalilished his present business at this place in the summer of 1881. 
His father. Dr. Wills Bledsoe, a native of Boyle county, Ky., at- 
tended medical lectures at Danville and graduated with honor in his 
profession there, after which, while still comparatively a young man, 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUXTY. 925 

he came to Missouri ami located at Franklin, in Howard connty, 
where he practiced his chosen calling, and also tanned to some extent. 
He was married at Fayette to Miss Nannie Burckhartt, daughter of 
Nicholas S. Burckhartt, also one of the pioneer settlers from Kentucky. 
In the spring of 1861 Dr. Bledsoe entered the Confederate army, and 
as surgeon served under Price and Shelby until the close of the war. 
Removing to the city of St. Louis, he was employed by Gen. Rose- 
ci"aus as a member of the secret service order in the service of the 
United States. In 1869 he removed to Farley, in Platte county, and 
was engaged in foUowiug his chosen occupation until his death, which 
occurred October 1, 1876. At this time he had also been interested 
in the drug business, and Walter R. was engaged in the drug store 
with his father until the latter died. Walter R. Bledsoe had been 
born in Jackson county, Mo., ou the 15th of September, 18(50. His 
youth was passed in Howard and Platte counties, but his education 
was received mostly Ijy self-culture. Now, however, of somewhat 
advanced education and already with a neat start in life, for all he has 
and has accomplished he is very lai'gely, if not mainly, indebted to 
his own resolution, spirit and industry. He continued to be occupied 
in the drug business for al^out three years, or until 1879, when, dis- 
posing of his drug interests, he engaged in clerking in a general store 
with H. G. S. Meyer, his present partner in business. Subsequently 
he purchased an interest in the firm on the 13th of June, 1881, as 
stated above. Mr. Bledsoe then took charge of the store at Hamp- 
ton, and has continued it from that time. The firm carry a full stock 
in the general merchandise line, occupy their own excellent new build- 
ing, are men of energ}' and enterprise, and with the aid of their per- 
sonal popularity can not fail of retaining their present excelleut 
patrouiige. Mr. B. was appointed postmaster in 1881, which position 
he still holds. September 25, 1881, he was married at Farley, to 
Miss Angle Moss, a native of Platte county, a daughter of Mr. H. H. 
Moss. She is a member of the M. E. Church. The mother of 
Walter R. Bledsoe now iinds a pleasant and comfortable home in the 
family of her son, and also with her daughter, Mrs. W. H. Waldron, 
residing at Waldron, Platte county. Mo. Mrs. Nannie Bledsoe, 
mother of W. R. Bledsoe, is a member of the Christian Church. 

JUDGE JOHN STRODE BRASFIELD 

(Retired Farmer, Post-office, Platte City). 

Like many and perhaps most of the citizens of Platte county who 
are representatives of early families here, Judge Brasfield descends 
from Virginia ancestry. His father was Maj. James Brasfield, a gal- 
hint officer in the American army during the War of 1812, rising by 
his own merits and bravery to the raidc of major. He lost an eye in 
the service, and on account of this subsequently <lrew a |)ension until 
his death, which occurred in Missoui'i, September 22, 1839. Maj. 
Brasfield's father was Capt. Wile}^ Roy Brasfield, a native of Virginia, 
and also an Atnerican ofHcer in the second war with Great Britain. 



926 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

The Brasfields were of English origin, and settled in Virginia in the 
days of the Colonies. From there Capt. Brastield removed to Ken- 
tucky with his family, where he became a farmer of large fortune, and at 
one time owned over 40 negroes. He was a man of splendid physique, 
six feet, an inch and a half high, and weighing about 200 pound §. 
He died June 10, 1839, at the age of 73 years. His wife's father, 
Thomas Berry, was a pioneer settler of Kentucky, a man of great 
force of character, and lived to the age of 100 years. 

Maj. Brasfield, the Judge's father, was born September 25, 1790. 
In 1816 he was married to Miss Jane Lafferty, a granddaughter of Capt. 
John Strode. He was a man of fine mental attainments and recognized 
business ability and filled several important offices in Kentucky, in- 
cluding that of sheriff of the county in which he served for eight years. 
Always taking an active interest in political affairs, he was one of the 
recognized leaders of popular sentiment. By profession he was a sur- 
veyor and was a man of good education. His regular occupation, 
however, was that of farming, which he followed with excellent suc- 
cess. No man among all around him was more universally beloved for 
generosity of heart and kind, neigliborly hospitality. 

Capt. Strode, the grandfather of Maj. Brasfield's wife, was a pion- 
eer settler of Kentucky, and was greatly distinguished among the early 
settlers of that State for his active enterprise and daring courage. 
He invariably made himself conspicuous in the numerous encounters 
had with the Indians by his gallantry and intrepidity. The eventful 
experiences of this honored old pioneer hero, who died at an advanced 
age, would alone fill an interesting volume. 

In 1834 Maj. Brasfield and family removed to Missouri and four 
years later settled in Platte county, where he improved a large farm. 
At his death, however, it was found that his characteristic generosity 
had involved him heavily as surety on the obligations of his friends, 
so that it required the strictest economy and self-denial, and the best 
of management on the part of his widow and her mother, Mrs. Laf- 
ferty, who was also a widow, to save the family homestead. By their 
industry and good management, however, the debts were all liqui- 
dated, and the homestead saved to the family. 

Mrs. Lafferty, it is worthy of remark in this connection, was a woman 
of remarkable strength of mind and character. Though a woman 
well advanced in old age, in 1834 she nevertheless pushed resolutely 
out as an emigrant from Kentucky to Missouri. She fearlessly 
located on a tract of raw land in Platte county, which she purchased 
from the Government, and now the pro[)erty of her grandson, the 
subject of this sketch, and with him and three negroes she began the 
imi)rovement of her farm. In due time a cabin was built, land was 
cleared and fenced, and a valuable farm opened, one of the com- 
fortable homesteads of the county. She died here April 17, 1868, at 
the age of 85 years. 

On first coming to this State Maj. Brasfield settled in what is now 
Clinton county, but four years later, as stated above, made his per- 
manent iiome in this county. 



HISTORY OF TLATTE COUNTY. 927 

Judge John S. Brasfield was born in Clark county, Ky., April 5, 
1825. He was the youngest of five children, three of whom were 
sons. Of the five only two are living, himself and Mrs. Fry. Judge 
Brasfield was 13 years of age when the family settled in Platte county 
in 1838. In 1842, having b}'^ that time made a little money, he went 
to Santa Fe with a train of traders. On this trip in that early day 
he had many thrilling experiences. Being a skilled marksman, and for 
that reason made the hunter of the expedition, he supplied game for 
food. He had several interesting adventures with the Comanche 
Indians while alone in the solitudes of the West, or rather with no com- 
panions but his trusted rifle and the festive Comanche brave, who 
was ever on the alert to skillfully raise the scalp of a hated pale-face. 
Arriving at Santa Fe, the party disposed of their goods and he was 
left without employment in a strange country. He soon, however, 
acquired a sufficient knowledge of the Spanish language to make him- 
self understood and was employed by an Irish trader named Skulley, 
to take charge of a train to St. Magil. There he was successfully 
engaged in trading for al)Out six months. He then returned home. 
Subsequently to this Judge Brasfield became interested in a whisky dis- 
tillery, but naturally disinclined to follow that business, he withdrew 
from it and engaged in clerking in a store. In 1849 he and his brother 
William, in company with John Hayden and a negro driver, went to 
California, crossing the plains with a wagon and six yoke of oxen. 
They fell in with a number of emigrants from Clay and Clinton coun- 
ties and reached Sacramento in safety. Soon after arriving there he 
was attracted to a crowd of Spanish customers and American traders 
who were going through all sorts of vocal gymnastics and a perfect 
confusion of gestures to make each other understood. He went up 
and acted as interpreter and was at once offered a salary of $350 a 
month by one of the Amei'ican traders. That was a time when talk- 
ing paid. But determined to try his fortune in the mines, he declined 
the offer and he and his brother went to digging for gold. They re- 
mained in the mines until spring and cleared about $1,500. But on 
account of constant rains they were wet and in the water nearly all 
the time, and becoming disgusted with aquatic life quit mining 
and engaged in the stock business. Judge Brasfield, L. J. Wood and 
James M. Clay went to San Francisco and thence by sea to San Diego, 
visiting Los Angeles, Santa Barl)ara and many other places in South- 
ern California, where they bought a large number of mules, horses, 
cattle, etc. Returning with these to Sacramento, undergoing many 
severe experiences on the way, they sold them at a handsome profit. 
But at Sacramento he learned for the first time of the death of his 
brother, which occurred January 29, 1850. This sad event greatly 
depressed him, and being urged by his mother to return home he 
yielded to her solicitations, notwithstanding he was in the midst of a 
prosperous business career and rapidly accumulating a fortune. He 
returned by way of Panama and New Orleans and coming thence up 
the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, reached Weston July 18, 1850. 

December 11, 1851, Judge BMsfield was married to Miss Kate Bras- 



928 HISTOKY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

field, a flaufrhter of Claiborn L. and Elizabeth Brasfield, distantly 
related to him. The Judge's wife was hoi-ii in Woodford county, 
Ky., October 15, 1826. She was educated at Danville, Ky. Ever 
since his return in 1850 Judge Brasfield has been actively engaged in 
farming, and lias achieved substantial success. He has a handsome 
farm adjoining Platte City, and in every way is comfortably and pleas- 
antly situated. 

Although he has never sought or cared for office, he was elected in- 
1870 to the county bench and served as presiding justice of the county 
court for aliotit three years. When 21 years of age Judge Brasfield 
was made a Master Mason at Platte City. He was afterwards elected 
worshipful master and later along was exalted to the Roj-al Arch de- 
gree at Weston. In 1853 he became a member of the Melody Royal 
Arch Chapter at Platte City, in which body he has held important 
offices at ditfereut times. Over thirty years ago he was created a Knight 
Templar at Weston, and later along was made a member of Belt Com- 
mandery at Phitte City. In the latter body he has also successivelv 
filled all the offices. 

A former writer has described his personal appearance as follows-: 
He is a man of robust frame, erect in carriage, and six feet high. 
His eminent integrity and benevolent character have rendered him 
one of the most popular men in the county. 

COL. FIELDING BURNES 

(Retired Merchant, Platte City). 

The family of which this old and honored citizen of Platte county 
is a representative, one of the early families in the Platte country, 
came originally from Virginia, where Col. Barnes' ancestors have 
made their homes for generations, dating back long prior to the Rev- 
olution. Col. Fielding Burnes, a l)rotlier to Hon. James N. Burncs. 
a distinguished member of Congress from Missouri, now representing 
the St. Joseph district, was a son of Judge .Fames Burnes, who was a 
native of Culpeper county, Va., born in 1779. Judge Burnes, pere, 
grew to manhood in Virginia, l)ut whilst yet a young man became a 
pioneer emigrant to Ohio. There he met and was married to Miss 
Mary Thompson, of a branch of the same family from wliicli Hon. 
John G-. Thompson spi-ang. After a residence of several years in 
Ohio, Judge Burncs removed to Indiana, and settled in Vermillion 
county. Though reared in this country, in an age when education was 
rare among the people, he succeeded in acijuiring a good knowledge 
of books and much general information, for the Burnes family was 
one of the well-to-do and indnential families of North-Central Virginia. 
His tastes led liim in the direction of l)usiness life, though he was a 
man of a fine Juditnal mind. Nature madi; him a judge in every sense 
of the word, for no man ever had a keener insight into the motives 
and impulses which prompt the conduct of men, or a more thorough 
impartiality of judgment and integrity of character. He was a natural 
hiwver in the true and best sense offhat word, but had no taste for 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUXTV. 929 

the profession, and took but little or no pains to acquaint liiinself with 
the lal)yi'iuth of forms and confusion of precedents which have been 
built up. Nevertheless, in Indiana, although engaged principally iu 
business pursuits, he was elected to the iiench of the circuit court, 
and discharged the duties of that office with a high order of ability and 
the strictest integrity. While a resident of Indiana he founded the 
town of Springfield, which became a flourishing place. In 1838 he 
removed to Missouri, with his family, and settled in Platte county. 
Here he made his permanent home and soon established himself as 
one of the honored and influential citizens of the county. He died 
on his homestead, in this county, January 16, 1853. Of his family 
of children, six grew to mature years, five sons and one daughter, as 
follows: Fielding, the subject of this sketch ; Lewis, now deceased, 
who became a member of the State Legislature of Indiana, and after- 
wai'ds a State Senator in Missouri, being one of the leading lawyers 
in this State; James N., present member of Congress from the 
St. Joseph district ; Calvin, the leading banker of St. Joseph ; one 
now deceased, and Susan E., the wife of Samuel Mason, a promi- 
nent citizen of St. Joseph. Col. Fielding Burnes, the subject 
of this sketch, was born in Ohio, November 25, 1819, but was 
principally reared iu Indiana. He was 19 years of age when 
the family removed to Missouri, and having received a good, 
practical common school education, he soon afterwards turned his 
attention to mercantile life, for which he inherited a decided prefer- 
ence from his father. Before he attained his majority he engaged 
in business at Platte City, in partnership with his brother-in-law, 
Sanmel Mason, now of St. Joseph. The}' continued to carry on the 
business together, and with excellent success, until after the Mex- 
ican War was well under way. Col. Burnes, then ambitious to take 
part in the struggle for the honor and glory of the " old flag," 
withdrew from business and organized a regiment of Mexican volun- 
teers, the Seventv-seventh Missouri, of which he was elected colonel. 
In due time the regiment, armed and equipped and with colors flying, 
was on its march to the Rio Grande and the land of the pepper and 
garlic cavaliers in the cactus republic. But while on the way news 
came of the fall of Mexico and the final defeat of the Mexicans. They 
therefore returned home. But the organiz;ition of the regiment was 
kept up for about two vears. Soon after this Col. Burnes was elected 
register of the State land office located at Savannah. He held that 
position until he sent in his resignation some two years afterwards. 
Then he resumed merchandising, becoming a partner with his four 
brothers. This firm, or rather these firms, for they had five difl"erent 
business houses under diflereut uanies, and at as many places, became 
the leading merchants of the whole Platte region of country. A large 
general store was kept at Weston under the firm style of L. Burnes & 
Bros. ; the third was at Parkville, doing business under the style of 
Fielding Burnes & Co., and the fourth one, known as F. Burnes & Bros., 
was at Hampton. These houses were all conducted with success until 
after the outljreak of the Civil War. The Burnes brothers then, scent- 



930 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

ing danger from afar, became convinced that it would be unsafe to 
continue business any longer, and proceeded without delay to close up 
their affairs. At the first flush of war Col. Burnes was disposed to 
enter actively and vigorousl}' into the struggle for upholding the 
Jackson State government and the rights of all the States ; and, in- 
deed, he took command of a body of volunteers. But it soon became 
apparent that the contest was to l^e an unequal and fruitless one on the 
part of Missouri and the Southern States, and he therefore advised' a 
peaceful submission to the authorities at Washington. Seeing that 
no good could come of the war, so far as his own people were con- 
cerned, he declined to take further part in it, and to avoid all compli- 
cations went West, on the plains, where he engaged in freighting as 
proprietor of a number of large trains. But before he went West he 
did much to preserve order and keep down mob law ; and it was due 
to his exertions alone that, after the war was under way, the murder 
of Col. Park, of Parkville, was prevented. A band of determined 
men had organized for the express purpose of taking his life, but Col. 
Burnes dissuaded them from their purpose, and succeeded in preserving 
to the community and to his family the life of one of the most honored 
and esteemed citizens of the community. This Col. Burnes regards as 
one of the best acts of his life. After quitting the plains he became 
general director for Kansas of the Life Association Insurance Com- 
pany of America, and later along of the Alliance Insurance Company 
of the United States, of which, by the way, he was one of the princi- 
pal organizers. Returning, subsequently to Platte county, he was ap- 
pointed United States revenue collector, with headquarters at Weston ; 
and on concluding his term of service in that office he located on his 
farm near Camden Point, engaging also in merchandising at that place. 
Col. Burnes came to Platte City in 1880, and was in business at thi* 
place until last summer, when he sold out and retired from active life. 
Col. Burnes is in comfortable circumstances. He has been twice 
married. His first wife survived her marriage only a few years, dying 
and leaving one child, who is now the wife of Daniel Tebbs, and re- 
sides near Salt Lake City, in Utah. To his present wife Col. Burnes 
was married April 15, 185(5. She was a Miss Elizabeth Summers, 
and a daughter of Maj. Jesse Summers, formerly of Virginia, but 
afterwards a |)rominent citizen of Kentucky and Missouri. He served 
with distinction in the Kentucky Legislature. By his present wife 
Col. Burnes ha^ been blessed with four children. Col. Burnes and wife 
are members of the M. E. Church South, and he is a prominent mem- 
ber of the Masonic Order. He has been and is a life-long Democrat, 
but has never sought office, and has repeatedly declined nominations 
for official positions, including that of Representative. 

WILLIAM E. BURRUSS 

(Of the Firm of Burruss & Miller, Liveryraeci, Platte City). 

Mr. Burruss' father. Rev. P. J. Burruss, a Keutuckian by birth, 
was an early settler in Missouri, having come to the State in 1841, at 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 931 

which time he located in Independence, where he married Miss Linie 
A. Guthrie, daughter of William Guthrie, a pioneer from Kentuclvy 
to tills State. Rev. Mr. Burruss was a minister in the faith of the 
regular Baptist Church, a well known, highly respected and true 
Christian minister, whose i)astorate in Platte county extended over a 
period of 40 years. He died near Weston, in Platte county, in 1882, 
but his wife survived him until March, 1884, when she, too, was 
called to her final rest. William E. Burruss has lived in this county 
all his life, having been born five miles north of Weston, October 27, 
1843. As might be inferred, he was brought up here, and attended 
the common schools of the county, and supplemented this by a course 
at Pleasant Ridge College for one year. At the early age of 19 years, 
on the 10th of August, 1862, he was married, in Clay county, to Miss 
Laura Penny, whose father, Ely Penny, was a Kentuckian by birth. 
Mrs. B. was born in Caldwell county, Mo., but was reared in Clay 
county. They have three children living: Maiy A., Lilly and Eu- 
gene. The oldest (Philip) died at the age of 5 years and 20 days, 
and Benjamin died when 2 years and two months old. After his 
marriage, Mr. Burruss commenced farming in Platte county and con- 
tinued until 1881, when, coming to Platte City, he embarked in the 
lively business. Since that time he has had a number of partners, 
Mr. Miller having purchased his interest in March, 1884. They 
have an excellent stable, a good stock of horses and vehicles, and are 
doing a fiourishing business, their stable being quite popular, not only 
locally but with the traveling public, especially among commercial 
salesmen, who give them a large patronage. Their custom is steadily 
increasing. Mrs. Burruss is a member of the Missionary Baptist 
Church. Mr. Miller, who is connected with this firm, is a well known 
young man and a son of Capt. W. J. Miller, who is favorably men- 
tioned elsewhere in this work. 

HENRY F. CALLICOTTE 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section 24) . 

In all ages of the world industry, perseverance and energy, where 
intelligently applied, have achieved a result which only could have 
lieen gained by having one object in view and in improving every op- 
l)ortunity to ultimately attain to that object. Mr. C. is an example of 
what can be accomplished when the spirit of determination is exer- 
cised in connection with the eveiy-da}' aft'airs of life. On coniino' to 
Platte county, Mo., in the spring of 185(3, ho was compelled to rent 
land for a time, but as soon as possible purchased a place near his 
present one, but located on this latter farm in the spring of 1876. 
His possessions have increased until he owns 330 acres of excellent 
farming land well improved, a prominent feature of which is a good 
orchard of 400 trees. He came originally from Russell county, Ky., 
having been born May 27, 1827. His fiither, Jordan Callicotte, 
originally of North Carolina, wont to Kentucky when a 3'ouiig man 
and married there Miss Frances Dunbar, a niece of the celebrated 



932 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

Geu. Dunbar, of Revolutionary fame. Jordan Callicotte, was 
sheriff of Russell county for one terra and quite a prominent man of 
that county. He died there in 18(53, aged about 64 years. Henry F., 
his son, grew to manhood in the county of his l)irth, following in early 
life agricultural pursuits, but receiving only the benefits of a limited 
education. December 24, 1850, he married Miss Mary Ann Murray, 
daughter of Edward Murray, of Boyle county, where she was also 
liorn. Kentucky continued to be their home until 1856, when the}'^- 
removed to Missouri, as before stated. Mr. and Mrs. Callicotte have 
two children, Mary F., wife of William Elgin, and Joseph, married 
and on the farm with his father. The oldest son, George A., died 
just previous to his twenty-tirst birthday, December 15, 1872. Mrs. C 
is a member of the Christian Clmrch, and they are highly respected 
members of the community in which they reside. 

DAVID A. CHESNUT 

(Farmer and Breeder of Thoroughbred Short Horn Cattle, Section 11). 
Though one of the youngest in age of the agriculturists and stock 
men of this county, Mr. C. is by no means an unim[)ortant one, for he 
has followed this calling from childhood, and has added to his natural 
aptitude for the business years of experience. He was born in Lou- 
doun county, Va., July 23, 1857, being a son of Judge William Ches- 
nut, whose name often occurs in other portions of this book. David 
A., the subject of this sketch, was brought by his parents to this State in 
1859, when two years old, and grew up on the farm, receiving, in ad- 
dition to his common-school education, a course in the college at St. 
Joseph, Mo. He remained in the old homestead until 1882, when, 
buying a part of this place (his father also giving him a portion), 
he commenced for himself. His total landed possessions embrace 400 
acres, ail fenced, divided into the customary cultivated, prairie and 
timbered lands. The stock business occupies no inconsiderable share 
of his attention, and his herd of 35 thoroughbred short horns are 
numbered among the best in the vicinity. At their head is Geneva 
Taylor, si.x years old, weighing 1,800 ])ounds, and recorded in the 
Herd Book as No. 36,159. In addition to cattle raising he is also in- 
terested in the mule business, having 115 head from one to tiiree years 
old, which he is feeding for the markets. Mr. Chesnut was married 
in Platte City, November 19, 1878, to Miss Ella Morton, daughter of 
Rev. Ricliard Morton. Siie was born in Clay county, and received the 
principal part of her education at Camdeu Point. She died October 
20, 1884, leaving one child, W. Pryor. Mrs. C. was a meml)er of 
the Christian Church, to which Mr. Chesnut also belongs. 

CAPT. JAMES H. CHINN 

(Attorney at Law, Platte City). 
Capt. Chinn is a native of Platte county, born on his father's home- 
stead in Preston township, Novemi)er 3, 1842. His father, Lewis B. 



lIISrOKY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 933 

Chinn, was origiutilly from Greomip county, Ky. His mother's 
maiden name was Mary A. Hayes. They were married in Kentucky 
in about 1839. Thereafter they at once emiiijrated to Missouri and 
settled in Preston township, Platte county. In 1843 the}' removed to 
Carroll township, ;ind made that their permanent home. The father 
was a farmer and stock trader l)y occupation, and was quite sui^cess- 
ftil. He died in 18615, leaving a comfortable estate. The mother 
survives, at the age of 65, and resides on the old homestead. They 
reared a family of eight children of the 12 born to them. The Chinn 
family early settled in Virginia and Ihcnce moved to Kentucky. The 
Hayes were also originally from Virginia, but settled in Kentucky 
from Ohio. 

James H. Chinn, the subject of this sketch, was reared on his 
father's farm in this county, and educated in the common schools. 
Following the example of his father, he early engaged as a farmer 
and stock-raiser, and is still interested in farming, andowns part of the 
old fomily iiomestead. On the 12th of May, 1868, he was married to 
Miss Lucy, a daughter of Dr. A. M. and Catherine (Hughes) Robin- 
son, of Ridgely, in this county. After his marriage he continued 
fanning and handling stock until 1820, when he accepted the office of 
deputy treasurer and collector of the county under R. T. Darnell. 
This position he filled with efficiency and satisfaction to all concerned 
until January, 1877. He was then appointed county clerk by Gov. 
John S. Phelps, vice T. W. Park resigned. Thiit year he i-emoved 
his family to Platte City. He has resided here ever since. Capt. 
Chinn filled the office of county clerk until January 1, 1879, when his 
term expired. After this he resumed the occupation of farming and 
stock-niising, which he followed until 1881. In the meantime he had 
also been engaged in the study of law, and at the April term of the 
Plattsburg circuit court he was examined for license to practice and 
was admitted to the bar. Since that time Ca))t. Chinn has been 
arduously engaged in the practice of his profession at Platte City. 

Capt. and Mrs. Chinn have been blessed with six children, two of 
whom are deceased. Those living are Lewis R., Laura, Guy and J. 
H., Jr. Mrs. Chinn is a member of the Christian Church. The 
Captain is also a meml>er of that denomination. Politicalh' he is a 
life-long Democrat, and believes strictly in unswerving party organi- 
zation. 

■ BENJAMIN F. CHINN 

(Fiiniier and Stock-raiser, Section 23, Post-office, Platte City). 

Mr. Chinn, one of the native born residents of the county, and an 
agriculturist of no small prominence among the younger farmers of 
the townshi[), was born on the lOth of Octo!)er, 1851, in this county, 
his parents being Lewis B. and Mary Ann (Hughes) Chinn, both 
Kcntuckians by birth. They were brought up in the State of their 
birth, and after marriage removed to Missouri, in about 1840, settling 
in Platte county. Shortly after, Mr. C. bought the land and improved 
the farm which his widow now occupies, and where he died in March, 



934 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

1867. He had beeu engaged quite extensively in stock-raising and 
trading, and not without success. In the family there were nine 
children, seven sons and two daughters, who grew to maturity ; five 
of the sons are now residents of this county. Benjamin F. grew to 
manhood in the neighborhood of where he resides, receiving a good 
education in the excellent common schools of the vicinity and at Platte 
City. March 12, 1879, he was married here to Miss Anna E., daughter 
of Isaac D. McEown, and wife Catherine, nee Ballard, formerly, 
from Kentucky. Like her husband, Mrs. Chinn was l)orn and 
reared in Platte. To them have been born three children : Bettie B., 
Lonella and Cora E. Mr. C. has 248 acres of land, 140 of which are 
fenced and well improved. He is rapidly taking a front rank among 
the leading farmers of the county. 

JOHN R. CLEMENTS 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section 36, Post-office, Platte City.) 

The war record of Mr. Clements during the late civil strife was one 
of more than ordinary gallantry, and one which can be viewed by 
future generations with a spirit of pride when considering the patriot- 
ism which prompted this noble soldier to offer his services in defense 
of his country, and his subsequent braver}' on the field of action. In 
the fall of 18(51, Mr. C. entered the Eighteenth Missouri infantry 
under Col. Morgan, and afterwards was under two other commanders, 
serving for three years. He participated in the battle of Shiloh, where 
he was taken prisoner; first held in confinement at Vicksburg, he was 
later taken to Mobile and Macon City, at the' latter place obtaining a 
parole. In the spring of 18(53, he was exchanged, and soon re-entered 
the service, being occupied with guard duty near Corinth one summer. 
He was at the engagement of Resaca, and with Sherman on his march 
to the sea, or at least as far as Savannah, Ga., where he received an 
honorable discharge. He then returned to his home in this county, 
in January, 1865. Mr. Clements was now about 31 j'ears of age, 
having been born June 9, 1834, in Montgomer}'^ county, Ky., the son 
of Jonathan and Nancy (Williams) Clements, also Kentuckians by 
birth. Jonathan's father was one of the pioneer settlers of Kentnck}' 
from Virginia. In the fall of 1834 this family took up their location 
in Estill county, where the father was drowned in 1850. In 1855 the 
remaining members of the famil}' removed to Missouri, settling in 
Platte county. Mrs. C. bouglit land in the vicinity of Linkville, and 
John R., as the eldest son, had charge of its management. March 9, 
1860, he was married in this county to Miss Eliza Jane Moore, who 
was born in Montgomery cf)unty, K}'., though having come to Mis- 
souri when 12 years old. Her parents were James B. and Barthena 
Moore, nee Molicrly, originally from Kentucky. Mr. and Mrs. 
Clements have nine children : James J., Benjamin M., WilLiam T., 
AValter, Madison, Simeon, Andy F., (Claude and Carrie J. In March, 
1877, Mr. C. came upon his present farm, which contains 240 acres 
of excellent land; 200 acres are in cultivation, and everything sur- 



I 



HISTORY or PLATTE COUNTY. 935 

roiindiui!; the place iudicates the proprietor of a model larm as its 
owner. Anew dwelling is a prominent feature of the improvements. 
He and his wife are members of the Christian Church. Mr. Clements 
belongs to the Platte City Masonic Lodge. It should have been 
mentioned above in the name of the children, that one child, an infant 
ten months old, is deceased. 

GEORGE FRANKLIN CLEMINGS 

(Blacksmith, Platte City). 

Mr. Clemings, one of the energetic, hard-working and highly re- 
spected citizens of Platte City — a man who, by his own industry and 
good management, has accumulated a comibrtable competence in life, 
and wiio has the good opinion of all who know him — is a Virginian 
by nativity, born in Loudoun county, March 4, 1830. When he was 
about 12 years of age, his parents, Alfred Clemings and wife, nee 
Matilda Payne, removed to Ohio and settled in Licking county, where 
the father, who was a blacksmith by calling, followed his trade for a 
number of years. Subsequently they settled in Muskingum county. 
There the father died in 187(3. "The mother died in 1850'. George F. 
Clemings, the subject of this sketch, completed his youth in Ohio, 
and, as he grew up, learned the blacksmith's trade under his father. 
When al)out 21 years of age he came to Missouri and located at St. 
Charles, but the following year, in 1851, he came up to Platte City and 
started a blacksmith shop at this place, which he carried on with suc- 
cess for about three years. He then removed to Jefferson county, 
Kan., and ran a shop there for several years. But returning to Platte 
City, he continued his trade in this place until 186-4, when, on account 
of the war troubles, he went to Nel>raska City. After the war, in 
1866, he returned to Platte City, and has been here carrying on his 
shop ever since. A thorough mechanic, and an upright, honorable 
man, he has always had a good patronage, and has been quite success- 
ful. Mr. Clemings has l)een married twice. His first wife, nee Miss 
Charlotte, a daughter of John Kerkendall, died December 12, 1874, 
leaving him three children, namely: Jennie, wife of Joseph Kirtz ; 
Frank L. and Tillie A., the latter now attending school at Camden 
Point. Two others died in childhood. To his present wife Mr. 
Clemings was married December 18, 1875. She was a widow lady at 
the time of her marriage to Mr. C. — Mrs. Kate Kalahan, her maiden 
name being Chesnut, a daughter of Judge William Chesnut, of this 
county, one of the leading men of the county. They have one child, 
Henry Smith Clemings. During the war Mr. Clemings served about 
nine months in the Southern service, participating in the battles of 
Pea Ridge, Lexington, and some other engagements of less impor- 
tance. Mr. Clemings is a man of pleasant address, much general 
iuformatioti, and justly influential among his neighbors and acquaint- 
ances. 

54 



936 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

THOMAS G. COCKRILL. 

(Farmer and Breeder and Dealer in Thorough-bred Short Horn Cattle, Section 10). 

Mr. Cockrill has been engaged in the stock business since 1881, and 
the prominent traits and qualities which characterized his career while 
occupied in other fields of labor have followed him in his present 
calling. He is a son of Clinton Cockrill, a well known and highly 
respected citizen of this county, whose sketch appears elsewhere in 
the present volume, and when this fact is stated, a great deal is said 
for his character as a citizen and his success as a business man. Born 
on the old family homestead in this county, October 3, 1849, he was 
reared on the farm, and when he came up not only had good common 
school advantages, but the benefit of an excellent course at Daugh- 
ters' College, under Prof. Gay lord, of Platte City. After completing 
his studies at college he took up the study of law, intending to pros- 
ecute that calling as his profession in life. He was a student in the 
office of Merrymau & Paxton, well known attorneys of Platte City, 
and in 1868, after a thorough and exhaustive examination, was ad- 
mitted to the bar. Afterwards he practiced for one year. An oppor- 
tunity being ofl'ered to embark in the lianking business, Mr. C. became 
a member of the banking firm of Merrymau, Paxton & Cockrill — a 
stock company — of which Mr. Cockrill was cashier. His long residence 
in the county peculiarly fitted him for the successful discharge of his 
duties in this position. After about three years, Messrs. Merrymau 
and Paxton disposed of their interests and the bank was carried on 
under the firm name of Cockrill & Co. about three years more, being 
succeeded by Wells & Co.,- the present proprietors. During this 
time Mr. C. continued to hold the office of cashier. In October, 
1874, he purchased a farm, moving on it the same fall, and in 1881, 
as above stated, commeneed the stock business. He makes a specialty 
of handling short horn cattle and has an excellent herd of 35 thor- 
oughbreds, at the head of which is a fine two year old, R. T. Murray, 
weighing 1,500 pounds, and recorded in the American Herd Book as 
No. 57,1)76. He has succeeded in doing much to promote the stock 
interests of this county and is deserving of much credit for the prom- 
inence with which the matter of dealing in thoroughbred cattle has 
been brought before the people. His place embraces 480 acres, well 
improved, and his buildings, nearly all new, are well adapted to the 
purposes for which they are devoted. Mr. Cockrill was married in 
this county, November 22, 1871, to Miss Bettie Chesnut, daughter of 
Judge William Chesnut, of Platte City. Mrs. C. was born and reared 
in this county, and was a graduate of Christian College, Columl)ia, 
Mo. They have six children : William C, Ida E., Mary June, David 
G., Grundy and Lucy May. Mrs. Cockrill is a member of the 
Christian Church. He belongs to Platte City Lodge, of the I. O. 
O. F. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 937 



DR. E. McDowell coffey. 



Dr. Coffey was born in Hustoiiville, Lincoln county, Ky., on ttie 
2i)tli day of January, 1829. His fatlier, Richard N. Coffey, was bora 
in Virginia and served as a soldier in Col. Shelby's famous Kentucky 
regiment in the War of 1812. Osborn and Mary Coffey, his })aternal 
grandparents, were also natives of Virginia, of Irish and Scotch de- 
scent. The former was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and 
witnessed the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. Joseph and 
Margaret McCormick, the maternal graudparents, were natives of 
Pennsylvania and of Quaker descent ; they removed to Kentucky at 
a very early day and shared the privations and dangers incident to a 
frontier life. The subject of this sketch made choice of the practice 
of medicine as a profession, and read with his father as preceptor. 
He attended lectures at the Transylvania University at Lexington, 
Ky., and was graduated in 18-52. He came to Platte county. Mo., 
March 1, 1854, and on the 29th day of June of the same year he mar- 
ried Miss Bettie James, and located at Camden Point, this county, 
where he remained until the l(5th of May, 1861 (having in the mean- 
time lost wife and child), when he was sworn into the State service at 
St. Joseph, Mo., as a private in Capt. Wallace Jackson's cavalry com- 
pany, organized at Camden Point; was in the battles of Carthage, 
Mo., July 5, 1861 ; Wilson's Creek, August 10; Drywood, Septem- 
ber, and Lexington, Septemljer 14 to 20 of same year, as surgeon of 
Lieut. -Col. Hyde's regiment of cavalry. Appointed surgeon of Col. 
Carneal's I'egiment, U[)on the reorganization of State troops at Lex- 
ington, after the surrender of Col. Mulligan, Septemlter, 1861, in 
tliis capacity he acted until January 12, 1862, when he was ap- 
pointed surgeon of Col. Gates' regiment. First brigade, Missouri vol- 
unteers, in the Confederate service, at Springfield, Mo. Was in the 
l)attle of Pea Ridge, or Eikhorn, and remained upon the field about a 
month attending to sick and wounded, and hundreds of soldiers who 
were left disabled upon that bloody field, especially those from Mis- 
souri, Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana, have douljtless remembered 
with gratitude the efforts made by Dr. Coffey to relieve their suffer- 
ings, he having, with great difficulty, and even risk of life, obtained 
permission, as the follo\ving circular shows, to visit the Confederate 
army, eighty miles distant, to take supplies so much needed for the 
wounded ; then he rejoined his coiiimand at Memphis, Tenn. : — 

circular. 
Headquarters, Trans-Mississippi District, 1 
Van Buren, March 17. 1862. / 

Dr. E. McD. Coffey, Surgeou First cavalry, First brigade, Missouri voluuteers, 
anil Rev. G. W.Rodgers, Cliaplaia Second regiment infantry, First Missouri, are liere 
prisoners of war, on parole, for the purpose of procuring clothing for our wounded, 
now in the vicinity of Eikhorn. Commanders of brigades, regiments, etc., will have 
immediate steps taken for placing such clothing as can be sent for their wounded, at 
the office of the Provost Marshal, subject to the order of the above uamed gentle- 
men, liy order of 

MAJ.-pEN. EARL VAN DORN. 
d'abnby H. Maury, A. A. G. 



938 HISTORY OF PLATTE COXJNTY. 

He was in the battle of Corinth, 7th and 8th of October, 1862, 
and had charge of a large number of wounded and sick for some time 
after in the hospital at Canton, Miss. Appointed chief surgeon of 
Maj.-Gen. Bowen's division, C. S. A., in December, 1862, at Grenada, 
Miss., he held this position until that gallant command was almost 
decimated by its terrible losses during the siege of Vicksburg. Was 
in the battle of Grand Gulf, 29th of April ; Port Gibson in Ma}', 
and of Baker's Creek, or Champion's Hill, 16th of May, 1863. Also 
in siege of Vicksburg from the 18th of May until the 3d of Jul}', 
1863. In the battles of Lookout Mountain and of Missionary Ridge, 
November, 1863. Surgeon of garrisons at Forts Powell and Gaines, 
Mobile Bay, in February and March, 1864. Appointed president of 
Medical Examining Board at Gadson, Ala., April, 1864, and acted in 
that capacity until pai-oled on the 16th of May, 1865, exactly four 
years from the time he was sworn into the service at St. Joseph. 
After his return, in 186.5, he resumed the practice of medicine at Cam- 
den Point. He married Miss Helen Barnes May 1, 1866. November, 
1872, he was elected sheriff, and removed to Platte City in December 
of that year. In November, 1874, he was re-elected. After the ex- 
piration of his second term he resumed the practice of medicine. Dr. 
Coffey has been a member of the Christian Church nearly twenty-five 
years, and a member of the Masonic Order since January, 1854, hav- 
ing been initiated at Harrodsburg, Ky. 

JOHN COLLINS 

(Farmer ami Stock-raiser, Post-offlce, Platte City). 

Mr. Collins' father, Zenas Collins, was one of the early settlers of 
Plattecounty,andMr.C., himself, was one among the first to make his 
home in this county. Zenas Collins was a native of Maryland, l)orn 
in 1797, but when about six years of age was brought out to Ohio by 
his parents, who settled in Fairfield county. There he grew up and 
was married to Miss Catherine Sites, formerly of Botetourt county, 
Va. After his marriage he removed to Richland county, Ohio, and 
resided there until 1836, when he again moved, locating in Franklin 
county, that State. But in 1842 he came to Missouri and locatied in 
Platte county, where he entered and improved a farm. He lived, 
however, only three years afterwards, dying September 28, 1845. 
His wife survived him until 1862. The place he improved is now 
owned i)y his grandson, Marion P., who bought it some years ago, 
having made the money to purchase it with by his own efforts Joini 
Collins, the subject of this sketch, was born near New Lancaster, 
Fairfield county, Ohio, Deceral)cr 20, 1819. He was i-eared in Oliio, 
and brought up to hard work on the farm. However, he attended 
school and had tlie l)enefit of an academic course. November 25, 
1841, he was married to Miss Jemima Brown, a daughter of Pitts and 
Nancy (Driver) Brown, formerly of Maryland. The following year 
he and his young wife came to Missouri and settled in Platte county, 
locatiuir about four miles east of Platte Citv. Here he entered land 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 939 

aud improved a t'anu. Mr. Collins has been successfully engaged in 
farming ever since. In 1858 he removed into the town of Platte 
City, in order to educate his children. He owns land near town, a 
good place of 270 acres, which he is conducting as a general grain 
and stock farm. He now resides on this place, a comfortalde home- 
stead of 270 acres, including a large two-story residence and other 
buildings to correspond. Mr. and Mrs. Collins have eight living 
children: Marion P., heretofore referred to; Nannie, wife of D. F. 
Masterson ; Elmyra, wife of A. J. Coleman ; Mary E., wife of Will- 
iam M. Lewis, of Kansas City; George V., a resident of Southern 
Kansas; Hattie B., wife of S. J. Park; Jesse L. and H. Clay, the 
last two on the farm with their father. Mr. and Mrs. Collins are 
members of the Christian Church. Mr. C. is a man of strict tem- 
perance habits, neither using any intoxicating stimulants or tobacco. 

THOMAS B. DUNCAN 

(Fartner, Stock-raiser and Dealer, Section 10, Post-office, Platte City). 

To the intelligent observer of the prominent and growing interests 
of this county, the stock industry can hardly fail of attracting atten- 
tion ; for to such a magnitude has it grown that many rely upon it at 
this time for their sole support. Since his youth Mr. Duncan has 
been actively and continuously engaged in this branch of business, and 
not without material success. During the past year he and his part- 
ner, Mr. Sanders McComas, shipped from Platte City one hundred and 
ten car loads of hogs and cattle, representing a value of nearly $150,- 
000. Five miles southeast of Platte City is located the farm of Mr. 
Duncan — a good place of 120 ao-res, well improved. Though a native 
of Clay county. Mo., l)orn June 19, 18(50, he has resiiled in Platte 
the most of his life. His father, James F. Duncan, a Kentuckian by 
birth, born in Barren county, January 26, 1816, came to Missouri 
when a 3'oung man and settled in Clay county in 1832. He was mar- 
ried in Andrew county, near Savannah, to Miss Sarah Tracy, daughter 
of Sebert and Anna (Scott) Tracy, both from Garrett county, Ky. ; 
Mrs. Duncan also having l)een born in that State but reared in Andrew 
county. After their marriage they continued to reside in Clay county 
until 1866, then settling in Platte county, where Mr. Duncan bought 
land and improved the farm on which the subject of this sketch now 
resides, and where he died January 6, 1878. He had served as a 
gallant soldier in the Mexican War, and also had made two overland 
trips to California. After spending about two years in the mines he 
returned by the Isthmus and New Orleans. He was a Master Mason 
and a consistent menil)er of the Christian Church for nearly thirty 
years. To Mr. and Mrs. Duncan had been born three sons and four 
daughters, of whom Thomas B. was the youngest son, one younger 
sister being married. Thomas grew to manhood at home, receiving, 
besides a good common school education, the benefits of a course at 
Prof. Gaylord's school. On the 22d of January, 1885, Mr. Duncan 
was married in Clay county to Miss Bettie Ecton, daughter of Thomas 



940 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

B. Ecton, deceased, originally from Kentucky, and one of the early 
settlers of Clay county, Mo. ; his death occurrmg January 29, 1881. 
Mrs. Duncan was born, reared and educated in Clay county. She and 
iier mother are members of the Christian Church. 

GEORGE H. ECIvERT 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section 10, Post-office, Platte City). 

As one might suppose, after seeing the subject of this sketch and 
his excellent farm, the manner in which it is conducted, and the care 
and pains taken with every minor detail of its management, Mr. 
Eckert is a native Missourian, having been born within the limits of 
Platte county, near Parkville, January 21, 1858. His father was 
George Eckert, originally from Prussia, who came to the United States 
while a young man, meeting and afterwards marrying in New York 
State Miss Dorothy Stell, like himself a native of Prussia. In about 
1857 he came westward, and settled in Platte county. Mo., where he 
has since continued to make his home. Young George received the 
benefits of a good education when not occupied with his farm duties 
in early life, his time being passed without any material change from 
the occupation which he had so naturally come to follow, until his 
marriage. March 11, 1880, Miss Eva Renner, daughter of Adam 
Renner (formerly from Prussia, but now deceased), became his wife. 
She was born and brought up in this county. To them have been 
born two children : Emma and Lizzie. For three years after this 
event Mr. E. farmed with his father, but at that time, or in February, 
1883, purchased the place on which he now lives. This embraces 162 
acres of land all fenced and in a fair state of cultivation, upon 
which are buildings in full keeping with the requirements of a char- 
acteristic farm. Mr. Eckert and wife are members of the German 
M. E. Church. 

AXIOM FARMER 
(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section 27.) 

Mr. Farmer has resided in Platte county for a period now of over 
fifty years, and during this time he has been quietly and actively pur- 
suing the tilling of the soil as his chosen occupation in life. The 
result of this industry is seen in the comfortable farm and its appoint- 
ments, which are the property of Mr. Farmer. His landed estate 
embraces 160 acres improved in a neat manner, and one of the prom- 
inent features of the place is an orchard of 600 select fruit trees. 
Mr. Farmer was born in Edgecombe county, N. C, February 10, 1809, 
the son of Dew and Sarah (Dondnah) Farmer, both also natives of 
that State. In about 1815 the family removed to Middle Tennessee 
and located in Robinson county, where the father died. Young Axiom 
remained in that vicinity until reaching his nineteenth year, when, in 
the fall of 1829, he came to Missouri, stopping in Callaway county, 
some two years. In 1831 he took up his location in Pike county, 
and there, on February 12, 1835, he was married to Miss Sarah Ana 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 941 

Estes, daughter of Robert and Elizabeth Estes. Mr. F. was a Keii- 
tuckiau by birth, but was brought up in Pike county, Mo. In the 
fall of 1836 Mr. Farmer became a resident of Clay county, hut not 
being exactly satisfied with iiis condition there, removed to Platte in. 
the fall of 1837, pre-empting the land which he now occupies and en- 
tering it during the administration of James K. Polk. It contained a 
quarter section. On the 24th of August, 1873, Mr. Farmer was de- 
prived of his wife by death. Of their family of children, four sons 
and five daughters grew to maturity : LucretiaJ., wife of Noah Beery, 
Jr., of Platte City ; George W., of this county, as is also John T. ; 
Harrison G., of Cass county, Mo. ; Sarah A., now Mrs. Lewis Hern- 
don, of Cass county, are now living. Those deceased are: Savannah, 
M-ife of William Grooms, died in May, 1882, leaving two children ; 
Hannah L., wife of W. W. Davis, died in May 1874 : "Armilda, died 
October 25, 1865, aged 29 years ; Robert H., died September 25, 
1864, at the age of 22, and one died in infancy. John T. Farmer 
was married in this county August 5, 1874, to Miss Ermina, daughter 
of Moses and Malinda Hon. Mrs. F. is a native of Powell county, 
Ky., where she was reared. They have two children: Price and 
Grover Cleveland. Axiom Farmer and son, John, are members of the 
Baptist Church, while Mrs. J. T. Farmer is connected with the 
Christian Church. 

JAMES F. FLANNERY 
(Of Mason and Flannery, Dealers in Groceries, Etc., Etc., Platte City). 

Mr Flannery is a native of Platte county, born January 13, 1849. 
His father was Thomas Flannery, from Lee county, Virginia, who 
came to Missouri in 1838 and settled in this county. He still resides 
here. Mr. Flannery's mother was a Miss Fannie Bruntz before her 
marriage, also originally from Virginia. James F. was reared in 
Platte county and was educated at Prof. Gaylord's Academy. While 
yet a youth he began as a clerk in a store at Platte City and continued 
clerking for about thirteen years, or from the age of 17 up to 1879. 
In the meantime, in the fall of 1878, he was elected treasurer of 
Platte county, and was re-elected in 1880. Mr. Flannery formed his 
present partnei'ship with Mr. Mason in 1883. Of their business and 
the successful experience they have had, mention is made in the 
sketch of Mr. Mason. Mr. Flannery has been married twice. On 
the 9th of Februar}', 1870, he was married to Miss Mary L. Mason, 
a sister to his pi-esent partner. She died October 24, 1877, leaving 
two children, Dora M. and Lillie F. To his present wife Mr. Flan- 
nery was married April 17, 1879. She was a Miss Issie D. Million, 
a daughter of John Million, formerly of Madison county, Ky. But 
Mrs. Flannery was left an orphan in early childhood and was reared 
by her micle, Mr. Anderson Jenkins, in Jackson county. She was 
educated at Camden Point. Mrs. F. is a member of the Christian 
Chnrch. Mr. Flannery is a prominent Mason and Odd Fellow. He 
is a young man of good education, energetic and well qualified for 
business and a man of unquestioned integrity, as his election to the 



942 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

office of county treasurer conclusively shows. No young man in the 
county stands higher in general esteem than he. 

FREDERICK GRAHAM GAYLORD 

(President of Daughters' College, Platte City). 

From the United States Biographical Dictionary (Missouri volume), 
published in 1878, we are permitted to reproduce the following sketch 
of Prof. Gaylord's life :— 

Frederick Graham Gaylord, the second of a family of five children, 
was born in Oneida county, N. Y., January 24, 1820. His father, 
Thomas Ga^dord, a Quaker in religious belief, was a farmer by occu- 
pation. His mother's maiden name was Caroline Loomis. Both 
families are of English origin. His grandfather, Thomas Gaylord, 
was a soldier under Washington, and was present on the occasion of 
his defeat on Long Island. His maternal grandfather, Roswell 
Loomis, was also a soldier of the Revolution, and served in the 
patriot army. 

He was educated at Clinton, in Oneida county, N. Y. Always of 
a studious and investigating character of mind, he, early in life, 
reaped the advantages of sound literary and scientific training, acquir- 
ing by his own exei'tions much of the knowledge which rendered him, 
in after life, distinguished in several States, and especially in Mis- 
.souri, as an educator of youth. Before completing his studies he from 
time to time engaged in teaching, to secure the means necessarv for 
his future advancement, and thus developed a faculty and a taste 
which jirompted him to make the profession of teaching the business 
of his life. 

In 1842 he went to Augusta county, Va., where for the period of a 
year he taught a private school near Staunton. He then moved to 
Burkittsville, Frederick county, Md., where he remained in charge of a 
high school till the summer of 1849, when he returned to the State of 
New York with the view of visiting California, and on April 15, 1850, 
sailed from New York city in the steamer Empire City to Chagres, 
crossed the Isthmus, and sailed to San Francisco in the French barque 
Gustave, arriving in June, 1850. He immediately went to the South- 
ern mines, where he worked on the banks of the Mokalume river, 
being moderately successful. He was present at San Francisco at the 
celebration of the admission of the State into the Union, in October, 
1850. 

In the spring of 1851 he returned via Panama, and arrived in New 
York on the steamer Prometheus, the first built of the Vanderbilt 
line. He then visited Ohio with a view of going to Kentucky, and 
stopping in Cliampaign county taught school there till F'el)ruary, 
1852, when he went to Irvine, Estill county, Ky., and took charge of 
a seminary, opening his first session April 4, 1852. He remained in 
charge of this institution until the summer of 1857. In the meantime, 
Noven'ber 10, 1855, he was married to Mrs. Mary Park, widow of 
Elihu Park, and proprietress of the Park Hotel in Irvine. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 943 

In the fall of 1857 he moved with his family, composed of his wife 
and two step-sons, Thomas and Clay Park, to Phitte City, Mo., hav- 
ing been invited to take charge of the male academy in that town. 
Ho bronglit with him several slaves. 

November 2, 1857, he opened his first session of that institution, 
which continued to flourish under his able management till tiie 1)reak- 
ing out the War of the Rebellion, when, in consequence of his sym- 
pathy with the Confederate cause, he was forced to leave the State, 
and on going to Kansas he located in Atchison, where he remained 
till the close of the war, in the following year, wlien, at the earnest 
solicitation of those who had long appreciated his distinguished ability 
as a teacher, he returned to Phitte City, and assumed charge of the 
institution, then known as Platte City Female Academy, but now as 
Daughters' College, over wliich he has ever since presided, and where 
he now (1877) continues to maintain his well earned reputation. [At 
the present time (1885) he still holds this position.] 

Though raised by Quaker parents, he never identified himself with 
that " people." In the fall of 1858 he united with the Christian 
Church in Platte City, of which he has ever since been an active mem- 
ber, and of which he is now an elder. In early life he was a Whig 
in politics, but since 1856 has uniformly acted with the Democratic 
party. 

He was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in 
Kentucky. He joined the Masonic fraternity in Missouri, was initi- 
ated, passed and raised in 18G7 in Zerubbabel Lodge No. 191, in 
which he, at different times, held otEcial positions. He was, one 
year. High Priest of Melody Royal Arch Chapter, aud is also a mem- 
ber of Alpha Council of Royal and Select Masters. He was created 
a Knigiit Templar in Saint Bernai'd Commandery, in Platte City, soon 
after his exaltation in the Ciiapter. 

Prof. Gaylord is justly regarded as the pioneer in the cause of classi- 
cal education iu Nortliwest Missouri, and his success in elevating the 
standard of literary and scientific culture in tliat country is an ac- 
knowledge fact. Many of his students have achieved distinction in 
after life, as professional men, and filled with credit public positions 
of honor and trust. 

In person he is six feet two inches high, of powerful frame, and 
weighs 210 pounds. His social qualities are excellent, and his benev- 
olence and hospitality proverbial facts, which some in difl'erent 
States, educated by his lii)erality, are proud to attest. 

JOHN L. GOSNEY 

(Post-office, Linkville). 

Mr. Gosney, one of the oldest and most highly respected residents 
of Carroll township, is now in the sixty-ninth year of his age, having 
been born April 2U, 1816. His birthplace was Clark county, Ky., 
while his father, Richard Gosney, was originally from Loudoun 
county, Va. He was born in 1777, and after attaining manhood was 



944 HISTORY or platte county. 

manned to Miss Jane Lcckey, of Clark county, Va. The younger 
days of the subject of this memoir were passed without any material 
change from the ordinary routine of farm labors to which he had been 
brought up, though his education was not such as the common schools 
of this day afford. About the year 1856, or soon after his second 
marriage, he started West, and upon reaching Clay county remained 
there three years. Going on to Denver, Col., that continued to be 
his home for two years. During the war Mr. Gosney served in- 
the army under Col. Shivington for 100 days, participating in the 
massacre since known as the Shivington massacre, at Sand Creek, 
Kan. Returning to Platte county in 1865, Mr. Gosney resumed his 
farming operations in which he has been quite successful. In 1843 
he was married to Miss Harriet A. Lyon, a native of Shelby county, 
Ky., born in 1822. She died in 1849, leaving two children. In 
1855 his second marriage occurred. Miss Rhoda Harper becoming 
his wife. She was from Fayette county, Ky., but died March 15, 
1883, leaving six children : George H., boru August 31, 1858 ; Bet- 
tie, born November 14, 1859, and wife of John Young, of this county ; 
Richard, born June 9, 1861 ; Susan R., born December 4,1863 ; Hub- 
bard K., born December 5, 1869, and Robert H., born Decembers, 
1871. Mr. Gosney's first wife belonged to the Episcopal Church, 
and his second wife was connected with the Christian denomination. 
She was most active in all benevolent and charitable movements, and 
warmly devoted to the cause of Christianity. Her loss was a severe 
one to her affectionate husband and loving family. Mr. Gosney is 
the owner of 100 aci'es of land. Politically he is a Democrat. 

THOMAS C. HAMMOND, M. D. 

(Physician and Farmer, Section 22, Post-offlce, Platte City). 

In presenting in this work brief biographical sketches of the {)ro- 
niinent citizens of Platte county, among these, in the medical profes- 
sion, is very properly given a short sketch of the life of Dr. Ham- 
mond, and of his identification with the county, both as a physician 
and surgeon and farmer. His father, T. C. Hammond, a prominent 
military man, and as brave a soldier as ever enlisted in any army, 
was a native of Maryland, where he grew to manhood. He was edu- 
cated at West Point Military Academy and was a first lieutenant in 
the I'egnlar army, subsequently being killed in the Mexican War at 
the battle of San Pasqual, soon after the birth of his son. Quite a 
romance and one of much interest to those so deeply concerned in it 
was his marriage, clandestinely, the marriage ceremony being per- 
formed on horseback at Pilot Knob, near Ft. Leavenworth, Kan. 
After this Lieut. Hammond was stationed at Leavenworth, but in 
1846 met his death, as above mentioned. The maiden name of his 
wife was Miss Mary Hughes, of North Carolina, though she was reared 
in this county, and sometime after the death of her Imsband she 
became the wife of Dr. Rixey, l)y whom she had one child, Richard 
Hughes Rixey. Young Hammond was brought up by his step-father, 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 945 

who did a good part by him in his early training. He received an 
e.xcellent education, having attended school at Camden Point, Leb- 
banon, and Lancaster, Pa., prosecuting such branches of study as 
he rightly believed to be of the most practical benefit to him in later 
years. Early displaying the genius for the science of medicine and 
having a fixed resolution to ultimately devote himself to the medical 
profession, he studied under Dr. Rixey, and after two years of study 
at the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia, he was graduated in 
1869. After this he located on his farm, and since that time has been 
occupied in conducting it in addition to practicing his profession. 
He owns 480 acres of land, nearly all in cultivation, though it was 
almost a wilderness when he located' on it. The improvements upon 
it are the result of his own energy and industry. Two hundred acres 
of this tract wei'e entered by his grandfather Hughes, and a deed has 
never been made of that part of the farm, it being entailed. Dr. 
Hammond is now in his thirty-ninth year, having been born at Bee 
Creek Mills, May 22, 1846. February 14, 1869, he was married in 
Philadelphia to Miss Ella Upham, daughter of Abijah and Frances 
Upham, of that city, where Mrs. H. was born and reared and edu- 
cated. They have six children : Samuel R., Richard H., A. E., 
Mary, Lilian and an infant daughter. They have lost two children, 
one three years old and the other in infancy. Mrs. Hammond is a mem- 
ber of the Missionary Baptist Church. Dr. Hammond's name is well 
known in Carroll township, and throughout the surrounding country 
as that of a conscientious and successful physician and highly es- 
teemed citizen. 

CAPT. R. N. HARRINGTON 

CPlatte City) . 

Comparison of ages :imoug those to those to the " manor born " dis- 
closes Capt. R. N. Harrington, of Platte City, the " first born " in the 
county after it was thrown open for settlement, the event occurring at 
a " pre-emption cabin " on the premises now belonging to E. J. Mil- 
ler, Esq., on the 24th of July, 1837. His life has been spen there with 
the exception of short intervals. He attended the schools of the 
neighborhood, and the academy at Camden Point, completing his 
education at Sugar Tree Grove Academy, in Clay county. Mo. He 
studied and practiced law from 1857 to 1861 with good success. His 
excellent qualifications secured for him the offices of city attorney of 
Platte City and school commissioner of the count}'^ within this period. 

Starting out loyal to the old flag, and failing to realize the promises 
of the government in waging a war for the integrity of the Union, 
upon Gen. Fremont freeing tiie negroes in Missouri upon one stroke 
of his pen, he joined his Southern brethren in their noble cause of 
self-defense, rising to the captaincy of a company and commanding it 
at the hard struggle of Pea Ridge with skill and daring. His health 
failing from the hardships of climate and military life, he returned, 
leaving a brother and step-brother as a sacrifice of the family's con- 



946 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

tributiou, William Harrington being killed at Port Gibson and Capt. 
J. B. Clark at Baker's Creek, in May, 1862. 

In 1864 he was married to Miss Laura, a daughter of Capt. Andrew 
Johnson. Mr. H. was for a time engaged in the milling business, 
but owing to inexperience in this avocation the result was very 
unsatisfactory, and he lost a fine property. When disaster came they 
did not shelter themselves under the " rights " of the wife, but let all 
go for the satisfaction of creditors. 

The last twci years he has lived at the county seat that his two sons 
might have better school facilities, and he engages in literary pursuits. 

JAMES ■ HODGES 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Secton 12, Post-offlce, Platte City). 

Mr. Hodges was a young man 26 years of age when he came to 
Missouri with his parents, in 1851, having grown to manhood in Ful- 
ton county, Ky., where he was born on the 7th of October, 1825. 
His father, Samuel Hodges, a Virginian by birth, went to Kentucky 
in an early day, where he married Nancy Ro1)erts of that State. He 
was^i characteristic pioneer settler of that then territory, and served 
with distinguished bravery and valor in the War of 1812. In the 
spring of 1851 he moved his family to Missouri and located in Platte 
county, where he bought land and improved a farm and resided upon 
it until his death in 1875. His wife died in January, 1883. James 
Hodges, a worthy son of this family, remained on the home place un- 
til his marriage, when, Noveml)er 24, 1853, Miss Melissa Magill, a 
daughter of David Magill, originally from Tennessee, and one of the 
early settlers of Clay county, became his wife. Mrs. Hodges was 
born in Clay county, but was reared in Platte. After his marriage 
Mr. Hodges bought land and located on the farm, which he has since 
occupied, about eight miles southeast of Platte City. Here he has 
200 acres partly cultivated and the balance in pasture and timbered 
land, and upon his home farm is a good residence and other necessary 
buildings. He has one child, Nannie E., wife of John B. Moore, who 
is on the place with his father-in-law. Mr. and Mrs. Hodges are 
members of the Presbyterian Church. He was formerly a Mason, but 
is now too aged to attend lodge. He is, in truth, one of the highly 
respected and honored citizens of this county. 

COLLINS B. HODGES 

(Farmer, Post-offlce, Linkville). 

Mr. Hodges' farm, containing 175 acres, while not as large as many 
within the limits of Platte county, is well improved, and in a manner 
which indicates the successful agriculturist. He has ever been most 
thorough in all his farming operations, and these, combined with en- 
ergy ami perseverance, have placed him in a prominent position among 
the tillers of the soil here. Mr. H. was born of the marriage of Sam- 
uel and Nancy (Cane) Hodges, which occurred in 1820, his parents 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 947 

both being natives of Norfolk county, Va. There were nine children 
in the family besides Collins: Charles B., Jessie, James J., Katie, 
Arena, Nancy, Letitia, Rnfiis T. and Finis E. Samuel Hodges was a 
participant in the War of 1812, and at his death, which occurred in 
1S75, had reached a good old age, having been born in 1798. His 
widow died in 1882. Politically he was a Democrat, and he and his 
wife were both members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. 
Collins B. Hodges was born in Fulton county. Ivy., June 22, 1842. 
He made that State his home until 1851, when he came to Platte 
county. Mo., purchasing the farm which he now occupies, and where 
he commenced farming and stf)ck-raising. He remained on the home 
farm until the death of his father, Init in the meantime, in 1873, had 
married, in OI)ion county, Tenn., Sarah P. Harpole, daughter of Wil- 
son P. and Millie B. Harpole, nee Fowler, the former born May 4, 
1822, and the latter in 1831. Mrs. H. was the eldest of six chiUlren, 
the others being Andrew J., Finis E., John A., Emma E. and Maggie 
L. To Mr. and jNIrs. Hodges have been born a family of four chil- 
dren, viz. : Millie V., born March 29, 1876 ; James S., born December 
6, 1878 ; Nancy, born July 31, 1871, and Wilson, an interesting little 
fellow, the date of whose birth is August 12, 1884. Mr. Hodges is a 
member of the Masonic fraternity, and he and his wife belong to the 
Cumberland Church, as do also the parents of his wife. He is well 
respected in the community where he has so long made his home. 

STEPHEN JOHNSTON 

(Of Johnstoa Brothers, Dualers in Dry Goods, Etc., Platte City). 

Mr. Johnston may be said to have been reared to the business in 
which he is now engaged. His father before him, Stephen Johnston, 
Sr., was an old and successful merchant of Platte City, one of the 
first to engage in business here, and he continued merchandising at 
this place until about the close of the late war, when his mercantile 
career was closed on account of failing health. He died soon after- 
wards, in the fall of 1865. He was strictly a business man and 
allowed nothing to divert him from his business affairs, neither politics 
nor any of the other interests which often draw men off from their 
regular pursuits. He was twice married. His first wife was a Miss 
Malinda D. Clark, a daughter of the late Judge Clark, of Boonville. 
His second wife, whose maiden name was George Anna Boyd, was a 
daughter of Judge J. R. Boyd, of Tennessee. By his first wife there 
were three children. Four children were the fruits of his second 
marriage. Stephen Johnston, the subject of the present sketch, was 
the youngest child in the first family, and was born in this county, 
near Platte City, June 6, 1851. Reared in Platte City, he was prin- 
cipally educated at Prof. Gavlord's Seminary. Coming up an assist- 
ant in his father's store, he learned the business of merchandising 
thoroughly, and on the 25th of July, 1878, was married to Miss Ida 
M. Clay, daughter of Thomas H. Clay, of Platte county. After his 
marriage I\Ir. Johnston located at Edgerton and engaged in merchan- 



948 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

dising on his own account. He continued there until the spring of 
1884, when he sold out and bought an interest in the present store 
with his brother Charles, a son of their father by his second marriage. 
The INIessrs. Johnston Brothers carry a large stock of dry goods and 
other goods of kindred lines usually found in a first-class country 
dry goods store, and are doing an excellent business. Mr. Johnston 
is a member of the Odd Fellows' Order, and he and brother are 
members of the Christian Church. On the 31st of November, 1881,- 
he had the misfortune to lose his excellent and devoted wife. She 
left him two children at her death, Mittie M. and Thomas H. C. 

JAMES H. JONES 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Platte City) . 

James H. Jones was born in Montgomery county, Ky., January 
26, 1837. His father, David Jones, was numbered among the early 
settlers of Bath county, Ky., from Virginia. David Jones was born 
and reared in Kentucky and made iiis permanent home in Montgom- 
ery county, where he resided until his death in 18(51. He was a farmer 
by occupation and was fairly successful. His wife was a Miss Mary 
Jamison before her marriage. James H. Jones was reared in Mont- 
gomery county, and in 1861 enlisted in the Southern service under 
Col. Duke, of Morgan's command. He was with Morgan in all the 
latter's raids, including the one in Ohio and Indiana. He was in a 
number of deadly engagements. After coming from Oliio, he was 
taken prisoner in Bath county, Ky., and held a prisoner in Louisville 
for 16 months, being afterwards conlineti at Camp Cliase for four 
months, or until the close of the war. Returning tlien to Kentucky, 
he made his home there until the fall of 1869, when he removed to 
Missouri with his family au'l settled where lie now resides, five miles 
southeast of Platte City. Mr. Jones has a fine place of 560 acres, 
all under fence and either in cultivation or pasturage. This includes 
a fine tract of 200 acres of blue grass pasture. October 9, 1860, Mr. 
Jones was married to Miss Fannie Reagan, of Montgomery county, 
Ky., a daughter of William Reagan, formerly of Virginia. Mr. and 
Mrs. Jones have had but one child, a son, William Z., who is now 
grown and married, and is engaged in farming with his father on his 
homestead. His wife's maiden name was Miss Fannie Oldham. She 
was a daughter of F. M. Oldham, of this county, and before her mar- 
riage was a successfid and popular teacher in Platte count}'. 

FRED KRAUSE 

(Proprietor of the Platte City Meat Marliet, Farmer and Stock-feeder.; 

Mr. K. is a native of Germany, born in the town of Langensalza, 
March 22, 1837, in the empire of Prussia. He was the fourth son of 
Gottlieb and Augusta Krause, of that town, where he received a com- 
mon school education. His father, being a veteran of the war be- 
tween France and Russia, under Napoleon Bonaparte, was one of the 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 949 

few survivors who escaped from Moscow. Returning to Germany 
after the war, he married the mother of Mr. Krause, Augusta Hesse 
(born March 18, 1800), in Langensalza, in 1822, they raising a large 
family of five hoys and three girls. The father of the family came 
to America in 1839 to seek a new home for his family. He located 
in St. Charles countjs Mo. In 1847 he sold out to go back to Ger- 
many after his family by the way of Baltimore. He was robbed of 
his trunk and contents and left penniless, was taken sick and died in 
Baltimore in 1849. The mother of Mr. Krause, a woman of great 
industry and perseverance, then sold out her possessions in Germany 
and emigrated with the rest of her family to America, and located in 
Baltimore in the fall of 1852. Mr. Krause, after serving his appren- 
ticeship at the butcher business, came West in 1855 and worked in St. 
Louis until 1857. Then he went to New Orleans on the steamer 
Planet as a deck hand. Finding the climate too warm he went north 
again and stopped at Memphis, Tenn., where he obtained a situation 
as butcher with the firm ot'Duvall, Alger & Co., to supply the steam- 
boats with meat that carried the cotton from that place to New Orleans. 
In the spring of 18(50, while the political heavens in the South were 
beginning to become warm, Mr. Krause, by the advice of some rela- 
tives living in Leavenworth, Kan., came west to that phice with the 
intention of starting into business ; but as the outlook at that time 
wiis very gloomy in Leavenworth, he crossed the Missouri river and 
settled in Platte City and started a meat market. In the winter of 
1861-62, under the preaching of Moses E. Lard, he joined the Chris- 
tian Church and has been a constant member of that church since. 
May 10, 1863, he was married to Elizat)eth Christy, daughter of 
James M. Christy, a prominent farmer near Platte City. His wife 
died in August, 1864, from that dreadful disease, flux, which at that 
time claimed a great many victims in this neighborhood. Septeml)er 
26, 1866, he was married again to Miss Nannie A. Duncan, daughter of 
George B. Duncan, of Clinton county. Mo. In the spring of 1873 he re- 
ceived a commission from Gov. Silas Woodson, of the State of Missouri, 
as one of the Commissioners to the World's Exposition, then held at 
Vienna, in Austria. He left his home May 10, 1873, and was absent 
for about four months. Upon returning he resumed his usual occu- 
pation. Mr. Krause has a family of seven children, six girls and one 
boy, who are all well provided for : he has, by his industry, con- 
stancy, sobriety and energy, secured for himself and family a nice 
home in the city and a good farm of 250 acres of the choicest land in 
Platte county, well improved, three miles east of Platte City, and 
an income which, by good management, will keep him above want. 

DAVID J. LINK 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section 24,T()Wuslup 52, Rauge 34, Post-offlce, Linlsville). 

In 1850 Mr. Link was drawn into that tide of Western emigrants 
bound for the gold fields of California, and, in company with John C. 
Berry, Israel Cook, M. Spicer and others, was 110 days on the road. 



950 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

After spending about twelve months in the mines in seeking for the 
deep hidden treasures of the earth he returned by the Nicaraugua 
route on the steamship that went that way, going around of course 
by New York city. Returning to this county he settled on the place 
which he had occupied before going to California, and now lives in 
the house which he built in 1847. He has added to his original 
structure until his residence is one of the neatest and most substan- 
tial in the township, his farm, which embraces 160 acres, having- 
upon it the necessary outbuildings. Besides this he has 110 acres 
in two other places. Mr. Link was actively and successfully en- 
gaged in farming until the outbreak of the war, when he enlisted 
under Jackson's call in 1861, and subsequently became a member 
of a regular Confederate regiment, serving until the close of the 
war. Part of the time he was in both the infantry and cavalry, 
during the latter part of the war being occupied on detached duty 
in the quartermaster's department. He participated in many engage- 
ments, hotly and bitterly contested, among which were those of Lex- 
ington, Sugar Creek and Little Rock. After the close of the war he 
returned to his home. Mr. Link was originally from Bourbon county, 
Ky., born February 28, 1827. He was a son of Israel Link, of the 
same county, whose father, a Virginian by birth, had settled in Ken- 
tucky in 1800, among the primitive days of the State. 

Israel Link, who was born March 4, 1803, married Miss Elizabeth 
C. Hufford, of Scott county, K}'. In 1840 the family removed to 
Missouri, locating at first in Clay county, but in about two years set- 
tled in Platte county, on the present site of Linkville, where he en- 
tered land and improved a farm, residing here until his death, 
February 25, 1879. David J. was 13 years old when his parents came 
to this State, but was reared here and received a good common school 
education. In 1850, as above stated, he went to California. Before 
this, however, November 23, 1847, he was married to Miss Matilda 
E. Lampton, daughter of Benjamin L. Lampton, formerly from Clark 
county, Ky. She died here August 4, 1876, leaving four children : 
Elizabeth, wife of George Jameson, of California; Benjamin, mar- 
ried, and in this county ; Lottie E., wife of .lolin Hartley, of Platte 
county, and Eli Lampton, 19 years of age. December 14, 1884, Mr. 
Link was married near Parkville to Mrs. Emma Richardson, formerly 
the wife of Dr. Alonzo M. Richardson, and daughter of Jesse Sum- 
mers. She was born and reared in Fleming county, Ky., and had 
one daughter by her former marriage: Elizabeth, wife of Willartl 
Baldwin. He and his wife are meml)ers of the Christian Church. 
Mr. Link belongs to the Masonic fraternity, being a member of Loilge, 
No. 504, A. F.7xnd A. M., at Platte City, Mo. 

JAMES M. LITTLEJOHN 

(Farmer, Contractor autl Builder, Section 1, Post-ofBce, Platte City). 

Mr. Littlejohn, a veteran of two wars, and not without prominence 
in the community in which he resides, was born in Masou county, 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 951 

Ky., July 19, 1830. His father, Daniel Littlejohii, a Virginian by 
birth, was the son of Aaron Littiejohn, of the same State, who, while 
serving in the War of 1812, received a wound from the effects of 
which he died at Alexandria, Va. Daniel, when a child, accompanied 
his mother to Springville, Ky., and was married in that vicinity to 
Miss Cynthia Thon:pson, of that State, l)ut of Scotch descent. The 
senior Littiejohn was a tanner by trade, and after working at that 
business for many j'ears, moved to Southern Illinois and settled on a 
farm. His widow still resides in that State, in Pulaski county. 
James M. grew to manhood in Mason county, where he had the ad- 
vantages of the common schools in which to acquire an education, and 
at the age of fourteen he apprenticed himself to learn the contractf)r's 
and builder's trade, working in that manner for three years. In 1847 
he enlisted under Capt. Leonidas Metcalf, in Co. E, Third Ken- 
tucky Volunteer infantry, for the Mexican War, and as a brave 
soldier participated in the siege of Pueblo. He was in the service 
for one year, and when the treaty was made and peace declared he 
was at the City of Mexico. Returning home, Mr. Littiejohn was 
engaged in carpentering until the winter of 1850, when he came to 
Missouri, and for three years followed his trade at St. Joseph. In 
1853 he commenced his chosen calling at Camden Point, this county, 
which he followed until the breaking out of the Civil War. 

In 18(31 he became a member of Capt. VV. B. Chiles' company of Col . 
John Winston's regiment, and was soon placed in the quartermaster's 
department, receiving his discharge upon the disorganization of Jack- 
son's men. Entering the regular Confederate service, he was now 
appointed recruiting officer by Col. John T. Hughes, and shortly after 
was taken prisoner in Southern Missouri, being paroled in a few da3's. 
He now came home, but in 1863 liecame engaged in freighting across 
the plains to Colorado, Salt Lake and New Mexico. After the close 
of the war Mr. Littlejf)hn returned to Platte county, and has since 
been occupied in contracting and building in connection with farming. 
.'Vbout 1870 he moved upon his present farm, a good place of 145 
acres, well improved. March 4, 185(!, he was married to ^Nliss Bettie 
J. PuUins, daughter of William Pullins, formerly from Madison 
county, K}'. Mrs. L., born there, was partly educated at Richmond, 
and is a lady of superior intellectual worth. She is related to three 
[irominent families of Kentucky — the Walkei's, Watts and Turners — 
and is a cousin of Col. Elijah Gates, of Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. 
Littiejohn have four children : Dora, James M., Cynthia A. and Liz- 
zie W. Mr. L. is an Ancient Odd Fellow. His wife is a member of 
the Christian Church. 

STEPHEN McCOMAS 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section 26, Post-oflJce, Platte City) . 

Mr. McComas, a man of no small acquaintance and of deserved 
influence in the material a-flairs of the vicinity in which ho makes his 
home, is a brother to Sanders McComas, mention of whom is made 

55 



952 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

elsewhere, aiul was born January 4, 1835, in Cabell county, W. Va., 
a son of Burke and Nancy (Heath) McComas, both also Virginians 
by birth. In December, 1840, the family having decided to come on 
westward, located in Missouri, taking up their permanent residence in 
Platte county, and upon the place where they now reside, in 1848. 
Burke McComas first settled in the Platte and Missouri river bottoms, 
but losing a great deal of property by the flood of 1844, he moved to 
Preston township, two and a half miles southwest of Ridgely. He- 
is now 74 years of age, a well preserved, hearty old gentleman, who 
bids fair to see many more j'ears. His worthy wife died in July, 
1871. Like most of the youths at that time, Stephen McComas 
passed his younger days in tending the home farm, and receiving tlie 
rudiments of an elementary education. Subsequently, on March 20, 
1855, when in his twenty-first year, he was married to Miss Virginia 
Bird, daughter of William and Mary Bird, nee Shafer, her parents 
having been among the early settlers of this county. She was born 
in Clay county, though brought up in Platte. In 1857 Mr. McComas 
went to Kansas and while there pre-empted land in Jackson county, 
where he made his home for 18 months, then selling out and returning 
home. In 1860 he fell a victim to that most natural disease — gold 
fever — and went to Pike's Peak, but one season satisfied him of his 
desire to accumulate property in that manner. From 1874 for three 
years he resided in Leavenworth, Kan., and in 1877 once more came 
back to the county in which his j'outh and earl}' manhood had been 
spent. He owns 160 acres of laud, well improved with all necessary 
appurtenances. One of the interests to which he has devoted much 
attention is that pertaining to machinery, for in addition to carrying 
on his usual farming operations he conducts a thrashing machine, 
and has done so for nearly 20 years. Besides this he runs most suc- 
cessfully a saw mill with a portable engine, cutting on an average about 
300,000 feet of lumber annually. His thrashing will amount to from 
25,000 to 30,000 bushels of grain each season. Mr. and Mrs. Mc- 
Comas have reared seven children : William, married, and in this 
county ; Katie, wife of T. B. Flannery, also of this county ; Jefferson 
D., married ; Melvina, now Mrs. Charles Chinn ; Thomas J., mar- 
ried ; John B. and James at home. The oldest child, Mary F., died 
in 1874, while the wife of William Daugherty ; Emily died in her 
eleventh year, and Charlie died when 11 months old. 

SANDERS W. McCOMAS 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser and Dealer, Section 24, Post-offlce, Platte City). 

As mentioned in the sketch of Stephen McComas, which precedes 
this, there came to Missouri about the year 1840, Burke McComas 
and his wife Nancy, »e'e Heath, both origiuall}^ from Cabell county, 
Va. Thg former has been a farmer by occupation during his life, and 
though somewhat retired at the present tiuie, he takes much interest 
in agricultural affairs. Sanders W. McComas was one of tlie family 
of children born of the marriage of Burke McComas and Nancy Heath ; 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 953 

his birth occurred on the 2(1 of Jamuiry, 1841, and he is a native of 
Platte county. Having grown up within its boundaries, he has very 
naturally become prominently and closely identified with its material 
progress. In youtli he was denied the privileges of more than a limited 
education, but by self application and close examination of the means 
afforded, as well as by great reading in later years, it is but the truth 
to say that he has become one of the foremost men in educational 
matters in the State. He is well posted on the current events of the 
day also. In December, 1861, Mr. INIcComas enlisted under Col. 
Hall in the cavalry service of the Missouri State militia, and was mus- 
tered out at St. Louis, February 14, 1865, as second sergeant. He 
participated in the fight at Newton, Mo., and in several skirmishes, 
among others those at Jefferson City and Springfield, besides pur- 
suing Price and Joe Shelby on tlieir raids through the State. Upon 
returning home he was married in Howard county, February 18, 1868, 
to Miss Lucy Heath, daughter of Judge Wm. R. Heath, of Howard 
county, where Mrs. McComas was born and reared. Previous to this, 
however, Mr. McComas had purchased a farm to which he now re- 
moved, the one which he now occupies. This contains a quarter sec- 
tion of excellent land, and upon it are good improvements, residence, 
barns, etc. For some time he has been interested in buying and 
shipping stock, his shipments amounting to about 100 car loads annu- 
ally. In his political preferences he is Republican, though his broth- 
ers are all followers of the Democratic party. To himself and wife 
have been given four children : Luella, William R., Lizzie and Dol- 
lie. Mr. and Mrs. McComas are Methodist in their church tendencies. 
The former is an Ancient Odd Fellow. 

WILLIAM H. McMONIGLE 

(Farmer aud Riisier aud Dealer iu Stock, Post-offlce, Liukville). 

Mr. McMonigle's father, Aaron B. McMonigle, came to Platte 
county in 1853, and soon l)ecame a successful and well to do farmer 
and stock-raiser of this locality, being respected l)y all who knew him. 
He remained here until 1877, when he moved to Jackson county. Mo., 
and three years later to Stone count}', where he now makes his home. 
He was born in Estill county, Ky., in 1833, and in 1849 was married 
to Sarah J. Allison, also a Kentuckian l>y birth, born in 1834. They 
remained there until coming to this county, as mentioned above. To 
them were born six children: Milton A., born August 29, 1850, and 
now engaged in farming and the cattle business in Stone county ; 
Joseph F., born May 20, 1861, and also occupied in raising cattle in 
Stone countv ; James M., born December 18, 1867, at home with his 
father; Edgar A., born February 14, 1869 ; Ollie B., born July 29, 
1871, and William H., the subject of this sketch, who was born in 
Estill county, Ky., July 29, 1852. He came to this county with his 
parents on their removal here, and has since made his home within its 
boundaries, a period now of over 30 years. During this time he has 
l)een interested in agricultural pursuits, and also to some extent ia 



954 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

cattle. His landed estate embraces 240 acres, well improved and 
under cultivation, and upon it are good graded stock, more particularly 
cattle. January 6, 1880, Mr. McMonigle was married to Miss Letitia 
Hodges, originally from Kentucky. She accompanied her parents to 
Platte county in 1851, and has since lived here. Mr. McM. belongs 
to the Christian Church, and his wife to the Presbyterian denomina- 
tion. In politics he is a stanch Democrat. 

GEORGE AIASON 

(Of Mason & Flannery, Dealers in Groceries, Etc., Platte City). 

Among the old and respected families of Platte county is the one 
whose name is borne by the subject of the i)resent sketch. Mr. Ma- 
son's father, Roi)ert F. Mason, came to this county from Kentucky in 
an early day. He was a merchant by occupation, and for many years 
was engaged in business at Platte City. He still resides in this county. 
His wife was a Miss Dorcas Stigers, who was born and reared in Ohio. 
She is also still living. George Mason, the subject of this sketch, was 
born in Platte county August 31, 1847. Principally reared at Platte 
City, he received a good, practical education at Prof. Gaylord's acad- 
emy, and his father being a merchant by occupation, he also learned 
merchandising as he grew up. In 1877 Mr. Mason, Jr., engaged in 
business at Platte City on his own account, and two years later the 
present partnership was formed. Messrs. Mason & Flannery have a 
large stock of provisions, groceries, glassware, queens ware, etc., etc., 
and do an annual business of about $30,000. Of Mr. Flannery men- 
tion has been made in a former sketch. Mr. Mason, it is hardly 
necessary to remark here, so well is he generally known in the county, 
is a man of superior business qualifications and sterling character. 
He has every apparent promise of a successful future. 

CAPT. W. JACKSON MILLER 

(Retired Agriculturist and Merchant, Platte City). 

For nearly thirty-five 3'ears, or sinc(5 1851, with the exception of a 
short time during the war, Mr. Miller has been a resident of Platte 
county. He has been one of the active, energetic men of the county, 
one of that class of its citizens'who have l^een mainly instrumental in 
building it up and making it what it is to-day — one of the prosperous 
and leading counties of the State. By his industry and enterprise he 
had succeeded ])efore the war in amassing a comfortable property. 
But the vicissitudes and mistbrtunes of the war brought heavy losses 
upon him, so that when it closed he had, practically, to begin life 
anew. The same qualities, however, that made him successful prior 
to the war have borne similar fruits since, and for a second time in lite 
he has succeeded in placing himself in comfortable circumstances. 
He is now retired on an ample competence to spend the remainder of 
his days in ease and contentment. But, unfortunately, just as his out- 
look for the Indian summer of life seemed most pleasant and gratify- 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 955 

ino;, a heavy misfortune fell upon him. the heaviest oue is ever called 
upon to bear. His siood wife, the partner of his joys and sorrows for 
nearly half a century, was called away by death. She had been by 
his side from the time when they were both young and bright and 
happy with the prospects of the future, thrcnigh all the sunshine and 
the shadows that fell across their pathway until the twilight of old age 
began to approach, and through all these long years she proved her- 
self to be one of the truest and most devoted of women, a gentle and 
loving wife and a tender, self-sacrificing mother. Her whole happiness 
in this world seemed to be centered in her family and friends, and ap- 
parently their comfort and pleasure were the objects of her undivided 
solicitude. No kinder and truer wife and mother and friend ever fell 
to sleep in death than when Lucy M. Miller died, Novemlier 22, 1884. 
Though gone to return no more, the memory of her gentle, true life 
still lingers among those who knew her and loved her like tiie halo of 
a sweet dream. 

Capt. Miller is a Virginian by nativity, born Novembor 18, 1818. 
His father was a Virginian by Iiirth, hut his father, John Miller, was 
originally from Penns3dvania. His mother, who was a Miss Jane 
Jackson before her marriage, was born and reared in the Old Do- 
minion. They made their permanent home in Virginia, where each 
lived to reach a ripe old age. Capt. Miller was reared in Rappahan- 
nock, and on the 7th of May, 1840, was married to Miss Lucy M. 
Miller, whose death has ali-eady been mentioned — a daughter of Jesse 
Miller. Mr. Miller, reared on a farm, made farming his regular occu- 
l^ation for many years. In 1851 he removed to Missouri, and located 
in Platte county. Here he engaged in farming near Platte City, 
where he bought land and also followed raising and dealing in stock. 
On the outbreak of the war, early in 1861, he enlisted in Col. Win- 
ston's regiment of the Southern service, becoming captain of a com- 
pany. He served until after the expiration of his term of service, 
and during that time participated in the battle of Pea Ridge and 
several of less importance. Subsequently Capt. Miller went to Ne- 
braska City and engaged in the wholesale grocery trade, which he 
followed until the close of the war. After the war he returned to 
Platte county and resumed farming and handling stock. In 1872 he 
established a stock ranch in Colorado, which he carried on with excel- 
lent success until 1880, when he sold out at a handsome profit. He 
is now silent partner in the firm of Blakeley & Co., of Platte City, 
one of the leading dry goods houses in the place. Capt. Miller lost 
about $20,000 by the war, but much of this he has made good by 
profitable industry and enterprise since. Capt. Miller and his good 
wife were Ijlessed with a family of nine children: Jane H., wife of 
Thomas R. Darnell ; Jessie A., who died at the age of 14 ; John E., 
Mortimer M., William E., Fannie W., wife of Jesse Blakele\' ; Gideon 
T., Jesse B. and Joseph J. Capt. Miller is a member of the Baptist 
Church. He has been a member of the Masonic Order for man}^ 
years, and is a prominent man in that Order. He came out to Mis- 
souri on a prospecting tour as early as 1839, and was here when the 



956 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

site of Kansas City was a wilderness, and there were few settlers in 
all this region of country. He made the trip to this State by wagon, 
before the day of railroads, and was fifty-three days on the road. 

J. EDGAR MILLER 

(Farmer and Breeder and Dealer of Hereford Cattle, Post-offlce, Platte City). 

The stock business in this county has come to be one of the most 
prominent industries within its limits, and to those who introduced it 
here much ci'edit is due for the interest which they manifested in 
striving to promote what in later years has become a prominent feature 
of agricultural life. Greater credit, however, sliould be given those 
who have tried to make a specialty of fine stock raising, and with the 
latter class Mr. Miller is deserving a prominent place. He embarked 
in this business in December, 1882, with one fine male animal, until 
he now has a herd of 25 excellent Hereford cattle, at the head of 
which is a fine two-year-old, the Duke of Marlow, registered in the 
American Herd Book as number 6500, bred by T. L. Miller, of 
Beecher, 111. In addition to this he has a number of young cattle, 
three-fourths blooded stock. Mr. Miller was born in Rappahannock 
county, Va., February 3, 1847. His father was Capt. W. J. Miller, 
an extended account of whose life is given elsewhere in this volume. 
Young Miller was brought up as a farmer boy and received a good 
education, principally at Nebraska City. In 1872 he went West to 
Colorado, and was engaged in ranching there and in New Mexico and 
the Indian Territory until 1882. He achieved more than ordinary 
success in the stock business, but at the time above mentioned disposed 
of his interests and retired, buying the old homestead of his father, a 
place of 200 acres of land in grass and cultivation ; 60 acres in addi- 
tion are devoted to timber. The necessary improvements which char- 
acterize the farmer of energy and progressive ideas might be found 
upon his place. Mr. Miller was married in Danville, Ky., Deceml)er 
7, 1882, to Miss Susie E. Clarke, a daughter of Joseph and Jane T. 
(Clark) Clarke. She was born in Platte county, Mo., but went to 
Kentucky in 1865, and remained there until her marriage. Mr. M. 
i-esides on section 20 of this township. He and wife are members of 
the Baptist Church at Elm Grove. 

WILLIAM E. MILLER 

(Of Bnrruss & Miller's Livery Stable, Platte City) . 

Mr. Miller was born in Platte county. May 19, 1852. His parents, 
W. J. and Lucy Miller, were natives of Virginia, and came to Platte 
county in 1851 and settled eight miles south of Platte City, wiiere his 
father still lives, his mother having died November 22, 1884. William 
E. was reared on his father's farm and followed it as an avocation 
until 1874, when he went to Colorado and for several years was en- 
gaged in the cattle business, and in which he was very successful. In 
1883 he formed a partnership with Mr. Bnrruss in his present business. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 957 

The firm are doing a good business in the liveiy line, and their stables 
are both popular with the local and traveling public ^Ir. Miller was 
married February 4, 1885, to Miss Dulcie George, a daughter of E. 
E. and V. A. George, of Virginia. 

WILLIAM T. NELSON 

(Of Thora.as & Nelson, Editors aad Proprietors of the Argxis, Platte City). 

INIr. Nelson was about 13 years of age when he began at the print- 
er's trade, in 1870. That was at Maryville, in Nodaway county, at 
which place he was born, October 22, 1857. He entered the office of 
the Maryville HejntbUcan, in which he continued for a short time, and 
acquired his trade in the Nodaway Democrat, office. Subsequently he 
attended the INIaryville high school for about two years, and then 
i-esumed his trade. In 1878 young Mr. Nelson went to Leavenworth 
and obtained a situation as compositor in the Times office. After 
two years spent there, he came to Platte City and went to worli in 
the office of the Landmark. A few months later he was einploved 
as foreman of the Advocate, which afterwards became consolidated 
with the Landmarh. Mr. Nelson continued with the Landmark 
until he became connected with the Arf/iis, in the spring of 1884. 
The following fall he bought an interest in the paper, and has been 
associated with Mr. Thomas in its publication ever since. The suc- 
cess they have had in the publication and building up of the Argus 
has already been spoken of in the sketch of Mr. Thomas, which 
appears elsewhere. April 18, 1882, Mr. Nelson was married to Miss 
Carrie W. Beery, a daughter of Jeremiah Beery, of Platte City. 
They have one child. Alpha Foristine, born May 8, 1883. Mr. Nel- 
son's parents are Henry H. and Mary C. (Stiff) Nelson, both origi- 
nally from Virginia. They removed to Missouri in the spring of 
1856 and settled in Nodaway county. Tiie father was marshal of 
Maryville and constable of Polk township for a number of years. 
The mother died in the spring of 1879. William T., the subject of 
this sketch, was the youngest of three children, and was educated at 
the Maryville high school. 

MRS. SARAH A. NUNNELLY 

(Post-office, Linkville). 

The father and mother of Mrs. Nunnelly, Robert and Catharine 
Scarce, were Virginians by birth, and the former, during his life, was 
engaged in the occujiation of farming. After becoming a citizen of 
Kentucky he remained there until his death, at that time owning 200 
acres of land. He and his wife were both connected with the Chris- 
tian Church. One of the children l)orn of this union was Sarah A. 
Scarce, on April 28, 1818, and her birthplace was in the State of 
Kentucky. Her paternal grandparents were James and Henrietta 
Scarce. Sarah A. made her home in the State of her birth until her 
marriage there September 13, 1840, to Mr. Washington Nunnelly, 



958 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

who was boni January 3, 1810. Two weeks after this event this 
happy cou|)le started for a location further west, and upon coming 
into Missouri concluded to settle in Cla\' county, near Liberty. There 
they remained eight years, after which time Mr. N. purchased land in 
Platte county, and moved here. He at once devoted himself actively 
and energetically to farming, and soon became prominently identified 
with the agricultural interests of this vicinity, owning a farm of 360 
acres, a choice homestead. This was his permanent al)iding place' 
until he was called away by death, on the 3d of March, 1S82. He 
was a most exemplary man in the walks of every-daj^ life, and was no 
•less warmly attached to his family and home surroundings, and his 
death was a severe blow to those whom he left. He was a member 
of the Christian Church, as was also his widow. They were blessed 
with a family of six children: Robert S., was born January 8, 1846, 
and married Miss Amanda Brown, of this county ; Albert K., born 
November 16, 1848, was married to Miss Nora Link, and now lives in 
Clay county; William D., was born April 12, 1851, and married 
Miss Margaret Graham, of this county ; John B., was born Novem- 
ber 30, 1855, and is engaged in the mercantile business here ; James 
L., who was born September 18, 1858, took for his wife Miss Ellen 
Fleming, of Platte county; the youngest son, Craig A., born July 
2(), 1861, is managing the home farm. He is a young man of excel- 
lent ability for the successful conduct of this place, and the care and 
labor which he has expended in his work are seen in the attractive 
a[)pearance presented in a look over the farm. 

WILLIAM J. OVERBECK, M. D. 

(Physician and Surgeon, Platte City). 

To every old settler of Platte county Dr. Overbeck's father, Dr. 
Henry A. Overbeck, was well known. He came to this county from 
Clay count}', where he had settled from Baltimore, Md., in 1837, and 
practiced medicine here in connection with farming and stock raising 
until his death, which occurred in the spring of 1866. During this 
time, however, he spent two years in California immediatel}' following 
1849, and subsequently about five years in Jackson county. Ore., pre- 
ceding 1857, where he practiced medicine. He had a large practice 
in Platte county, and was a thoroughU' captible physician and highly 
respected citizen. Dr. Overbeck, pere, was originally from Bremen. 
Germany, where he was born in 1803, coming thence to the United 
States in 1822, and locating at Baltimore. Previously he had received 
a good German education, anil afterwards he studied medicine and 
attended medical college at Baltimore. In 1827 he was married to 
Miss Amelia C. Walz, daughter of Benjamin G. Walz, formerly of 
Baltimore, Md. Dr. Overbeck, jyere, came to Missouri, as stated 
above, in 1837, and located in Clay county, but seven years later set- 
tled in Platte county. His good wife, now in her seventy-seventh 
year, still survives him, and is remarkably active and with memory as 
good as ever. Ten of tiieir children grew to mature years, six of 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 959 

whom are living, three sons and three danghters. Dr. William J. 
Overbeck was born in this county May 27, 1846. His education was 
I'eceived at Pleasant Ridge College, one of the prominent schools of 
that day. Subsequently Dr. Overbeck, fits, studied medicine under 
his father, and in 18(58 matriculated at the Eclectic Medical College 
of Cincinnati, where he graduated two years later. He then began 
the practice of medicine in Platte county, and has continued it 
ever since, except while serving the people in an official capacity. In 
1880 he was elected sherift' of the county, and two years later was re- 
elected. Having served out in that office the full limit allowed by law, 
he retired in 1884 and resumed his practice, which he is now actively 
engaged in. October 3, 1872, he was married to Miss Mary E. Starks, 
daughter of Price Starks, deceased, late of Kentucky. He was an 
early settler of Scotland county, Mo., however, where Mrs. Overbeck 
was partly reared. She was educated at Prof. Ga3dord's academy 
at Camden Point. Dr. and Mrs. Overbeck have four children : An- 
drew Price, John Theodore, Harry Foster and James Starks. Dr. 
Overbeck is a member of the Baptist Church, and Mrs. Overbeck, 
of the Christian denomination. He is also a prominent Odd Fellow 
and a member of the Knights of Honor. 

RICHARD W. PACK 

(Sheriff of Platte Couuty, Platte City.) 

Mr. Pack, proved to be one of the most popular men in the county, 
is a native of this county, born September 24, 1842. His father was 
Arvilla Pack, formerly of Scott county, Ky., and his mother, whose 
maiden name was Sarah Price, was from Harrison county, that State. 
The family came to Missouri in 1837 and settled in Platte county, 
where the father improved a farm and engaged in farming, which he 
followed until his death, in 1854. The mother survived until 1883. 
There were si.x children who grew to mature years, three of whom 
were sons. Only one of the daughters is now living, Susan M., 
widow of Lawson Rodgers, oi' Buchanan county. The two brothers 
are William Pack, of Gardner, Kan., and Henry M., ofEdgerton. 
Richard W. Pack was 19 years of age when he enlisted in the State 
Guard in 1861, becoming a member of Capt. Chrisman's company, 
Col. Winston's regiment. He took part in the l)attle of Pea Ridge, 
and a number of skirmishes, and after serving out his term in the State 
Guard, he started with a train from Des Arc to Red River, Tex., but 
on the way he was taken sick with swamp malaria, and came very 
near dying. He was sick for about two months, and after recovering 
returned to Missouri and stopped at St. Joe for a time. He then 
drove a freight team on the plains until the close of the war. After 
that Mr. Pack located on a farm, near Barry, in Clay county, but in 
1872 crossed back into Platte. 

Three 3'ear3 later he came to Parkville and engaged in the butcher 
ijusiness. Shortly he was elected constable, in which office he served 
for four vears. He also leased a hotel which he carried on, and 



960 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

bought a stock of groceries, continuing at the same time with all 
these branches the butcher business. As if to see how much he 
could do, like a circus ball pitcher keeping 16 balls in the air all at the 
same time, he was made deputy sheriff, and with all these offices, 
duties and businesses he was kept pretty busy, but not too much so 
to prevent him from forming acquaintances over the county and mak- 
ing friends as thick as blackberries. In 1882 he bought an interest 
in the Standard Flouring Mills, owned by a joint stock company, and 
he was thereupon elected ireueral manager of the business. Two 
years later his friends became so numerous and influential that they 
ran hira for the nomination for sherifi', and gave him 57 more votes. 
than all the other three candidates put together received. He was 
elected to the office by 1,800 majority when they stopped counting, 
which was about 350 more than Cleveland received. By the way, 
Cleveland was once a sheriff^. Now here is a co-instance, nous verrons. 
January 5, 1870, Mr. Pack was married to Miss Susan B. Dale, a 
daughter of Thomas Dale, deceased, of Clay county. They have 
five children : Orvilla, Byron, Annie, Harry and William. Mrs. P. 
is a member of the M. E. Chuch. Religiously Mr. Pack is foot loose 
and fancy free, but with a strong leaning to the faith of his wife. 

SIMPSON AND ELIHU PARK 

(Farmers and Stock-raisers, Post-offlce, Platte City). 

The history of the Park family of Platte county forms no unneces- 
sary part with the history of the county. One of the early and influ- 
ential families of the county, its difterent families have from time to 
time been prominently and usefully identified with the varied interests 
of the county, and with its growth and development, its progress and 
prosperity. But in the present sketch only an outline of the branch 
of the family represented by its members whose names are given 
above can with propriety be presented. Mr. Simpson Park, the 
father of Elihu, is a descendant of the original North Carolina stock 
of the old and respected family wliose name he bears. His father, 
John Park, was a native of North Carolina, in whi(;h the original 
founder of the family settled long prior to the War of Independence. 
He was born in Rowan county, that State, but whilst he was yet in 
boyhood was brought out to Kentucky by his parents, who were pio- 
neer settlers in the dark and bloody ground, afterwards known as the 
Blue Grass State. They located in what afterwards liecame Estill 
county, where John Park grew up and became a man of means and 
consideration in the county. He was a leading farmer and served as 
sheritt" and in other official positions. He was magistrate of the county 
for over twenty years, and was one of its most highly esteemed citi- 
zens. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Peeler, was born and 
reared in Estill county. They made that their permanent home, and 
died on the place where they first settled early in their married life. 

Simpson Park was born on the famil}' homestead in Estill count}', 
April 25, 1813. Reared in that county, he received an ordinary com- 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 961 

mou school education as he grew up, und on tlie 23d of May, 1837, 
he was married to Miss Kehecca J. White, a daughter of Joel White, 
formerly of Virginia. After his marriage, Mr. Park continued farm- 
ing in his native county, to which occupation he had been brought up 
for several years, and then, in 1841, removed to Texas. But not 
satisfied with that then new country, the following year he came to 
Missouri and located in Platte county. Here he entered land and 
improved a farm. Being a man of industry and intelligence, econom- 
ical and of good business habits, he steadily prospered as a farmer, 
and as the years came and went succeeded in placing himself in com- 
fortable circumstances. Mr. Park increased his lauded possessions 
from time to time until he became the owner of about- 1,500 acres of 
real estate, which he still holds. His homestead, which is three 
miles southeast of Platte City, alone contains 300 acres, and is excel- 
lently improved, being one of the large and choice farms of the 
county. All he is worth he has accumulated by his own industry and 
enterprise. Mr. Park lost his first wife in 1855. She left him thi-ee 
children, John W., Elihu and Amanda, wife of Dr. McDonald. His 
second wife was a widow lady, Mrs. Julia Malone. She is also 
deceased. There was one child by this marriage, Lj'dia, now the wife 
of Garret Chesnut. His last wife was Miss Mattie Peters before her 
marriage. She died in 1875, leaving no children. 

Elihu Park was born on the farm near Platte City, April 21, 1849, 
and was given a high school education. November 7, 1871, he was 
married to Miss Laura Reagan, formerly of Mt. Sterling, Ky. Mrs. 
Park was educated at North Middletown, in Bourbon county, Ky. 
After his marriage Mr. Park settled on the farm where he now resides, 
which adjoins his father's, where he has a handsome place of 400 
acres. Mr. and Mrs. Park have one child. He and wife are members 
of the Christian Church, and he is a member of the Masonic fraternity. 

WILLIAM McCLUNG PAXTON 

(Attorney, Platte City). 

William McClung Paxton, born in Washington, Mason county, Ky., 
March 2, 1819; married in Washington, Ky., October 1, 1840, Mary 
Forman, daughter of Ezekiel Formaii, born September 25, 1819. 
Both are living at Platte City, Mo. 

Mr. Paxton, when four years old, removed with his parents to 
Columbus, Ohio. Here his mother died, in 1824. A year later his 
father married Miss Mary K. Marshall, a cousin of his former wife. 
Shortly after this second marriage, the father died, and left William 
an orphan of six years, under the care of a stepmother. The young 
widow was a woman of remarkable talents and virtues, and, with un- 
tiring zeal, undertook to rear and educate her four step-children. 
Though she did not possess the tender love of a mother, she had the self- 
sacrificing zeal and resolution of a martyr. She yet lives in Maysville, 
Ky., in her eighty-ninth year. After teaching her step-children a few 
years at home, the widow sent them to various schools. William was 



962 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUXTY. 

sent to AiigustaCollege, 1829-30; toDr. J. A. McCluno:, iiearMaysville, 
Ky., 1831-32 ; to the Catholic school known as The Athenajuin, 
at Cincinnati, 1833-34, and finally to Center College, Danville, Ky., 
1835-38. He then entered on the study of the law, with McClung & 
Taylor, at Washington, Ky., and in 1839 was licensed; in 1840 was 
married, and practiced law in Platte couiit}^ Mo. But, being sup- 
plied with money, he was tempted to invest in prairie lands, eight 
miles east of Platte City, and to remove upon and improve a large 
farm. Here he remained for nine years. In 1850 he removed to 
Platte City and, with Dr. H. B. Callahan, engaged in the mercantile 
business until 1853. They then purchased the Platte City Water 
Mills, and ran them until the war broke out. Mr. Paxton then pos- 
sessed property worth $25,000; but he found he had been too free 
in indorsing for friends, who had left for the South, and that these 
debts exceeded the value of his property. Nothing daunted, he de- 
termined to sell out, pay all his security debts, and start anew. In 
partnership with J. E. Merryman, he resumed the practice of law, 
and succeeded beyond his hope. At the end of the war he found 
himself out of debt, and a small competency in hand. 

At the beginning of the war Mr. Paxton was much opposed to se- 
cession, and continued to sustain the Union until his voice was 
drowned in the clash of arms. Being too old for military service he 
devoted himself to his profession and held his peace. He had only 
Southern blood in his veins and his sympath}' was with his kindred ; 
but he was fully convinced from the start that theirs was a lost cause. 

Mr. Paxton continued to prosecute the practice of law until 1875, 
when he became too deaf to continue it. Of industrious habits and 
restless with having nothing to do, he devoted his leisure hours to 
writing poetry. In 1881 his fugitive pieces were published in a vol- 
ume of 135 pages, entitled, "A Century Hence, and Other Poems, 
by W. M. Paxton." Six hundred copies were printed, and all given 
to his friends. Not a volume would Ire sell. He continued to write, 
and pul)lish in the county papers, other pieces ; and at this time has 
enough to make a volume of four hundred i)ages. These he pro- 
poses to collect and publish another volume, as soon as he has time 
to do so. 

In 1884 Mr. Paxton found he had gathered materials, by corre- 
spondence, sufficient to form a memorial of his mother's family — 
the Marshalls, and he determined to <lo so, and distribute the volume 
gratuitously among his relatives. To this end he started in July, 1884, 
on a visit to his relatives in Kentucky, Virginia, Maryland and other 
States. Two pleasant months were spent on this excursion, and he 
returned with the data and materials for the work. He expects to 
publish it in the fall of 1885. 

Mr. Paxton still keeps an office and makes a few hundred dollars 
annually by his abstract of titles of Platte county lands. His children 
are three daughters, all residing with him. 

Descent from (he Paxtons. — In 1745, three brothers, of Scot<'h- 
Irish descent, came from Pennsylvania to Rockbridge county, Va. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 9<)3 

Their names were (1) ^Villiam Paxton, (2) John Paxton, (H) Thomas 
Paxtoii. ((Y ) John Paxton = Poll}' Blair; 8 children, as follows: (b) 

1. John Paxton = Phoebe Alexander ; 2. William Paxton = Elizai)eth 
Stuart; 7 children. .3. Joseph Paxton = M. Barclay; 3 children. 
4. James Paxton = March 23, 1786, in Rockbridge county, Va., 
Phcebe McCluno;. Their only child was: (c) 1. James Alex. Pax- 
ton, born SepteWier 13, 1788, died October 23, 1825, = May 2, 1811, 
Maria Marshall, born July 20, 1795, died February 6, 1824; 4 
children, (d) 1. Mary Paxton = Ben. Harbison ; 2. Marshall Pax- 
ton = Sallie Bush ; 3. Phoebe A. Paxton = Col. C. A. Marshall ; 4. 
William Paxton = Mary Forman; 5. Isabella Paxton — Capt. Lyle ; 
3 children. 6. Bettie Paxton = Maj. Samuel Houston; 9 children. 
6. Hannah Paxton = Maj. Jas. Caruthers ; 6 children ; 7. Polly Pax- 
ton = Mr. Conn. 

Descent From the MarsJuills. — John Marshall, born in Westmore- 
land county, Va., 1700, died 1752 = Elizabeth Markham, born 
1710( ?), died 1773( ?). They had nine children. The fourth was : — 

(a) Col. Thomas Marshall, the hero of Brandywine, Germantown, 
etc., born in Westmoreland county, Va., April 2, 1730, died in Wash- 
ington, Ky., June 22, 1802=1754, Mary Keith, born in Fauquier 
county, Va., April 28, 1737, died in Mason county, Ky., September 
19, 1809. They had fifteen children as follows : — 

(h) 1. John Marshall, chief justice of the United States, born 
1755 ; died 1835 = 1783, Mary Willis Ambler, born 1766, died 1831. 

2. Eliza Marshall, born 1758, died 1842 ( ?) = 1785, Rawlei^h Cols- 
ton, born 1749, died 1823. 3. Mary Marshall, born 1757, died"l827 = 
Senator Humphrey Marshall, born 1780, died 1841. 4. Ca^it. 
Thos. Marshall, of the Revolution, born in Fauquier county, Va., 
1761, ilied in Washiutrton, Kv., 1817 = 1790, Frances Kennan, born 
July 24, 1774, died November 19, 1837. 5. James Markham Mar- 
shall born in Fauquier county, Va., 1764, died 1848 = 1795, Hester, 
daughter of Robt. Morris, born 1794, died 1816. (>. Lucy Marshall, 
born in Fauquier county, Va., 1763, died 1795=John Ambler. 7. Chas. 
Marshall (twin), born 1767, died 1805 = Lucy Pickett, born 1767, 
died 1825. 8. William Marshall (twin), born 1767, died 1815 = 
Alice Adams. 9. Judith Marshall, born 1778 = Geo. Brooke. 10. 
Alex. K. Marshal], the Kentucky reporter, born in Fauquier county, 
Va., 1770, died in Mason county, Ky., 1824 = 1794, Mary McDowell, 
born 1772, died 1823. (c) Maria Marshall, born in Mason county, 
Ky., 1795, died in Columbus, O., 1824 = 1811, James A. Paxton. 
(d) William M. Paxton = Mary Forman. (6.) 11. Dr. Louis 
Marshall, president Transylvania, born in Fauquier county, Va., 
1772, died in Woodford county, Ky., 1866=1800, Agatha Smith. 
12. Susan Marshall, born 1774, died in Maysville, Ky., 1858 = 
Judge Wm. McCluuir, born 1755, died, 1811. 13. Charlotte 
Marshall, born 1777," died 1817 = 1794, Dr. Basil Duke, born in 
Maryland, 1775, died in Washington, Ky., 1828. 14. Jane 
Marshall, born 1779, died 1866= 1799, Geo. K. Taylor. 15. Nancy 



964 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

Marshall, horn in Fauquier county, Va., 1781, died in Louisville, Ky.= 
Col. Joe Daviess, the hero of Tippecanoe. 

Mr. William M. Paxtou was a Whig in early life, and afterwards a 
Democrat. He has been for many years an elder in the Presbyterian 
Church and a superintendent of a continuous Sunday-school for 35 
years. 

Mr. Paxton's life has been one of unceasing activity, directed by a 
generous ambition to make himself useful to those around him, an'd 
to do as much good and as little harm iu the world as possible, 
according to the talents given him. And looking back over his long 
and useful life, it must be admitted that his has been a career to 
which as little blame attaches, and in which there is as much to chal- 
lenge the esteem and good opinions of his fellow-men, as seldom falls 
to the lot of one to make. A man of the most generous and unself- 
ish impulses, in whose nature warm and noble humanity prevails 
over, perhaps, any other characteristic, as upright in thought and 
deed as the purest and best, his whole life has been an unbroken 
chain of duty faithfully and well performed, and of kind and gener- 
ous acts untiringly done. Through this whole section of country Ms I 
name stands as a synonym for honesty and integrity, for noble and 
generous humanity, and for all the purer and better qualities of 
head and heart. In very looks he is a man to be trusted and rev- 
erenced, for his heart seems to be open to all who approach him, and 
to know William M. Paxtou is to know a good, true, noble and 
downright honest man. 

JUDGE WILLIAM H. RONEY 

(Clerk of the Circuit Court, Platte City, Mo.). 

Though a Kentuckian by birth, Judge Roney was reared in Platte 
county from the age of 15 years, and this has continued to be his home 
from that time. His paternal grandfather was a brave participant 
in the campaign against the Indians under "Mad Anthony" Wayne. 
His son, Charles Roney, the father of the subject of this sketch, was 
a Kentuckian by birth and was married to Miss Mary Ann Potts, a 
daughter of Samuel Potts, of Perry ville, Boyle county, Ky., and one 
of the early settlers in that State Mrs. Roney was also born there. 
The father died when William H. was a ohiUl, but he continued to 
remain in the county of his birth, enjoying only limited advantages 
for an education afforded at the common schools of the period. How- 
ever, he had to rely mainly on his own exertions and self application 
for an education. But having a natural thirst for knowledge, he im- 
proved his leisure by private study and succeeded in making excellent 
progress iu the course of a common English instruction. As he grew 
up he became engaged iu learning the carpenter's trade, and upon 
coming to Platte county. Mo., in 1851, at which time he located at 
Weston, he resumed work at his chosen calling. He now iiegan to 
cast about for some pursuit in life congenial to his tastes and almost 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 9(35 

instinctively turned to the law, beginning regularly its study in 18G0. 
He was now elected a marshal of the common jjleas court at Weston, 
also continuing to prosecute his legal studies while holding the office. 
His qualifications for the position of judge of tiiat court caused him 
to be selected as a proper person to fill the vacancy in that office by 
the county court, by which he was first appointed, and afterwards he 
was elected by the people, serving in all nearly four years. He was 
chosen as deputy county clerk under Thomas W. Park and after serv- 
ing as such for four years he became deputy circuit clerk, holding this 
position also for a like period. 

In 1882 he was elected clerk, and has since continued to be this 
popular and efficient incumbent of that office. It requires no gift of 
prophecy to predict for him a long and successful career in the posi- 
tion. Judge Roney is a man of family, having been married at 
Weston, April 7, 1859, to Miss Louisa W. Woods, whose father, 
Jeremiah Woods, one of the earliest settlers at Weston, from Ohio, 
was magistrate at that place for many years. Mrs. Roney was born 
in Clermont county, Ohio, September 26, 1837. She died December 
17, 1884, leaving two children living, Ella, the wife of David Cox, of 
this county, and Charles H., a bright boy of nine years. The oldest 
daughter, Carrie, died when two years old. Mrs. Ronoy was a faith- 
ful member of the M. E. Church South, with which denomination the 
Judge is also connected. He is a man of njore than ordinary ability, 
genial, dignified and sociable, one with whom it is a pleasure and 
profit to meet. 

JUDGE JACKSON C. SUMMERS 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, and Judge of the Circuit Court, Post-office, Platte City) . 

Judge Summers, an early settler of this county, is a descendant of 
an honored old Revolutionary soldier, and one of the pioneers of 
Kentucky, his grandfather Summers having been a Virgin- 
ian by nativity, who enlisted under Washington in that colony. 
Soon after the Revolutionary War he removed to Kentucky and set- 
tled in what afterwards became Jessamine county, where he lived to 
a ripe old age and died honored and esteemed by all who knew him. 
Carter Summers' son (the Judge's father) was born and principall}' 
reared in Jessamine county, and was married to Miss Martha Mills, of 
Fleming county, that State, in which he afterwards made his per- 
manent home. He became a successful farmer of that county and 
died there at the age of sixty years. Judge Jackson C. Summers 
was born in Fleming county January 15, 1827, and was reared to 
manhood in his native county. June 19, 1850, he was married to 
Miss Margaret, a daughter of John Green, formerly of Jessamine 
county ; and the same year of his marriage Judge Summers removed 
to Missouri and settled in Platte county, on the land where he now 
resides. Since then, nearly thirty-five years ago, he has been con- 
tinuously and actively engaged in fitrming, and by industry and 
thorough-going business enterprise has succeeded in accumulating 



966 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

a comfortable property. He has an excellent homestead, well im- 
proved, and is in comparatively independent circumstances. Judge 
Summers has become a prominent citizen of the county, respected 
and esteemed by all for his sterling integrity, sober, sound judgment, 
broad intelligence and liberal progressive ideas. As a neighbor and 
friend no one in the county is more valued by those around him or 
stands better in general esteem. He has held different official posi- 
tions, including the office of magistrate for a number of years, and 
twice he has been elected to the county bench by majorities highly 
complimentary to him personally. He is now serving his second 
term. April 11, 1881, the Judge had the misfortune to lose his good 
wife. She had borne him four children, two of whom are living. The 
two deceased were Emma, the wife of John A. Baldwin, and Lillian, 
who died at the age of nineteen. The Judge is a member of the 
Missionary Baptist Church, as was also his good wife. 

OLIVER H. SWANEY 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section 26, Post-office, Platte City) . 

The father of the subject of this sketch, Hugh Swaney, was a Keu- 
tuckian by birth, but when quite young accompanied his parents to 
Ohio and afterwards to Indiana, where he grew to manhood, subse- 
quently man-ying Miss Maria E. Scott, a native of Kentucky, but 
reared in Indiana. In 1842 the famil}' removed to Missouri, and in the 
spring of 1843 located in Platte county, purchasing a claim on a portion 
of which Oliver H. now resides. The senior Swaney was a man pos- 
sessed of a great amount of energy and of a determined will, and before 
his death had become one of the well-to-do and influential citizens of 
this county. His landed estate embraced about a section of land, on 
which he had a number of slaves before the war. He was extensively 
and successfully occupied in the stock industry in addition to his farm- 
ing interests. His death occurred August 26, 1872, and his loss was 
keenly felt. He was a member of the Christian Church, and had mem- 
bership also in the Masonic Lodge, at Platte City, extending to the high- 
est pinnacle of the Grand Encampment. The youth and early manhood 
of Oliver H. were passed on the home place, but in the summer of 
1860, at the time of the Pike's Peak excitement, he joined the caravan of 
gold seekers bound for that locality, remaining there during the sum- 
mer. He returned to his home the next fail, his experience having 
proven to his entire satisfaction that gold can be obtained in other 
ways than by digging for it. In 1861 he enlisted under Gov. Jackson's 
call, and served until the troops were disl)anded, having taken part 
in the battle at Lexington. Taking his father's negroes Mr. Swaney 
now went to Kentucky and remained two years, the family in the 
meantime having gone to Ray county. Mo. Returning again to Platte 
county, in 1864, he resumed farming and also commenced the tine 
stock business, which has developed into no small or unimportant 
industry. His fine herd of seventeen thoroughbred short horn cattle 
are represented at the head by a dark red, 2200-pound aninnd. Win- 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 967 

field Hancock. Mr. Swaney's farm contains 205 acres of land, with 
good improvements and a yonng bearino; orchard. On the 25th of 
December, 186(5, he was married to Miss R. A. E., daughter of Roltt. 
Walker, formerly of North Carolina, but who settled in Ray county. 
Mo., at an early day, where Mrs. Swaney was born and reared. Tiiey 
had six children : Perry, Mary E., John T., Lewis M., Oliver H., Jr., 
and Addison G. Mr. and Mrs. Swaney are members of the Christian 
Churcii, and the former is connected with the Masonic fraternity, in 
which he is a R. A. M. 

CAPT. JAMES SYNNAMON 

(Post-office, Platte City). 

The history of few men in the county is replete with more remin- 
iscences, or furnish a more thrilling and exciting account of dangers 
and trials encountered and hardships undergone, than that of Capt. 
Synnamon. In the spring of 1861 he responded to the call of Gov. 
Jackson for troops, and remained with them until the formation of 
Gen. Price's Confederate division at Springfield. He then joined 
Capt. Joseph Carr's company at Platte City, of which he was elected 
first lieutenant, and going to Lexington was attached to Col. John T. 
Hughes' battiilion ; this was afterwards merged into the Sixth Missouri, 
Col. Eugene Irvine commanding. The latter was a grandson of Henry 
Clay. At Vicksburg he was promoted to captain, and during the siege 
this regiment was blown up, and he with others was buried, but escaped 
unhurt, although several times during the conflict he had marvelous 
escapes. He was slightly hurt on several occasions by flying missils 
and fragments of shells. After being paroled at Vicksburg he was 
ordered to duty as provost niarshid in Alal)ama for a short time. As 
a minute detail of tlie numerous cugagoments in which he and his 
company participated would fill a volume, of course it cannot be 
written fully here. He was struck in the right temple and shoulder 
at the liattle of Oak Hill, permanently injuring the sight of his right 
eye, and was also wounded in the charge on Corinth, in wliich desper- 
ate battle six bullets perforated his Ijody and uniform. His regiment 
was here almost annihilated, only thirty responding to roll call after 
the battle. Again, at Port Gilson, he was left on the field for dead, 
but being only stunned, he, of course, regained consciousness, and 
hunting up his compiuiy, fought the battle to the end. He was in all 
the succeeding battles of that campaign, which culminated at Vicks- 
burg. 

At the battle of Black River Bridge, he and a part of his company 
not reaching the river before the briiiges were fired, were compelled 
to swim across to escape capture. He also participated in the en- 
gagements incident to Hood's Tennessee campaign, and in the terrible 
charge of Franklin was again left on the Federal works for dead. 
All the company here engaged were either killed or wounded but two. 
The position of the command was in front of the cotton gin house, 
noted in that battle. The survivors were there picked up by the 

56 



968 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTT. 

enemy and placed with 290 of the worst wounded Confederate 
officers ill College Hill hospital, Nashville, in retaliation for prisoners 
placed under fire at Fort Sumter. After three months of indescriba- 
ble suffering, 180, all that were left of the original number, 
were sent to Fort Delaware, where, within forty miles of where 
he was born, Capt. S. remained till the close of war, weighing onl}'' 
seventy-two pounds when discharged. Their company was afterwards 
captured at Blakely, Mol^ile Bay, and sent to Ship Island till the close 
of war, guarded by colored troops. During its term of service there 
were but six men that were not killed or severely wounded. As men- 
tioned elsewhere, they participated in some thirty actions and 
marched and fought in nearly every Confederate State. To be a 
comrade of such men and share with them such suff'ering and priva- 
tions as they endured, the horrors of which we are unable to find 
language sufficiently strong to convey its fearful ness, is a sufficient 
eulogy of the character of the man and soldier that Capt. Synnamon 
is. After returning from Fort Delaware to Missouri he began freight- 
ing to Denver, and the following year resumed his occupation of 
carpentering. In the fall of 1877 he was appointed to the position of 
assessor, and in the fall of 1884 was elected to that position by a 
large majority. March 2, 1877, he was married to Miss Jane Cooper, 
daughter of John Cooper, of Tennessee, one of the pioneers of Platte, 
in which county Mrs. S. was born and reared. They have five 
children. The Captain was born in Philadelphia in 1836. His 
parents, James and Margaret McNamara, also of Philadelphia, were 
of French and Scotch-Irish extraction. The father was a contractor 
and builder and resided in Philadelphia till his death. James worked 
as an apprentice for four years, becoming thoroughly qualified at his 
business. In April, 1857, he came to Platte and worked at carpen- 
tering in various parts of the county until entering the army as above 
noted. His career since that is too well known to necessitate repeti- 
tion. 

JUDGE THOMAS H. TALBOT. 
CFarmer and Stock-raiser and Es-Presidiiig Judge of the County Court, Platte City). 

The Talbot family, originally from England, settled first in this 
country in Maryland, prior to the Revolution, whore a number of its 
members became prominent in the affairs of that State. Talbot 
county, Md., took its name from Judge Talljot, a distinguished rep- 
resentative of this famil}' in an early day. Judge Thomas H. Talbot, 
however, came of a Virginia branch of the family. His grandfather 
early settled in the Old Dominion from Maryland, and the Judge's 
father was a native of Virginia. Thomas T. Talbot, his father, wa~ 
married to Miss Jane Bell in Kentucky, whither he had gone when 
a lad. He made Kentucky his homo until 1830, and then 
removed to Missouri, locating in St. Charles county ; later along, how- 
ever, he settled at St. Louis, where he resided until his death. 
Thomas H. Talbot was born in Greenup county, Ky., June 30, 1818. 
When he was twelve years of age he became an apprentice to the car- 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 9(39 

penter'?! trade umlor his brother, with whom ho worked for ahout 
seven years. During this time he went to school for about twelve 
months altogether, but succeeded in obtaining a suiEcient icnowledge 
of books for all ordinary practical purposes. In 1837 Mr. Talbot, 
the subject of this sketch, came to Missouri and located at Liberty, 
where he followed contracting and building until 1843. He then came 
to Platte county and bought laud in the vicinity of Weston, where be 
improved a farm and resided for nearl}^ forty years, or until 1881. 

The last four years Judge Talbot has resided on his farm two miles 
north of Platte City, where he has an excellent place and is comforta- 
bly situated. Judge Tall)ot has been married twice. In February, 
1843, he was married to Miss Eleanora Pence, a daughter of E. H. 
Pence of Clay county, but formerly of Scott county, Ky, She sur- 
vived her marri:ige, however, only a few years. To his present wife 
Judge Talbot was married July 16, 1860, in Lincoln county, this 
State. She was a Miss Bethany Pruett, a daughter of V. A. >ruett 
of that county, but formerly of Scott county, Ky. By his first wife 
there was one child, Eleanora, now the wife of Leander Wells, of 
Platte county, and said to be the first white child born in the county. 
By the second wife there arc five children : Carrie, Sudie, Birdie, Allen 
V. and Thomas H., Jr. Judge Talbot was elected a member of the 
count}' court as early as 1868, and served four 3'ears. He was then 
re-elected and during all this time of service he was presiding judge 
of the county court. He made a thoroughly efBcient and upright 
judge, and always had the entire confidence of the pulilic. The judge 
is a prominent Mason and has held a number of important positions 
in the lodge. His wife is a member of the Christian Church. 

JOHN M. THATCHER 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Sraithville). 

For sixty years this respected citizen of Carroll township has been 
a resident continuously of this or Clay counties. He came here at a 
very early day in its history, and has been a personal witness to its 
progress and an active worker in its development from that time to 
the present. His father who, on account of being the eleventh child 
in the family, was given the name of Eleven Thatcher, was born in 
Bourbon county, Ky., as was also his wife, whose maiden name was 
Sabina Horuback. In that county our subject first saw the light, the 
date of his birth being August 29, 1822. In 1825 the family came to 
Clay county. Mo., and located near Smithville, where he purchased 
80 acres of land. To this original tract he added, from time to time, 
as he became able, until it increased to 1,040 acres, worth no incon- 
sideralile sum. He was a large slave owner before the war, and, in 
fact, was one of the most substantial citizens of the county at his 
death, February 14, 1871. During the days of the Whig party, ho 
was a follower of its principles, then became numViered with the Know 
Nothings, and finally was found in the ranks of the Democracy. He 
and his wife were members of the Baptist Church. John ]M. Thatcher 



970 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

grew up on the home farm, receiving the benefits of a good schooling. 
He remained at home until his marriage, on the 22d of December, 
1854, to Miss Martha J. Duncan, of Clay county. In March of the 
succeeding year, he moved into Platte county and commenced farming 
for himself, which has since occupied his attention. To him and his 
wife have been given live children : Joseph DJ, born September 9, 
1856, and married Miss Tannic Hall, a daughter of Wm. Hall, of 
Clay county, and now in the jewelry business at Hale City, Mo. ; 
Eleven, born March 31, 1857, died August 14, 1884; he was also in 
the jewelry business and was a member of the Christian Church ; Si- 
bina, born April 27, 1860, and married to Edgar Spratt, of this 
county ; she and her husband both died in 1882. He on August 11 
and ills wife August 8; Bettie G., born November 1, 1862, and the 
wife of Leroy Garton, now residing at Cameron, Mo. ; and the young- 
est son, John W., born November 18, 1864. Mrs. Thatcher's father, 
Joseph Duncan, a native of Bourbon county, Ky., was a farmer by 
occupation, and married Miss Mary Brooks, of Clark county, same 
State. They had a family of twelve children, seven of whom are liv- 
ing: Betsey, Judy Ann, Thomas D., Abijah, Joseph, Nancy and 
Martha. Mr. Hodges had quite a little start from his father's estate 
when commencing for himself; l)ut to this have been made large ad- 
ditions. He deals in stock to some extent. Both he and his wife are 
members of the Christian Church. In his political preferences he is 
Democratic. 

NON. THOMAS 

(Of Thomas & Nelson, Editors aud Proprietors of the Argus, Platte City). 

Mr. Thomas is a practical printer by trade, having served a regular 
apprenticeship at the case and worked as a compositor for several 
years. He is a son of Prof. Ennis C. Thomas, for a number of years 
president of the Plattsburg College, in Clinton county, this State, and 
an educator of long experience and established re|)utalion. Prof. 
Thomas is now in connection with his sons, Mack and Edward, con- 
ducting the Plattsburg Regisler-Lever, of which they are proprietors, 
and have been since 1872, until April 1884, when the Register and 
Lever, published by J. M. McMichael, were consolidated, and the 
R.-L. is now owned by Thomas & Thomas Bros. He is editor of 
the paper. Non. Thomas, the subject of this sketch, was born in 
DeKalb county, March 1, 1858, and was partly reared in that county. 
But while he was growing up, his father l)cing a professional teacher, 
and being called to different points to leach, young Thomas si)ent his 
youth in the different counties of the Platte Purchase, in which his 
father resided from time to time. He of course had good school advan- 
tages and received constant instruction from his father, in and out of 
school. When the latter took charge of the Plattsburg College, young 
Thomas entered that institution as a student. But at the age of 16, 
he quit college to learn the printer's trade, working in the office of the 
Registf^r, in which paper his father had an interest. He worked in 
the office of the Register for about ten years and finally acquired an 



HISTOUY OF PLATTK COUNTY. 971 

interest in the p.'iper. Under the niunagenicnt of his father, the /iV'/- 
ister became one of the leading eonntrj journals of the State, and a 
valuable piece of i)r()i)erty, and in the spring of 1884 the Register and 
Lever were consolidated, and is now one of the best journals in the 
State. In the spring of 1884 young Mr. Thomas severed his con- 
nection with the Itegister-Lever and came to Platte City, where he 
established the Argus. He was without a partner when he first came 
to this place and continued to conduct the Argus alone until Soptoni- 
l)er, 1884, when William 'P. Nelson, mentioned in a former sketch, 
bought an interest in the paper and becanui associatcul with him in its 
l)ublication. Mr. Nelson is also a practical i)rinter ; both he and Mr. 
Thomas are young men of good business qualifications, excellent edu- 
cation and tmexce})tionable habits, and are well fitted to build up a 
successful and influential country journal. By their industry, close 
attention to business, al)ility and zeal for the public interests, tiicy 
have been al)le to place their paper on a solid basis as a business enter- 
prise. It is already well established and is rapidly coming to the front 
as one of the leading journals, if not tiie loading one, of the county. 

SIMEON D. TINDER 

(FaniiL-i- luiil Stack-i-iiisci', Section I'J, Township 51, I^isl-ottice, Platte City). 

A Kentuckian by l)irth, Mr. Tinder was born in Shelby county, 
Novcml)er 9, 18;^2, his parents having also been prominent and well 
respected citizens of that State. His father, Capt. Jeremiah Tinder, 
was born in Wootlford coimty, but was married in Shelby count}', to 
Catherine Radford, a native of Kentucky. In 1835 the family 
removed to Indiana, locating in Hendricks county, where Capt. Tin- 
der died, December 15, 1875. The youth and early manhood of 
Simeon D. was passed in that county, where, in common with other 
boys of the neigiil)orhood, he received a good ordinary common 
school education. In the fall of 1854, having previously formed a 
desire to remove West, he carried this wish into effect, moving to 
Platte county. Mo., and locating one and a half miles west of Platte 
City, where he removed on a farm and resided until 1870, then taking 
up his location on his present farm, six and a half miles from Platte 
City. This embraces 1(50 acres, nearly all in cultivation, upon 
which is a neat residence, barn, outbuildings, good orciiard, etc. 
Previously to coming to this county, Mr. Tinder had been married, 
Septcniber 13, 1854, when Miss Sarah Frances Rice became his wife. 
She was a daughter of {^liarles Rice, of Shelby county, Ky., and she 
was born and reared in the same county. To them have been l)orn 
four children : Mildred Ann, wife of D. II. Cole, of this county ; 
Mary E., now Mrs. Jesse M. Jones, of Platte; Katie and Amiie. 
Mr. and Mrs. Tinder are members of the Missionary Baptist Church. 
He is one of the active farmtn-s of this townshi]), and is having good 
success in tin; niiuiasiemeut of his farm. 



972 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUXTT. 



REV. THOMAS R. VALLIANT 

(Editor of the Landmark, and Minister of the Protestant Episcopal Church, Platte 

City). 

Rev. Mr. Valliant bought the Landmark in Februaiy, four years 
ago, and has ever since had control of the paper, conducting it both 
as business manager and editor. The Landmark is one of the old 
and well established country journals of the State, and has ever 
exerted a potent influence in public affairs and the general interests of 
Platte county — never more so than in late years whilst under the di- 
rection of its present proprietor. It is one of the valuable pieces of 
country newspaper propertj^ in this section of the State, and is safelj' 
established on a sound business basis. It has a large patronage, both 
from subscribers and advertisers, and as a journal commands the re- 
spect and confidence of the entire reading public among whom it cir- 
culates. 

Rev. Mr. Valliant is a gentleman of culture and large general in- 
formation ; a terse, vigorous writer, and of indefatigable industry ; 
scrupulously conscientious in all he says and does, and ambitious as a 
journalist to perform his full duty to the public, doing as much of 
good for the community as lay within his power, and the least possi- 
ble harm. Though he gives with accuracy all the latest news in each 
issue of his paper, he is careful to permit nothing to enter the homes 
of his neighbors and friends through the Landmark that might pos- 
sibly prove hurtful or offensive to the most sensitive or refined. In a 
word, the Landmark is a journal of dignity, purity and thorough re- 
liability. These are the qualities which he esteems to be of the first 
importance in a successful, wortiij' newspaper. 

Rev. Mr. Valliant is also a minister of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church, and has been engaged in the ministrj'- of that denomination 
continually since 1878. He was then ordained a deacon in the churcli, 
having previouslj' prepared himself for that office, and shortly there- 
after was called to the parish of St. John's Church at Weston, where 
he was located for something more than two years, doing also, during 
the time, valuable missionary work. After his purchase of the 
Landmark he came to Platte City, but still has charge of his former 
l)arish at Weston. He also has charge of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church at Platte City, and preaches here regularly every month. 

Marylaml is the State of Mr. Valliant's nativity, and he is a de- 
scendant of one of the pioneer colonial families ofth.it State. The 
founder of the family in Maryland, Jean Valliant, a Huguenot, came 
over to this country from England near the beginning of the seven- 
teenth century. He received large grants of land from Lord Balti- 
more by letters patent bearing the royal seal. Rev. Mr. Valliant's 
fatlier, Rigby Valliant, came into possession of three of these patents, 
having inherited a part of the lands oi'iginally granted to the family, 
and having bought out the interests of some of the other heirs. The 
whereabouts of the patents now, however, are not known, they 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COrXTT. 973 

having become lost or mislaid during the last illness of Rev. Mr. Val- 
liant's mother. 

Rev. Mr. Valliant was born at St. Michael's, Talbot county, Md., 
April 12, 1835. His mother was a Miss Xancy Stevens before her mar- 
riage, also of an early colonial family of that State. The parents 
resided at Baltimore for a time, where the father was engaged in mer- 
chandising. Later along they lived further down the bay on the 
eastern shore of Maryland, where the father continued in the mer- 
cantile business until a few ^-ears before his death, which last years 
were spent in retirement on one of his farms. He died in 1860. His 
wife had preceded him in 1858. 

Rev. Mr. Valliant was reared in Maryland to the age of 18, and as 
he grew up learned the mercantile business in the store of his father. 
His school advantages were only those of the general average of youths 
in that part of the country. But he succeeded, nevertheless, in ob- 
taining a good general education, principally by self-culture. At the 
age of 18 he came West and stopped at St. Louis, where he obtained 
a clerkship in a store. He continued there about two years and then 
traveled through Missouri and Tennessee for some twelve months. In 
1856 Mr. Valliant came to Foil Leavenworth, and followed clerking 
there for about three years. From Leavenworth he went to Atchison 
and was engaged as clerk in a store at that place until the spring of 
1861. 

A short time before the outbreak of the war ilr. Valliant, divining 
the unhappy denouement which was then rapidly and surely approach- 
ing, returned to Maryland in order to be at his old home and among 
the friends and acquaintances endeared to him by a lifetime of associa- 
tion when the terrible catastrophe should break upon the country. 
Promptly after the tiring upon Ft. Sumpter he enlisted in the South- 
ern army, becoming a member of the First Maryland infantry. 
Throughout the war he continued faithfully in the service of the South, 
and only laid down his arms when released from his oath of allegiance 
to the Confederate cause by the surrender of Lee and Johnson and all 
the Southern forces. For the last two years of the war he was as- 
signed to dutj' in quartermaster's department, under Maj. McCIuer, 
and was charged with the payment of troops in Louisiana, ilississippi 
and Alabama. During the war he was engaged in a number of des- 
perate engagements, including the great battles of Manassas and Cold 
Harbor. 

In 1865, after the close of the war, Mr. Valliant came West again, 
and for a time located at Fort Laramie. The same year, however, he 
returned to Weston, and from that time up to his ordination by the 
church, he was engaged in mercantile pursuits, as clerk, manager or 
proprietor. 

October 8. 1867, he was married to Miss Maggie T. Darst, 
daughter of John Darst, a representative of the old St. Charles county 
pioneer family of that name. She was left an orphan, however, by 
the death of her parents, and was reared in the family of a relative, 
B. W. Perry, of Platte countv. 



974 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Valliant have five children, Sadie L., Laura M., 
Augusta S., Edwin D. and Thomas R. Their second child, Mary S., 
died in infancy. 

Rev. Mr. Valliant is a prominent member of the Masonic Order, 
and Prelate of Belt Commandery, of Platte City. 

JUDGE RICHARD L. WALLER 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section 34, Post-ofBce, Platte City). 

In the fall of 1838 there came to the State of Missouri Mr. Hiram 
Waller, the father of Judge Waller, and a man who from that time 
until his death bore a conspicuous part in the material progress and 
development of the vicinity where he made his home. The first winter 
after coming to the State he stopped in Clay county, but in the spring 
located in Platte, where he bought a pre-emption of land, entering 
the tract in the eastern part of the county, near Barry. He resided 
there a number of years, but subsequently disposed of it and purchased 
property five miles east of Platte City, on wliich he resided until his 
death, December 9, 1862. He took a prominent interest in church 
matters, was a member and an elder in the Christian Church for many 
years, and besides his religious interests devoted some attention to 
politics, though he was not an aspirant for political honor or advance- 
ment. Hiram Waller was a Virginian by birth, and in that State he 
was brought up and there married, Miss Eliza Gaines becoming his 
wife. She was the daughter of Richard H. Gaines, also of Virginia, 
and is still living, active in mind and l)ody, at the advanced age of 74 
years. Richard L. Waller was born in Fauquier county, Va., and was 
one of a family of four sons and two daughters who grew to manhood 
and womanhood. As the eldest child in the family, much of the work 
of the home farm fell upon him, consequently his early school training 
was quite limited, and he had the benefits only of the primitive schools 
of that early day. Possessed, however, of clear, quick intelligence, 
combined with a worthy purpose to accomplish something for himself 
by his own energy and self-application to study during such leisure as 
he had, he succeeded in obtaining a good knowledge of books. He 
has always been a great reader, and his desires in this direction of 
earlier years have not forsaken him. 

At the age of twenty he engaged with Mr. Stephen Johnston, at 
Platte City, as clerk in a store, and continued in his employ for several 
years ; and in the year 1855 he engaged in a general merchandise busi- 
ness in Platte City with Mr. James E. Frost. When the civil 
war coninienced he joined Capt. Chiles' Company, Missouri State 
Guard, as a private, and was in the battles at Lexington, Springfield 
and many others, and on the resignation of the quartermaster he 
was appointed quartermaster of the regiment. And when the State 
Guard was transferred to the Confederate service he joined a company 
in Col. Elhart's battalion of Gen. Shelby's brigade and was elected 
lieutenant, and served until the end of the war, surrendering to the 
Federal forces at Shreveport, La. It is no empty compliment 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 975 

to Judge Wallei- to say that he is one of the best informed 
men on current topics of the day, and particuhirly upon county affairs. 
In 1872, such was the consideration with which he had come to be re- 
garded that he was elected county collector, and in 1874, circuit clerk. 
At the expiration of his term he was re-elected and served eight years. 
In the spring of 1884 he was appointed county judge, which appoint- 
ment was made more satisfactory by his election to the position in 
the November following. The duties of this office he is now discharg- 
ing with marked fidelity and efficiency. The judge owns the old 
family homestead, containing 320 acres of land, upon which are im- 
pi-ovements of a high order. He is unmarried, but living with him 
are his mother and unmarried sister, and a widowed sister, late the 
wife of Joel W. Moore, who died in the spring of 1864. Mrs. Moore 
has a daughter, Josie, who also finds a welcome home here. Judge 
Waller, his mother and younger sister are members of the Platte City 
Christian Church. 

FOUNTAIN L. WALLER 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section 28, Post-office, Platte City). 

Mr. Waller, a native born citizen of the county, is now comfortably 
situated in life, having a landed estate of 320 acres, one of the choice 
farms of the county. This is mostly in cultivation, the balance being 
devoted to timber, pasturage, etc. This place he improved himself, 
and upon it are to be seen a good house, barns, and all necessary out- 
buildings. The parents of the subject of this sketch were Hiram and 
Eliza Waller, the former a brother of Mr. R. L. Waller, a sketch of 
whose life is found in this volume. Fountain L. was born on the 7th 
of October, 1839, and as he grew up devoted himself to helping with 
the duties of the home place, receiving also a good education. A por- 
tion of this was acquired at the Daughters' College at Platte City, 
which he attended a number of terms. In 1861, under Gov. Jack- 
son's call for troops to defend the State from Northern invasion, he 
enlisted in the Home Guard, and after the disbandment of the State 
troops returned home, having participated in the battles of Lexington 
and Pea Ridge, besides others. Resuming farming in this county, he 
continued it uninterruptedly until his marriage, October 11, 1875, to 
Miss Minnie Johnson, a daughter of Stephen Johnson, an early settler 
of Platte county. Mrs. Waller was born and i-eared in this county, 
but was spared to her husband for only a few short years, dying Jan- 
uary 30, 1883. Her loss was a severe blow to her husband, for a 
more devoted wife and mother never lived. She was a consistent 
member of the Christian Church, and died in the full faith of a l)lessed 
immortality. She left three children: George Hiram, Laverda, El- 
bert Sterling, who died in infancy, and Madaline. Some nine years 
ago Mr. Waller took a girl to bring up, who has since developed into 
a most attractive young lady, Miss Mattie Boydstou. He is connected 
with the Christian Church. 



976 HISTOUY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 



HON. THEODORE F. WARNER 

(Clerk of the County Court, Platte City). 

From the earlier days of this section of the State Mr. Waruer has 
been identified with the history of Western Missouri, and especially 
with that of Platte county. Over 40 years ago he began at Weston, 
this county, as a merchant, and some ten years later became a part-, 
uer with the well known Ben. Holladay, whose name has become 
a national souvenir in the annals of overland trans-continental 
freighting and mail contracting before the head-light of the locomo- 
tive had lighted up the way for the march of civilization across the 
solitudes of the plains and through the deep, lonely canons of the 
Cordilleras on to the golden coast of California, washed by the white- 
capped waters of the Pacific sea. Mr. Warner was a partner with 
Col. Holladay in the freighting business for several years. He then 
sold his interest to his partner and returned to Weston, where he re- 
sumed merchandising. In 1859 he commenced in the produce busi- 
ness at that place and also began the manufacture of hemp, which he 
followed for nearly 20 years, or until al)out six years ago. In the 
meantime, in 18(58, Mr. Warner was elected to represent Platte 
county in the Legislature, where he served for two sessions. Prior 
to that, however, although still continuing the manufacture of hemp, 
he became interested in banking at Weston, and was a stockholder 
in the Platte Savings Institution, of which he was made cashier. 
In 1878 Mr. Warner was elected clerk of the county court, and four 
years later he was re-elected. 

Mr. Warner has now held the office of county clerk /or six years, 
and is still the incumbent of that office. On the 19th of June, 1842, 
he was married at Weston to Miss Emily H. Underbill, daughter of 
Charles Underbill, one of the pioneer settlers of Platte county, who 
came from Canandaigua, Ontario county, N. Y., where Mrs. Warner 
was partly reared. 'Sir. and Mrs. Warner have four children: Angle 
S., wife of M. N. Blakemore, of Ft. Smith, Ark. ; Charles S., teller 
in the Mechanics' Bank at St. Louis; Hattie M., wife of George L. 
Andrews, of Decatur, 111., and connected with the Wabash Railway 
at that place, and George A., deputy county clerk of Platte county*. 
December 4, 1879, Mr. Warner had the misfortune to lose his devoted 
wife. She had long been a member of the Episcopal Church, and 
died in the consolation of the promise and hope of the blessed 
Redeemer. Mr. Warner is a prominent member of the Masonic Order. 
He was born in Greenup county, Ky., April 10, 1818, and was a son 
of Col. Wynkoop Warner and wife, Hc'e Miss Minerva S. Boone, a 
granddaughter of the great pioneer of that name. The father was 
originally from Maryland, and removed to Callaway county. Mo., 
from Kentucky, in 1819. During the War of 1812 he had command 
of a regiment under Gen. Harrison, and after his removal to Callaway 
county served as sheriff of that county for three consecutive terms. 
In 1828 he was appointed Indian agent for the Upper Mississippi 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTT. 977 

District by President Adams, and was located at Galena, 111., for 
some years. Afterwards he located at Independence, in Jackson 
county, but in 1834 returned to Callaway county, making his home a^ 
Portland, where he died in 1837. His wife survived until 1850, when 
she died in Weston, at the home of her son, the subject of this sketch. 
Mr. Warner, our suliject, was given an excellent general education 
as he grew up, both attending the high school and college, the latter 
principally at St. Charles. While the family resided at Independence 
he was engaged as clerk in a general store, and there learned mer- 
chandising, which he afterwards engaged in on his own account at 
Weston, as stated above. 

JAMES WREN 

(Liukville, Mo.)- 

James Wren was born September 9, 1844, in Mt. Sterling, Mont- 
gomery county, Ky. He was the son of Hugh B. and Susan Wren ; 
his father born in Virginia and his mother in Kentucky. They had 
three children: William E., born October 7, 1840, and now living 
with his mother on his farm, consisting of 320 acres, near Platte City ; 
Edward, horn October 10, 1842, and married to Miss Mary Daniels, of 
Kentucky, in 1868. He was a successful farmer in Platte county, but 
died in 1873. He was a member of the Christian Cliurch. James Wren 
came to this county when quite young. He inherited a fine farm, 
consisting of 280 acres, from his parents, and since then has followed 
farming. January 7, 1880, he was married to Miss Helen C. Adkins, 
a native of Platte county, born August 14, 1860. Her father, Hon. 
James Adkins, of Missouri, was born in Owen county, Ky., Decem- 
ber 7, 18.30, and was married to Miss Collistia P. Remington, of Dan- 
ville, 111., June 29, 1851, she having been born June 29, 1830. Hon. 
James Adkins died while in the Legislature, February 6, 1885. He 
was serving his third term in tlie Missouri Legislature. Mrs. Wren 
was one of a family of seven children. She and her husband have 
been blessed with two children : Eula Clifton, born December 25, 1880, 
and James Adkins, l)orn May 5, 1882. Mr. Wren belongs to the 
Masonic Order. His wife is a member of the Christian Church. He 
is a staunch Democrat, and well versed on the political issues of the 
day. 




CHAPTER XXIY. 

LEE TOWNSHIP. 

Territary and Boundary — Water Courses — Pioneers in tlie Townsliip — Farley — 
Population, Etc. — East Leaven wortb, also called City Point — Biographical. 

TERKITORT AND BOUNDARY WATER COURSES. 

Lee township originally included in its present territory ail of Wes- 
ton and substantially all of Fair. It is bounded on the north by Fair 
township, on the east by Carroll and Pettis townships, from which it 
is separated by the Platte river, on the south by Waldron township 
and the Missouri river, and on the west by the Missouri river. Owing 
to the strong Democratic proclivities of its inhabitants, it was "named 
after Gen. Robert E. Lee. 

This township, like the greater part of many townships of the 
county, was at one time covered with timber, a large portion of which 
has been cleared and put in cultivation. Most of the cultivated land 
of the township can not be surpassed in fertility. The Missouri river 
washes the entire western and most of the southern boundary, and 
the Platte the entire eastern boundary of the townshiji. 

PIONEERS IN THE TOWNSHIP. 

Among those who settled in this township at an early day were 
Joseph Farley, Levi- Staggers, D. M. Sutton, Elisha Grreen, Lewis 
Burnes, J. W. Todd, And^rew Trimble, S. W. Tudor, James Wallace, 
Davis Eanter, R. F. Mason, B. McComas, Elijah Harrington, Mrs. 
Simon Yocum and others. 

A large number of Germans have intermixed with the original 
worthy and industrious population, and are making the country very 
productive, and are contributing largely to sustain the reputation of 
this section of the county as one of the most productive in the State. 

FARLEY. 

In 1838 Josiah Farley pre-empted the land which includes the 
present site of Farley, and afterwards laid out the town, and although 
it never assumed a town of large proportions, the census of 1880 gives 
the number of inhabitants 120. The town is situated on sections 28 
and 2y, township 52, range 39. 
(978) 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 



979 



The surrounding country is good, and one of the best general stock 
of goods in the county is at this place. The school building is far 
above the average, and a good school is sustained. For history of 
churches and lodges see another part of this work. 



EAST LEAVENWORTH. 



East Leavenworth, or City Point, is on the Kansas City, St. Josepli 
and Council Bluffs Kailroad, twenty-four miles northwest of Kansas 
City. C. L. Banning is the principal business man of the town, and 
also the postmaster. 



BIOGRAPHICAL 



GEORGE ALBRIGHT 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section 22, Post-ofHce, Farley) . 

One of the industrious farmers and well respected citizens of foreign 
birth in Lee township must be set down as the subject of this sketch, 
George Albright. Mr. Alljright, a son of Henry and Mary (Bozman) 
Albright, was born in Hanover, Germany, in May, 1816. His parents 
were both also natives of that country, where their deaths occurred. 
The father was a stonemason by trade. George passed his youth in 
the place of his birth, attended the common schools until 14 years of 
age, and when 18 years old he commenced learning the stonemason's 
trade with his father, at which he worked for six years. Then he em- 
barked in farming operations. Desirous of settling himself in this 
country, he emigrated to the United States in 18.50, locating in Ohio 
county, Ind., where he made his home for several years, then going 
to Cincinnati. Two years later he returned to Indiana, locating this 
time in Dearlioru county. In 18U(5 he came to Missouri and settled in 
Platte county, moving upon his present farm in 1883. This embraces 
188 acres, nearly all of which is in cultivation and comfortably im- 
proved. In the year 1858 Mr. Albright was married in Ohio county, 
Ind., to Miss Elizabeth Clausing, daughter of Adam Clausing, a native 
of Hanover. They have four children : Charles, Fred, George and 
Lizzie. Mr. and Mrs. Albright are members of the Lutheran Church. 

COLE L. BANNING 

(Merciiant and Farmer, Residence, East Leavenworth). 

One of the prominent and l)est known residents in Lee township is 
C. L. Banning, who has been engaged in business at this place since 
1872. At that time he became manager of the mercantile establish- 



980 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

meiit of a Mr. Wise, who subsequently disposed of a pai't of liis stock 
to Mr. B., and in 1874 the latter became interested in business on his 
own account, which he has continued since that time. He also has 
been occupied in buying and dealing in grain and stock. He car- 
ries a general stock of merchandise and enjoys a liberal share of the 
patronage in and around East Leavenworth. Mr. Banning is a native 
of Delaware, and was born in New Castle county, March 6, 1835, the 
son of John A. and Elizabeth (Cole) Banning, the former of Maryland, ' 
and the latter originally from Philadelphia, Pa. The senior Banning 
was a man of good general education and of popularity and influence 
whei'ever he made his home. He was a graduate of Princeton College, 
N. J. During the War of 1812 he served in the Maryland militia. His 
death occurred in New Castle county, Del. Cole L. was taken to Phila- 
delphia when 12 years of age, and began his career in life as a clerk. 
In May, 1851, he became possessed of a desire to move further West, 
and accordingly came to Missouri, locating near Weston, where he 
engaged in farming. In the spring of 1857 he resumed his farming 
operations in Johnson county, Kan., but in 1860, he returned again 
to Platte county. In 1866, he moved to the neighborhood of where 
he now resides, coming then to East Leavenworth in 1872, as above 
stated. In 1874 he was appointed postmaster of this place, a position 
which he still holds. For several years he has been a justice of the 
peace. Mr. Banning has been twice married ; first, August 23, 1855, 
to Mrs. Hulda Ann Stewart, daughter of Solomon Fulk. She died 
in 1873, leaving three children, Nicholas, Alice, wife of Charles Farris, 
of Leavenworth county, and Mamie. Mr. B. was again married in 
this county, April 12, 1877, to Miss Helen M. Oliver, daughter of L. 
T. Oliver, an early settler here, and a well known teacher in the 
county. Mrs. B. was born in Platte county. By this marriage there 
are three children ; Jessie, Harry I. and Katie. Mr. Banning is a 
member of the Masonic Order, and has filled a number of chairs ia 
the I. O. O. F., with which he is connected. 

KINSEY B. CECIL 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section 8, Post-office, Beverly Station). 

Mr. Cecil is very popularly classed among the thrifty, substantial 
citizens of this township. His life furnishes a striking example of 
what can be accomplished where a determined will is added to in- 
dustry and perseverance. He commenced for himself without any 
means whatever, and now just in the prime of life he has become pos- 
sessed of a desirable competency. In his home place he has 120 acres, 
30 of which are devoted to timber, and his improvements consist of 
a new two-story house, with necessary outbuildings. Besides this he 
owns three other farms containing, respectively, 220, 260 and SO acres, 
also under cultivation ; these [jlaees are all in tlie immediate vicinity. 
iSIr. Cecil has been located in Platte county since 1859, thougii he first 
came to Missouri in 1846. He was then but 16 years of age, and 
after stopping some six months in St. Louis he went to Iowa and en- 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 981 

tered the employ of the Government at Fort Dodge, as wagonmaster. 
From there he went to FortRidgely, thence to Fort Leavenworth, and 
subsequently tn Fort Riley, remaining an employe of the Government 
for 13 yeai's. During this time his duties took him westward as far 
as Salt Lake and Denver. In 1859 he returned to this State and l)e- 
came identified with the interests of Platte county, as noted above. 
Here he was married in June, LSfil, to Miss Sarah Ann Henderson, 
daughter of Thomas Henderson, one of the pioneers from Tennessee. 
She died in July, 1878, leaving five children: Thomas C, Lilburne, 
Samuel M., Belfe and Elhert. 

In February, 1880 Mr. C. was married at Plattslnirg, Miss Ruth 
Ellington becoming his wife. She was born and reared at Ridgely, 
in Platte county, and was a daughter of P. W. Ellington, then a 
merchant of Plattsbui'g, but now living with Mr. Cecil. There is one 
son by this marriage, Otis. Mr. Cecil was born in Russell county, 
Va., October 4, 1830. His father, Thomas J. Cecil, and his mother, 
formerly Nancy Thompson, were both Virginians by birth, and in the 
spring of 1832 moved to Kentucky, settling in Pike county. Mr. 
Cecil M'as once colonel of militia, and during his lifetime was a prom- 
inent and influential man in the community where he made his home. 
He represented his district in the State Legislature for one term. Kin- 
sey B. Cecil spent his youth on the home farm until coming West. 
His life since that time has already been spoken of. He has been 
constable of this township for a short time and he is connected with 
t!ie Masonic Order at Weston. His wife is a member of the Christian 
Chui'ch. 

HERMAN C. FANKHANEL 

(Proprietor of Blacksmith and Wason Repair Sliop, Farley). 

When about 14 y^ars of age, or after leaving school, Mr. Fankhanel 
commenced an apprenticeship, which lasted four years, at his present 
trade, his instructor being his father, a blacksmith by occupation, and 
who still lives in Saxony. Herman remained with him until he was 
21 years old, and then for some time traveled through the German 
Slates, working at diS'erent cities and towns. He arrived in the 
United States in 1871, landing at New York in July, and subsequently 
came on to Leavenworth, where he worked for a few months. Then 
he located at Farley, and has l)een carrying on business for himself 
here for twelve years and has met with more than ordinary success. 
He is a capable workman, thoroughly understands his business, and 
has won for himself a patronage which he well deserves. Mr. Fank- 
hanel was born in Saxony November 28, 1843, and was a son of 
Herman Fankhanel, of that country, who has been twice married. 
Shortly after reaching his thirty-fifth year Herman C. Fankhanel was 
married to Miss Mary Renz, a daughter of Zaccheus Renz, January 13, 
1879. She was born in Weston, Platte county. To them have been 
born two sons, Herman Z. and Adolph A. Mr. and Mrs. Fankhanel 
are prominently identified with tlie German Lutheran Church. They 
arc well known in this communitv. 



982 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTV. 

ORLANDO HUMPHREY 

(Fanner and Stock-raiser, Section 10, Post-offlce, Platte City) . 

Mr. Humphrey is among the oldest residents of Platte county, 
having come here over 40 years ago, and his home has been in the 
county from that time to this. He has been an energetic and respected 
farmer and citizen of the county since 1844, barring the absence of a 
short trip to Mexico, and now has a good farm of 400 acres, which is 
mostly improved. A good residence, necessary outbuildings and an 
orchard adorn the place. December 7, 1848, Mr. Humphrey was 
married in this county to Miss Julia Ann Morgan, daughter of Elijah 
Morgan, formerly of Harrison county, Ind., and who came to Platte 
county in 1837. Mrs. Humphrey was reared here, but her birthplace 
was at New Albany, Ind. The next year after his marriage, Mr. 
Humphrey moved upon the farm which he has since occupied. He 
and his wife have had four children : Elizabeth, wife of A. L. Star- 
lard, of Pottawatomie county, Kan. ; S. W., in Atchison county, Kan. ; 
Eliza, a young lady at home and a proficient music teacher ; and 
James Harvey, who is now a student at Columbia University, which 
he has been attending for three years. Mr. Humphrey's father, 
Theron Humphrey, a native of Connecticut, married Miss Harris 
Miner, of the same State, after which the family removed to Ohio, 
settling there in an early day. The father was a gallant soldier in the 
War of 1812, in which he displayed considerable personal Ijravery. 
In 1850 the family came to Missouri and located in Platte county, 
where both died the same year, their deaths occurring at Weston within 
two weeks of each other. Orlando, the subject of this sketch, was 
born in Trumbull county, Ohio, September 27, 1824, remaining on the 
home farm and discharging such duties as came within his power to 
the age of twenty years. In the fall of 1844, he settled in Platte 
county, Mo. In 184(5 he obtained a position as teamster in the quar- 
master's department and went with the troops to Mexico ; however, 
he also did his duty as a soldier. He returned to this county in 1847, 
and has since devoted his entire energies to the material advancement 
and promotion of the agricultural interests of this community. He is 
a prominent member of the Masonic Order at Platte City. 

CAPT. DAVIS LANTER 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section IG, Post-offlce, East Leavenworth) . 

Were we attempt to write a military history or sketch of the lives 
of those in Platte county who were ever engaged in military warfare, 
none could bo brought forth more prominently than he whose life 
history is briefly outlined in the present narrative, for in this county 
there are but few wlio are the survivors of two wars — both the Mexi- 
can and the Civil — and ho is one of the oldest of the heroes who 
fought, bled and risked death for the preservation of the Union, and 
of whom Missouri may well feel proud. Capt. Lanter's parents were 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 983 

Thomas and Spicy (Davis) Lanter, both Virginians by liirth, who 
came to Missouri in a very early day, in 1820, locating in Howard 
county, at Old Franklin. For a number of years the father worked at 
his ti-ade of house carpentering in that locality, and in 1824 he removed 
to Clay county, which he made his home initil February, 18-42. At 
this date he came to Platte county, settled in Lee township, and pre- 
empted the land adjoining the farm of his son. In 1863 he went to 
Jackson county, Kan., and there continued to live until his death, 
which occurred near Circleville in September, 1880. In the War of 
1812 he had borne a worthy part under Col. Dick Johnson. Davis, 
the subject of this sketch, was born in Clay county. Mo., at Farbian 
Chapel, December 5, 1824. He came from there to this county when 
his parents moved here, and has passed his entire life within the 
boundaries of these two counties, barring a few short absences. In 
1844 he left home and went to Fort Leavenworth as teamster in the 
quartermaster's department. In 1845 lie accompanied Gen. Kearney 
to South Pass, and in 1846 he drove Col. Doniphan's team to Santa 
Fe, during the Mexican War. 

Returning in 1847, he remained until tiie following year, when he 
again went to Mexico as a teamster, this time under Price. He 
reached Leavenworth in 1848, and in 1849 accompanied the troops to 
Cash Valley, north of Salt Lake, where he wintered. From February 
1, 1849, to 1851 he was in the employ of the Government as wagon- 
master, and for a year had also been Government expressman. He 
now left the Government employ, i)eing at the time in California; 
during this time he had been over a great scope of country, extending 
from the British Possessions through to Mexico. Mr. Lanter now 
returned by Panama and New Orleans to his old home, though he 
stopped for about six days on the island of Cuba, at Havana. Sep- 
tember 23, 1852, he married Miss Elizabeth Bowring, daughter of 
Peter and Cynthia Bowring, she having been a native of Lafayette 
county, Mo. After this, until '61, Mr. L. farmed the most of the time. 
However, in 1859, he mtide a trip to Santa Fe, and in 1860 and 1861 
made two trips, in the capacity of wagonmastcr, for a freightins party 
to Denver. When the war cloud which had so long hovered over this 
portion of the country burst in all its fury in 1861, our subject joined 
Price's arm}' at the Sac river, in St. Clair count}', and in December 
a company was organized, of which Mr. Lanter was made captain. 
This was known as Co. C, First Missouri cavalry. Col. Gates com- 
njanding. Among the numerous battles in which he participated, 
tliose of especial note were Pea Ridge, Farmington, luka, Corinth, 
Port Gibson, Champion's Hill, and nearly all the fights of Sherman's 
march to the sea, including the three days' battle of Kenesaw Moun- 
tain and the engagement at Atlanta, and the last, April 9, 1865, at 
Blakeley, on Mobile Bay, where the captain was taken prisoner. He 
was taken to Ship Island, but was paroled at Jackson on the 12th of 
the following May. Surely this is a record of which any one might 
feel proud, and one that reflects only credit upon Capt. Lanter. Re- 
turning home, he immediatelv resumed his farmins; operations, which 

57 



984 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

have since received his attention. His home place contains 220 acres, 
fairly improved, in addition to which he owns 69 acres of Phitte bot- 
tom land and a farm on the opposite side of the river, of 154 acres, 
upon which his son lives. The home place was purchased before the 
regular sales of the land in the county. The captain has two children: 
Mary C, wife of Burt Mays, on the farm with Capt. L., and AYilliam 
P., married and the head of a family. Mrs. Lanter is a member of 
the Missionary Baptist Church. He is connected with the Masonio_ 
Order at Farley. 

HERMAN G. S. MEYER 

(Merchant at Farley, and of the firms of Meyer & Bledsoe, Hampton, Mo., and 
Johnson & Meyer, Linkville, Mo.). 

Without doubt, one of the most enterprising and best known men 
in Platte county, in a mercantile point of view, at least, is Mr. Meyer, 
now actively interested in business at the places above mentioned, and 
who has been prominently and successfully engaged in his present 
calling in this vicinity for about ten years. Of German descent and 
birth, he has inherited those sterling qualities of industry and great 
perseverance in evei'y duty of life which have made almost famous 
the inhabitants of that country. His parents were John and Cather- 
ine (Espenhorst) Meyer, both natives of Hanover, the former of 
whom was occupied in farming during his lite ; he is now deceased, 
but his wife is still a resident of that vicinity. Herman, one of the 
sons born of this marriage, was born in Hanover November 20, 
1838, and up to his fifteenth year remained there, attending the excel- 
lent common schools, in which he received more than an ordinary 
education. In 1854 he accompanied an uncle, Edwin Meyer, to the 
United States, and first settled in New Albany, Ind. In 1855, crossing 
the Ohio river, he went to the vicinity of Louisville, Ky., and there 
became interested in farming ^tand the dairy business, continuing it 
until 18(37. He now made a trip to his old home, but returned to 
Kentucky the same year, making that State his home for about seven 
yeai's, or until 1874, when he took up his location in Platte county in 
1875. Settling at Farley, he embarked in the mercantile business, 
and in 1881, in partnership with Mr. Bledsoe, he opened a branch 
house at Hampton, mention of which has already been made in tiie 
sketch of Mr. Bledsoe, found elsewhere in this work. 

In 1882 the firm of Johnson & Meyer, at Linkville, was established. 
It is unnecessary to mention anything about the business which is 
done l)y these houses, for that is an item well known by all who have 
any knowledge of the stores and their proprietors. Good stocks are 
carried in eacii, and the buildings occupied by the firms at Farlo}' and 
Hampton are owned by them. Mr. Meyer was married in Kentucky 
in Juno, 1860, to Miss Mary Summers, who was reared in Louisville. 
They have two chikiren : Lizzie, wife of Frank Weihe, of Farley, and 
John R. Meyer, now of St. Joseph, Mo., with Schuster, Hingston & 
Co. Mrs. Meyer having died, Mr. INIeyer was married in this count}' 
in April, 1876, to Miss Lizzie Ellemann, a native of Hanover, Ger- 



HISTORY OF VLATTE COUNTY. 985 

many. There are four children by this marriacre : Herman, William 
Anna and Katie. In 187G Mr. Meyer was ajipointed postmaster at 
Parley. In 1877 he joined the Masonic Order, and has for several 
years filled the office of treasnrer of the lodge at this place. He and 
wife are members of the Lutheran Church. 

HENRY H. MOSS 

(Farmer, Stock-raiser aud Breeder, Residence, Farley, Mo.). 
Among the many families who came to Missouri from Kentucky in 
a comparatively early day was the one of which the subject of the 
present sketcli is a worthy representative. His parents were Joseph 
and Fanny (Pritchard) Moss, both Kentuckians by birth, who, after 
the bn-th of their son Henry, December 30, 1836, in Knox countv, 
Ivy., decided to come to Missouri, which they did in 1838, locatinci^ 
first m Daviess county, where they were numbered with the [lioneer 
settlers. Some 18 months later, or in the fall of 1840, they moved 
to Mercer county, this State, where Mr. Moss still resides " He has 
married again, his first wife having died. Mr. Moss has followed 
larmmg from boyhood, to which he was brought up, and by industry, 
a frugal manner of living and good mana<rement, has achieved suc- 
cess as a farmer. In his youth he attended school to some extent 
but the greater part of his education has been acquired since becom- 
ing grown, and by assiduous self-application. Coming to Platte 
county in 1860, he engaged in teaching here for some time'^ but on the 
outbreak of the war he went to Kansas, where he resumed the same 
occupation for a while. During his two vears' residence in Kansas he 
was also interested in teaming. With thi.s exception he has been a 
resident of this county for nearly 25 years. In November, 1861 
Mr. Moss was married here to Miss Mattie Trent, dau<^hter of 
Branch A. Trent, of Platte county, but formerly from Kentuckv 
where Mrs. M. was born. Mr. xMoss has made Farley his home since 
his residence in this county and he is well known as one of the stanch 
reliable men of the place. He owns nine desirable residence lots in 
the town, two good buildings and besides this 270 acres of land near 
l)y. Two of his farms are about all fenced, and it is devoted as usual 
to timber, pastures, etc. Mr. anil Mrs. Moss have been blessed with 
fave children: Angeliue, wife of Walter Bledsoe, a successful mer- 
chant at Hampton, and who is favoral)ly mentioned elsewhere in this 
work; Fannie, now Mrs. Benjamin Fulcher ; Addie, an attractive 
young lady ; Mollie aud Annie. Mr. Moss and his wife and three 
daughters are members of the M. E. Church. Personally, as a citi- 
zen, he holds a worthy place among the best class of people in this 
portion of the county, and his family is well respected. 

ERNST F. NIEMAN 

(Farmer and Stoclv-raiser, Section 33, Post-office, Farley). 
Another one of the representative citizens of foreign birth in Platte 
county, Mr. Nieman was horn in Hanover, Germany, October 23, 



986 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

1839. His father was Conrad F. Niemau, while his mother's maiden 
name was Florence Cassabaun, both also natives of Hanover. At 
the age of six years Edward was placed in the common schools where 
he had the benefit of an excellent course until 14 years old. Then he 
commenced working about the home farm, attending to such duties 
as came within his powers, and remained thereon up to his eighteenth 
year, when he became possessed of a desire to cast his fortune with 
the New World. In 1857, therefore, he came to America, and first 
located in Ohio county, Tnd., where farming received his attention for 
a number of years. In 1866, in the spring, he came to Missouri and 
l)ought a tract of unimproved land in this county, the place upon 
which he now lives. This he has under cultivation, and upon it are 
good buildings, an orchard, etc. The land is situated in the Missouri 
and Platte river bottoms and is very fruitful, and it is but five miles 
southeast of Leavenworth. Mr. Nienian has been a hard worker 
during his life, and well merits the success which has crowned his 
efforts here. He was married before leaving Ohio county, Ind., Maj' 
1, 1862, Miss Louisa Burman becoming his wife. She was born in 
Hanover, but was brought up in Indiana from her tenth year. Mr. 
and Mrs. Nienian have been l)lessed with a family of seven children : 
Andy, Henry, Fred, Clara, Florence, William and Alice. Mr. N. 
and his wife are members of the Lutheran Church. 

FREDERICK OBERDICK 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section?32, Post-office, Farlej'). 

Mr. Obeidick came to Platte county. Mo., from Ohio county, Ind., 
in March, 1866, at which time he located near where he now resides. 
He at once resumed the occupation to which he had been brought up, 
that of farming, and now has accumulated 140 acres of land on the 
Missouri river bottoms, about four miles from Leavenworth. Of this 
tract 110 acres are in Cultivation — rich, valuable land. A nearly 
new residence and necessary outbuildings constitute an important 
feature of the improvements upon the place. As his name would in- 
dicate Mr. Oberdick is of foreign ancestry, his father, Henry Ober- 
dick, having been born in Hanover, Germany, as was also his mother, 
formerlv Mary Brndenfarder ; they both died in that country. Fred- 
erick, likewise, a native of Hanover, was l)()rn September 13, 1833, 
aud is therefore now in his fifty-second year. In common with the 
youths of the vicinit}' of his birthplace, he was a student in the pub- 
lic schools from 6 until 14 years of age, and also worked on the 
home farm. June 27, 1856, he was married in Hanover to Miss Flor- 
ence Nienian, daughter of Martin and Clara (Swador) Nienian, of the 
same country. After farming for eight 3'oars succeeding this event Mr. 
O. emigrated to the United States in 1864, aud in September of that 
year made his home in Ohio county, Ind., from which locality he came 
to this county, as above mentioned. Here he has become one of the 
progressive farmers of Lee township, aud one deserving of the com- 
fortable competence acquired. He and his wife have two sons, Hcnrv, 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 987 

aged 10, and John, 14 3'ears old, both young men at home. Mr. and 
Mrs. Oberdick are members of the Lutheran Church. 

ZACHEUS EENZ 

(Farmer, Stock-raiser and Stone Mason, Section 9, Post-oltice, Platte City). 

Mr. Kenz was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, October 15, 1826, 
his parents, also natives of that country, having died there. Joseph 
Renz, the father, was a farmer by occupation, and married Elizabeth 
Gramer. Zacheus spent his youth to the age of 14 years at school. 
When 15 he commenced learning the stone mason's trade and served 
as an apprentice for three years, thoroughly learning the business and 
afterwards becoming a jour workman. In Noveml)er, 1850, he was 
married at the place of his birth to Miss Theresa Gramer, a daughter 
of Mat Gramer, of Wurtemberg, where jNIrs. Renz was l)orn, reared 
and educated. Previous to this, however, when 20 years old, Mr. 
Renz had entered the army, in which he served for six years. 
For the last three years of his service he was on detached duty 
most of the time. In 1854 he took passage on board of a ship for 
the United States, which he soon reached, and in May of that year 
he located at St. Joseph, Mo. After residing there a short time he 
removed to Weston, where for about 20 years he was occupied in 
working at his trade. Purchasing a farm he moved upon his present 
homestead in 1875, and has since been tilling the soil, also during the 
season working at his trade. His farm contains 240 acres, all under 
fence and improvement, together with a fair orchai-d. For aliout 
12 years Mr. Renz was employed to some extent in working for 
the Government at Fort Leavenworth, part of the time receiving a 
remuneration of $125 a month. Mr. and Mrs. Renz have a family of 
eight children : Frank, Simeon, Elizabeth, wife of James W. Mc- 
Michael, of Ray county; Mary Theresa, died in childhood; Mary, 
wife of A. C. Fankhanel, of Farley; John M., Lena, Victoria and 
Pauline, all, with the exception of the two oldest, having been born in 
Weston. Mr. and Mrs. Renz are prominent members of the Catholic 
Church. 

WILLIAM WIEHE 
(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Farley). 

As is customary among the youths of the country of his birth Mr. 
Wiehe spent his youth from si.v until fourteen years of age in the 
excellent public schools, where he received a good education. From 
that time until he was 18 farming received his attention. In 1849 he 
crossed the ocean, and in looking about for a settlement finally de- 
cided to locate in Cincinnati, near which place he worked on a farm 
for one year. Going to Oliio county, Ind., he still pursued the same 
calling for about eleven years, and while there was married, August 
19, 1856, to Miss Caroline Stagemiller, a daughter of Frederick 
William Stagemiller. Mrs. Wiehe was born in Hanover. Some ten 
years succeeding the time of his marriage, Mr. W. moved to ilis- 



988 HISTORY or platte county. 

souri, locating on a farm in Platte county in March, 1866, and moving 
his family to this village in 1879. He has continued to till the soil 
since his residence here and now has 112 acres where he lives, all 
fenced and with the necessary improvements upon it. His family 
consists of seven children, viz. : Florence, wife of Fred Kroney ; 
Frank, married and in this county ; Lizzie, wife of Charles Meyer ; 
Henry, John, August and Lena. Living with them is a young lady 
whom they have reared, Miss Sophia Oaeschlager. As might b'e 
already inferred, Mr. Wiehe is a native of Prussia, having been born 
there June 27, 1831. His parents were William and Anna Wiehe, 
nee Salter, of the same country, where both also died. The father was 
a mechanic by occupation. Mr. and Mrs. Wiehe are membei'S of 
the German Lutheran Church. 

JAMES WALLACE 

(Farmer, Section 30, Post-offlce, East Leavenworth). 

In the history of the early settlement and subsequent progress of 
this county in material and general development, the family of which 
Mr. Wallace is a representative must receive considerate and promi- 
nent mention. His father, Andrew Wallace, originall}^ from Ireland, 
emigrated to the United States in the fall of 18.38, locating in Mis- 
souri in 1839, and in Platte county in March, 1840, at which time he 
entered the land and improved the farm upon which his son now 
lives. He died in 1843. His wife, formerly Catherine Wilson, also 
a native of Ireland, survived her husband until 1852, when she too 
departed this life. James Wallace, one of their family of children, 
was born in Ireland in November, 1824. He was 16 years of age 
when his parents took up their residence in this county, and from that 
time until 1853 he remained within its borders, occupied the most of 
the time in agricultural pursuits. In the year mentioned he started 
overland to California with a herd of over 200 cattle, reaching his des- 
tination after a tedious trip of nearly five months. Twelve months 
were passed in disposing of his cattle, after which, in the fall of 1854, 
he returned by the way of Panama and New Orleans, having been 
quite successful in this venture. Soon after reaching home he was 
married, September 29, 1857, to Miss Sarah E. Todd, daughter of 
William Todd, an old pioneer of Platte county, whose famil}' were 
originally from Kentucky. Mrs. Wallace was born in this county, and 
was here brought up. Of the famil}' of childi'en born to them, three 
are living, viz. : William A., married and in the county ; Ella M. and 
Emma S., twins. Four children are deceased: Katie died August 1, 
1878, in the sixteenth year of her age. She was a bright, promising 
young lady and a general favorite, and her death was a severe loss to 
her parents and many friends, who have ever cherished her niemor}' 
as that of one of the brightest examples of Christian fortitude and 
patience, which she exercised during her illness. Alfred died when 
eight months old, Alice when six months old, and Thomas at the age 
f two years. Mr. Wallace has a farm of 340 acres, all fenced, and 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 



989 



one of the valuable places in this township. Over 240 aci'es are im- 
proved, and his orchard contains about 1(50 trees of select fruits. He 
is a member of Farley Lodge of Masons, and has filled with admira- 
ble distinction the different offices in the lodge. He is a member of 
Platte City Chapter and Commandery, and was also connected with 
the Ancient Odd Fellows Order. His church preferences are with the 
Christian denomination. 



CHAPTEE XXy. 

FAIE TOWNSHIP. 

Territory and Boundary — Physical Features — Early Settlers — Tracy — By Whom 
Surveyed — For Whom Named — Early Merchants — Present Business in the 
Town — Beverly — Settle Station — Biographical. 

TERRITORY AND BOUNDARY, 

Fair township was originally a part of Lee township, and it is bounded 
on the north by Green township, on the oast by Preston and Car- 
roll, from which it is separated by the Platte river, and on the south 
by Carroll and Lee townships, and on the west by Weston township 
and the Missouri river. 

PHYSICAL FEATURES. 

The township was once covered with a fine growth of timber. The 
laud away from the river and large streams is usually high and rolling. 
The soil is rich, and many farmers have here builded elegant homes. 
Plenty of building stone is found. 

EARLY SETTLERS. 

The early settlers of this township have been many of them em- 
braced in the early settlers of other townships of which this was for- 
merly a part. Among some of these may be mentioned Juo. Boul- 
ware, Stephen English, L. Sloan, W. L. Perrin, C. Cockrill, Jno. 
Elliott, — Todd and others. 



Tracy, the principal town in Fair township, is situated three-quarters 
of a mile northwest of Platte City, on the Chicago, Rock Island and 
Pacific Railroad, and on the west bank of the Platte river. The vil- 
lage was first located as a town site in the spring of 1870. 

It was surveyed by a man named Himrod, a civil engineer, in the 
employ of what was then called the South Chicago and Southwestern 
Railroad Company. The west end of the road was commenced at 
the Missouri river, and built to this place late in the winter of 1869. 
In the spring of 1870 a depot was built at this place, which was called 
Platte City dei^ot. The name of Tracy, afterwards given the town, 
(990) 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 991 

was for a prominent railroad official. While the depot was being 
built, and before the town was all surveyed, it occurred to T. H. 
Coleman, then a grocer of Platte City, that it would be a good busi- 
ness point, and in conversation with G. W. E. Chinn on the subject, 
the latter agreed to do the carpenter work gratuitously to any one 
who would furnish the lumber to put up a building. This offer was 
accepted by Mr. Coleman, but after the house was built Coleman de- 
clined putting in a stock of groceries. In September, 1870, the house 
was purchased by John Ryan, who put in a stock of groceries and 
liquors. The second business man in the [)lace was John W. Hedges, 
a blacksmith. Jerry Clifford, section foreman, was tlie next to build, 
and start a business. Tracy commenced to make its progress as a 
town in 1880, and since that time has steadily grown, and business of 
all kinds is represented. Prominent among its business industries are 
the Phcenix Mill and Elevator, the Platte County Creamery, 2 hard- 
ware stores, 2 dry good stores, 2 grocery stores, 1 drug store, 1 sad- 
dlery and harness store and tin shop, 1 blacksmith, 2 hotels, 1 
confectionery and restaurant, 2 saloons and billiard hall, 1 livery 
stable and 1 lumberyard. The town has a population of about 350. 



At the intersection of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Rail- 
road and Kansas City, St. Joseph and Council Bluffs Railroad is the 
depot of Beverly. There is also a post-office here. 

SETTLE STATION. 

Settle Station, four miles above Platte City, on the Chicago, Rock 
Island and Pacific Railroad, has a good genei'al store and post-office. 
The population of the township in 1880 was 1,275. 



BIOGRAPHICAL. 



HON. JAMES ADKINS 

(■Deceased) . 

One of the most noble men who ever made his home in Platte county, 
and a man who lived a life that was useful and just — a good and well 
respected citizen and a kind and generous neighbor — Mr. Adkins vvas 
cut off at an age when his career in life was proving of great benefit 



992 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

to his friends, and at a period wlien his loss was most keenly felt. A 
memoir of his life was written by a near and dear friend of his after 
death, and was inserted in the county papers at that time. From this 
we have taken the brief facts which follow : — 

James Adkins was born in Owen county, Ky., December 7, 1830, 
and at his death, Februar}' 6, 1885, was in his fifty-fifth year. His 
parents were Edwin G. and Elizabeth (Garvey) Adkins, both Ken- 
tuckians by birth, and born in the year 1800. Mrs. A.'s father was 
Job Garvey, a soldier of the Revolution, and her mother was a Clax- 
ton. The family left Owen county in 1834 and came to Missouri, 
buying a farm in Lewis county, between Canton and Monticello, of 800 
acres. James worked on the farm, and in order to attend a country 
school walked three miles a day. In 1845 Mr. Adkins, selling his farm, 
moved to New Madrid county, and the following year came to Platte 
county. Four miles from Platte City a farm of 200 acres was pur- 
chased. In 1849 the father died, and then the farm was sold. Young 
James commenced his career in life by driving a Government ox-team, 
and in 1850 he went to California, working in the mines and freight- 
ing for others. Six months later he started home, which he finally 
reached after a romantic trip, having met with fair success. May 27, 
1851, he was married to Miss C. P. Remington, and this union was 
blessed with six children, who are now living: Edwin R., Frank R., 
Helen C, Joel M., Birdie H. and James C. 

Mr. Adkins left Missouri in 1855 and settled in Atchison county, 
Kan., where the same year he was elected sheriff", and in 1856 was 
chosen Representative. Subsequently he returned witii his family to 
Platte county. When the war broke out he enlisted in the Confed- 
erate army, and next engaged in freighting across the plains. Becoming 
possessed of some property, he invested it in land three miles from 
Platte City, and here spent the remainder of his life in pursuing the 
occupation of an agriculturist. Politically Mr. Adkins was an ardent 
Democrat, and his fearless course soon gave him prominence and 
popularity. He was elected to the Legislature in 1874, and was at 
once selected as chairman of the Committee on Retrenchment and 
Reform. He stood high in the Legislature, and possessed much in- 
fluence with his fellow-members. In 1882 he was returned to that 
position, and in 1884 was again elected, for the third time. Soon 
after his last election he took his seat in the House of Representatives 
at Jeffbrson City, and owing to his onerous labors, a dread disease 
overtook an already weak constitution. The final summons came on 
the night of February 6, 1885. The sad announcement of his death 
was sent to his home in Platte county, and its effect upon all can 
better be imagined than dcscril)ed. The Hall of Representatives 
passed respectful and consoling resolutions, and suitable preparations 
were made to attend the funeral of the deceased member. This was 
held on the 9th instant, and a large concourse followed the remains to 
their last resting place. To attempt to eulogize the life of such a man 
we feel is entirely impossible with us. The memory which he left, 
the remembrance of his dail}' life and intercourse with the world, his 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 993 

exemplary example in every position in whicli he was placed — all 
these are too taniiiiar in the minds of the citizens of Platte county to 
need repetition. 

HON. WILLIAM H. BALLARD 

CFarmer and stock-raiser, Section 1, Post-office, Camden Point). 

Without extraordinary advantages in early life, Mr. Ballard, by his 
own exertions and personal worth, his indomitable energy and perse- 
verance, has achieved a degree of success in life that many whose 
opportunities were all that could be desired would he glad to claim. 
Like many of the prominent farmers of the county, he came originally 
from Madison county, Ky., having been born there January 25, 1835 ; 
consequently he is only a little past fifty years of age. He spent his 
youth in the county of his birth, and was fortunate enough to secure 
the privilege of attending the common schools, an opportunity which 
he did not fail to improve. In 1858 he came to Platte county. Mo., 
but returned to Kentucky the same year, taking up his permanent 
home in this county in 1859. Here he has since resided, one of the 
progressive, industrious and sterling citizens of this portion of Mis- 
souri. He is the owner of a farm of 240 acres, which he has improved 
in an excellent manner, fully characteristic of a sou of the Bhxe Grass 
State. Thorough in all his farming operations and entirely satisfied 
to content himself with this peaceful occupation, he has, however, 
frequently been called upon to serve the people of this county in an 
official capacity. In 1870 he was elected a member of the General 
Assembly, and while discharging the duties of this position always 
worked earnestly and zealously for the best interests of the party, 
believing them identical with the best interests of the country. In 
fact, he is a Democrat from principle and not from any desire or hope 
for office. He also takes an earnest interest in all general movements 
calculated to benefit the community, whether material or otherwise. 
March 24, 1863, Mr. Ballard was married to Mary Adela, daughter of 
James Gabbert, a prominent and wealthy citizen of this county, who 
died in 1864. She is a lady of culture and refinement, and is one of 
the truly good women of Platte county. By this union there are two 
sons: Perry A. and Oakley G. ; the former a member of the gradu- 
ating class of the Christian Brothers College, St. Louis, Mo. 

JOHN L. CALVERT 

(Section 4, Post-office Weston). 

The branch of the family of which the subject of the present 
sketch is a worthy representative, came originally from England, and 
fii-st located in Maryland, of which State they were among the pioneer 
settlers. One member of this family, Baltimore Calvert, was mar- 
ried at Baltimore, and from him Louis Calvert, the father of John L., 
was a descendant. Louis Calvert came to Platte county in 1833, from 
Scotland, Ky. He was well known here and his popularity and eflaciency 



994 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

in every calling in life caused him to become the choice of the people of 
this county for their Kepresentative in the State Legislature, a posi- 
tion to which he was elected in 1847 and which he filled with ability 
and distinction. His wife, who was formerly Martha W. Herndon, 
of Kentucky, is now living with her son, John L. Calvert, who was 
born here February 8, 1845. With the exception of three years 
which he spent in Montana and Colorado, his entire life has been 
passed within the boundaries of Platte county, and in the neighbor- 
hood of where he now resides. He owns 240 acres of choice land 
and has his j^lace well improved with substantial buildings, etc. ; some 
attention is given to raising stock, and in his operations he is meeting 
with good success. October 15, 1844, Mr. Calvert was married to 
Mrs. Slary B. Morton, whose maiden name was Hinkley. 

GEORGE W. R. CHINN 

(Dealer in Grain and Ice, Tracy) . 

To have plenty to eat and to keep cool are two great desiderata 
for long life and happiness. In the commodities necessary to supply 
both of these wants, grain and ice, Mr. Chinn, whose name is itself 
not unsuggestive of gastronomical supplies, is a large dealer; but 
more than this, he is one of the stirring, energetic, live, go-ahead 
business men of the county, one of that class of men whom it is 
impossible to keep down anywhere, but will succeed wherever their 
fortunes are cast. Mr. Chinn has for some years been one of the 
leading grain shippers', if not the leading one, of Platte county. 
Recently he has also entered into the ice business on rather a large 
scale, which is developing into profitable proportions. Mr. Chinn is 
a native of Kentucky, born in Bourbon county, March 19, 1843. 
His father was L. F. Chinn, also a native of that State, and his 
mother's maiden name Lucy H. Jackson, a daughter of Joseph Jack- 
son, a pioneer in Kentucky from Virginia, and wlio served in the Indian 
wars under Daniel Boone, and was captured by the Red Faces about 
1745 or 1750, at Lower Bkie Lake, Ky. L. H. Chinn removed to 
Adams county, 111., with his family, and resided there for al)out five 
years, when he settled in Knox county. Mo. He was there when the 
Civil War broke out, and he and his son, George W. R. entered the 
Southern array under Col. Gi'een, but were afterwards in Porter's 
regiment. They took part in the fights at Athens, Iowa, Kirksville, 
Missouri, Hunneweli, Glasgow, Lexington, and at Rose Hill, in John- 
son county. George W. R. was taken prisoner. He then had the 
benefit of a three months' term at McDowell's College, but without 
lectures, except on his disloyalty and the perverseness of rebels. 

From there ho was sent to Alton, III., where he had an opportunity 
to study at his leisure the great problem of the improvement of the 
Mississippi. Finally released from prison, he now felt that he had 
had enough of the vicissitudes of war. He accordingly came to his 
old home in Knox county. Mo., and gathei'ed his father's lamily to- 
gether and moved them to Platte county, Mo., in a small two-horse 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 995 

wiigoii. Here he met his father who had left home to save his life. 
His house had Ijeeii burned and all of the fences had been destroyed 
by the State militia. When the family was safely quartered in Platte 
county he was shortly engaged in freighting on the plains from Mis- 
souri to New Mexico, and then into Arizona, Salt Lake City and 
Virginia City. In 1864 and part of 1865 he was in the mines at the 
latter place. But in December of 1865 he came back to Platte county. 
January 20, 1866, he was married to Miss Harriet M., a daughter of 
John Davis, an early settler of this county from Tennessee. In 1867 
Mr. Chinn came to Platte City and engaged in contracting and build- 
ing, and during that time built some of the best houses at this place 
and in the county. In 1875 he went to California, and was absent 
on a visit about a year. He then resumed contracting and building 
and engaged in the lumber business at Platte City. While in the lum- 
ber business he also commenced as a grain dealer and shipper, and 
has followed the latter business ever since. Some years he has ship- 
ped as high as 700 car loads of wheat. He also ships large quantities 
of apples. He ships from various points in Platte county. Mr. 
Chinn built the first house at Tracy, in 1872, and has built most of 
the houses erected since that time. He engaged in the hotel busi- 
ness at Tracy in 1883, having previously been in that business at 
Platte Cit}' over two years. In 1881 he began the ice business, and 
now supplies both Platte City and Tracy with ice and also the rail- 
road, under special contract. Last year he supplied the road with 
over 100 car loads of ice. Mr. Chinn learned the carpenter's trade 
uuder his father when a young man, and when in California worked at 
it, receiving $3.00 a day in gold. He was a man of steady habits, not 
addicted to the use of liquor and did not use tobacco. He was fre- 
quently chosen as chief marshal on public gatherings and served as 
chief of police of Platte county for many years. He is now deputy 
sheriff and constal)le of his township. Mr. and Mrs. C. have six chil- 
dren : John L., Hattie L., Geor<;e W., James H., Lillie M. and Ollie 
H. 

CLINTON COCKRILL 
(Retired Farmer and Banker, Post-office, Platte City). 

The Cockrill family was one of the colonial families of Maryland. 
Mr. Cockrill's father was a native of Maryland, but in young man- 
hood went to Virginia. He was there married to Miss Nancy Lucas, 
who was also originally from Maryland. The Lucas family is well 
known in that State, in Missouri, and in other parts of the country. 
After his marriage, Joseph Cockrill removed to Kentucky, about the 
beginning of the present century. Making his home there for a num- 
ber of years, he then came to Missouri, locating at Old Franklin, then 
the far-famed metropolis of the Boone's Lick country. The site of 
the town has long since been swept away by the current of the Mis- 
souri river, and the soil upon which it stood is probably now mixed 
with the shells and the sediment l^elow the mouth of the Mississippi, 
in the Gulf of Mexico. Mr. Cockrill, Sr., dually settled on a tract 



996 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

of land iu what afterwards became Eandolph county, but was then 
included in Howard, on which he made his permanent home. He 
improved a good farm there, but did not survive long to enjoy it. He 
died in an early day, in about 1826. His good wife survived him 
near thirty years, d3ang at a venerable age at the residence of her 
son, Clinton Cockrill, in this county, in 1853. Clinton Cockrill was 
boru in Fayette county, Kentucky, April 10, 1810, and was there- 
fore a lad about nine year's of age wheu the family came to Missouri. 
He grew up on the farm in what became Randolph county, and after- 
wards made his home iu that county until he was past thirty years 
old. His ojiportunities for an education were, of course, limited, but 
he succeeded, nevertheless, iu obtaining a sufficient knowledge of 
books for all practical purposes. 

On the 29th of September, 1836, he was married to Miss Mary E. 
Coats, daughter of Judge Thomas P. Coats, of Randolph county, and 
of a family by that name well known in this State and in Kentucky. 
Mrs. Cockrill was born in Henry county, Kentucky, l)ut was partly 
reared in Randolph county, Missouri. After his marriage Mr. Cock- 
rill engaged in merchandising at Huntsvillo, which lie continued with 
a measurable degree of success for about live years. He then removed 
to Platte county, pre-empting 160 acres of land two miles and a half 
west of Platte City, where he improved a farm, on which he has ever 
since resided. Mr. Cockrill's life has been one of great activity and 
abundant success, l)oth as an agriculturist and in business affairs. 
He has never been one of those farmers whose minds seem to have as 
little life as the clods which they stir with their plow or hoc. On the 
contrary, when plowing — for he never thought himself too good to do 
any sort of honest work which was required of him — his mind was 
active with thoughts looking to more rapid advancement than was 
possible by mere daily labor, undirected and unassisted by good busi- 
ness management. In a word, he saw to it that everything was car- 
ried on to the best advantage and every edge made to cut. His crops 
were intelligently rotated, iiis lands were not permitted to l)ecome ex- 
hausted, his stock were well cared for and only profitable paying stock 
were kept. Everything for sale was marketed to the best advantage 
and the markets were closely and intelligently watched. Some phi- 
losopher has said that no one was ever able to accumulate anything 
simply by the laI)or of his own hands. He may make a living by his 
own labor alone, but he can not become a large property holder. 
Until one puts himself in a position to profit by the labor of others, 
he is not in a way for a successful business life. This Mr. Cockrill 
early saw and he soon began to avail himself of help. Continuing to 
increase his help from time to time and to manage everj'thing 
witJi the utmost good judgment, his success advanced with constantly 
redoubling strides. 

It was not long before he directed his attention to other business 
affairs than those connected strictly with farming. He became suc- 
cessfully interested iu banking. As early as 1860 he assisted to or- 
aauize and became a leadiuij; stockholder in the Mechanics' Bank at 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 997 

Weston. Some years afterwards he was president of that institution 
for about six years. Later along lie also l)oeame interested in bank- 
ing at Platte City, and cither as a stockiioldcr or private banker, ho 
was engaged in the banking business for a number of years. All in 
all, both as a banker and agriculturist, he has had unqualified success, 
and is now in more than ordiuaril}' independent circumstances. In 
late years he has retired from the more severe activities of business 
lunl farm life, but still takes a close interest in the management of all 
his affairs and sees to it that nothing is permitted to go wrong for 
want of attention and care. Though now shortly to enter upon the 
second half of the seventh decade in life, his bodily health and men- 
tal vigor and activity are unimpaired. At the age of 75 he rides to 
Platte City twice a day on l)usiness from his farm, a distance of about 
two and a half miles ; and this, together with riding about his fiirm 
gives him a daily travel in addition to his other duties, of from 15 to 
20 miles, which occurs nearly every day in the year. 

Mr. Cockrill has been absent from Platte county but very little since 
!iis first settlement here, nearly half a century ago. During the Cali- 
fornia gold excitement he crossed the plains, visiting the Pacific coast, 
and was absent about a year. He took five wagons loaded with mer- 
chandise, valued at about $20,000, and drawn by some forty yoke of 
cattle, across with him, and was on the way about five months. Sell- 
ing out there without loss, but with little profit, he then returned 
home by Panama, Cuba and New Orleans. In politics he has never 
taken any active part, but has always voted his convictions as a con- 
scientious, public-spirited citizen. He is an ardent Prohibitionist, and 
has long been a strong temperance advocate. At the last election he 
voted for St. John and Brooks. Some years ago he quit chewing to- 
l)acco, which had been his practice before for over sixty years. In 
personal appearance he is a man near five feet ten inches in height, 
erect of carriage and, of late years, given to stoutness. Before, his 
weight was usually about 140 pounds. He now weighs about 200. 
]\lr. and Mrs. Cockrill have seven children : Emma C, wife of J. W. 
Spratlcy, of Leavenworth; Thomas G., whose wife is a daughter of 
Judge Chesimt ; Fielding N., who married a daughter of John Moore ; 
Ellen C, wife of William F. Cockrill ; Clinton B., who is unmarried 
and resides at Leavenworth, and Mary E., a young lady still at home. 
Two, besides, arc deceased, bolh young ladies at the age of 18, Lizzie 
in 1875, and Mattie in 1878. Mr. Cockrill is a member of the 
Masonic Order. Mrs. C. is a member of tiie Christian Church. She 
is a lady of marked intelligence and refinement and of great kindness 
of heart. Their home is one of warm-hearted hospitality, where 
every one worth}' of consideration or attention finds a hearty 
welcome. 

ROBERT ELLEY 

(Fanner aud Stock-raisor, Section U, Post-office, Westou). 

At this day an old Virginian can scarcely be found who is not ac- 
quainted with some representative of the Elley family in the (.)ld 



998 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

Dominion. Branches of the family have also settled in other States, 
including, among the rest, Kentucky and ^Missouri. Wherever they 
are found they almost invariably occupy enviable positions in their 
respective communities. Mr. E. is descended from a family which 
settled near Elley's Ford, Va., in an early day. His father was one 
of the soldiers in the War of 1812. Robert EUey came to this county in 
1842, having been born in Scott countv, K}'., in 1812, and though now 
past the allotted age of three-score years and ten, he is remarked for 
his character, influence and standing in this vicinity. He has improved 
an excellent farm here, an estate embracing 360 acres, which some of 
his sons are now cultivating. In the year 1838 Mr. Elley was married 
to Miss Cassandra Quinn, of Kentucky birth, and by this marriage 
tliere are eight children living: George E., Eliza, wife of O. J. Mur- 
ray, of Kentucky; Thomas B., Anna B., wife of Virgil Wilhite, of 
this county; Eobert P. S., Kate, wife of A. J. Calvert, of Kansas; 
Cassandra, now Mrs. J. E. Darst, of Kansas, and Mattie. During 
the late Civil War Thomas B. enlisted in Co. E, Second Missouri 
cavalry, Confederate service, and was engaged as a member of the 
battery in the battles of West Port, Lexington, and through Price's 
raid in Missouri, surrendering at Shreveport with Shelby's brigade. 
George E. was also engaged in the service from 1861 until the latter 
part of 1862, and was at the engagements of Springfield, Pea Ridge 
and Carthage. The bright hope of this noble family of children may 
well be that they shall follow closely in the footsteps of their 
parents. 

JOHN J. ESMOND, M. D. 

(Physician, Surgeon and Druggist, Tracy). 

Dr. Esmond was born at Belleville, Ontario, Canada, June 29, 
1852, and was a son of James Esmond, formerly of Pennsylvania, 
and wife, Jie'e Mary Smith, originally of Scotland. They still reside 
at Belleville. The Doctor grew up at that place and took an advanced 
course at Albert University, but quit one yenv before graduating. He 
also taught school, and while teaching studied medicine. In due time 
he entered the medical department of the University of Toronto, where 
he graduated in 1877. Afterwards he took a supplementary course 
in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, and was one among the 
first of only 16, out of a total of 250 students, to successfully pass 
examination, so strict and exacting are the rules of that eminent insti- 
tution. After this Dr. Esmond located in Northumberland county, 
Canada, where he was successfully engaged in the practice for one 
year. The ne.xt two years he was in the practice at Petersboro, Can- 
ada. From there he came West, and after prospecting through Kan- 
sas, settled down, like the man of judgment that he is, in Platte 
county, the best countr\' for the right sort of people under the sun. 
He practiced medicine at Platte City until the spring of 1882, and then 
also engaged in the drug business here. The following fall, however, 
he crossed over to Tracy, where he continued the drug business, and 
has ever since been engaged in the practice. He has a good trade, 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 999 

and is a successful, popular phj'siciau. In April, 1884, he was 
appointed postmaster. Dr. Esmond was married two years ago, from 
this spring, to Miss Annie Buckley, formerly of New York. They 
have one child: Willis Marion. The Doctor is a prominent member 
of the Masonic and Odd Fellows Orders, and is a pleasant, cultured 
gentleman, justly popular with all who know him. 

MICHAEL FAREINGTON 

(Farmer and Proprietor of Saw Mill, Sectiou 2, Post-office, Westou). 

Mr. Farrington is indeed one of the self-made men of Fair town- 
ship ; for upon commencing life for himself he was entirely without 
means and devoid of assistance, save what a resolute will, an honest 
purpose and willing hands might accomplish. By frugality and un- 
tiring industry lie has acquired a good property, having a tine farm of 
over 200 acres, besides a good saw mill. He left home in early youth 
traveling extensively in Europe, and came to the United States in 
1850, landing at New York. He was born in the county Wicklow, 
Ireland, April 15, 1828. His first labor in this country was on a 
farm in All)any county, N. J., and next he was on the Buffalo and 
Erie Railroad. He worked some time in Ohio, and from there went 
to Illinois, where he worked at farming. In 1857 he sailed up the 
Missouri river on steamboat from St. Louis, landing at Leavenworth, 
Kan., from which place he came to Platte and has resided here ever 
since. February 14, 18(51, Mr. Farrington was married. Miss Mar- 
garet Berrell, of county Louth, Ireland, becoming his wife. They 
have been l)lessed with five children : Francis Joseph, born May 4, 
1862; John James, born June 13, 1863; Mary Ann, born January 
10, 1865 ; Andrew Aloysius, born June 28, 1866, and Margaret Ellen, 
born April 13, 1868. Mr. and Mrs. F. and family are members of 
the Catholic Church. 

JAMES JACKSON GABBERT 

(F.armer and Stock-raiser, Section 3, Post-offlce, Weston). 

Born in Bartholomew county, Ind., October 23, 1840, Mr. Gabbert 
was the oldest of eight children of William Gabbert, who moved to 
Platte county. Mo., from Indiana, in 1843, and mention of whom is 
frequently made on other pages of this work. In growing up James 
J. was taught farming, and he received a practical education at the 
public and high schools, besides l)eing endowed by mother Nature with 
a liberal fund of common sense, which has dictated the course of his 
actions. In 1864 he went to Kansas, whei-e he remained for some 
two years, occupied during this time in farming. Disposing of his 
property then, he returned to Platte county and here has since con- 
tinued to remain. Mr. Gabbert has l)een twice married ; first, 
February 22,, 1865, to Miss Mary E. Treadway, originally from In- 
diana. She (lied in December, 1869, and of this marriage there are 
two children living, Frances Catherine and William Sherwood. To 

58 



1000 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

his second wife Mr. G. was married Februar\' 18, 1873, her maiden 
name being Nancy Owens Barbee. To them have been born three 
children : Elias Barbee, John E. D. and Hope. Mr. Gilbert is a 
stanch Republican in his political preferences. He is liberal in his 
religious views. 

GEORGE A. JACKSON 

(Farmer, Section 29, Post-oflBce, Weston) . 

Mr. Jackson is a worth}' descendant of a noble, representative 
father. Dr. John Jackson, a physician of decided merit and ability, 
came to this country from England, landing at New Orleans in 1843. 
Soon after, or in 1844, he i-emoved to Weston, Platte county, Mo., 
and bought the land which his son is now occupying as his homestead. 
He practiced here for many years, and it is but justice to say that no 
man in the county did more to alleviate the suffering of the sick or 
more promptly met the call to relieve the pains of the destitute than 
he. His death occuiTed September 17, 1878, and his loss was widely 
mourned. His widow, Charlotte (Burgess) Jackson, now finds a 
pleasant home with her son, George A. Jackson, who was born inthi- 
county, November 9, 1844. Growing up in this county, he also re- 
ceived a good education here, which he supplemented by private study, 
and when it l)ecame necessary for him to choose an occupation in life 
he very wisely adopted farming. Since that time he has been en- 
gaged in cultivating his present homestead, which contains 160 acres 
and is well improved. November 15, 1882, Mr. Jackson took unto 
himself a wife in the person of Miss Harriate Fatten, whose birth- 
place was in the State of Georgia. One daughter has blessed this 
union, Gertie. 

FREDERICK J. JACKSON 

(Farmer and Proprietor of Saw-mill, Section 29, Post-offlce, Weston). 

This young agriculturist of Platte county, now in his thirty-fifth 
year, was born in the county in which he has always resided, on the 
1st of November, 1850, and was the son of Dr. John Jackson, promi- 
nent mention of whom was made in the sketch of his elder son, and 
brother of Frederick, George A. Jackson, which precedes this. 
Therefore it is unnecessary to repeat here what has already been 
given. The occupation which the subject of this sketch is now follow- 
ing is the one to which he was brought up ; a calling that has proved 
one of much benefit to Mr. Jackson in securing a comfortable start in 
life. He owns 40 acres of land in this county and a fai-m of 25 acres 
in Carroll county, this State. Besides this he is the possessor of a 
saw-mill and thrashing machine, both of which have been of material 
aid and help to the people of this community. A long residence 
among the citizens of Platte has only tended to make more endearing 
the ties which ai-e naturally of a very close nature, and the friends of 
Mr. Jackson are legion. April 30, 1877, he was married to Miss 
Minnie Demary, a native of Minnesota. They have had two d^iugh- 
ters and one son born to them : Cora, Walter and Clemmie. Clemmie 
is living ; Cora and Walter are dead. 



IIISTOUV or PLATTE COUNTY. 1001 



JAMES C. LINDSAY 

(Farmer ami Stock-raiser, Section 3, Post-office, Weston). 

Mr. Lindsay, who has a good farm of over 100 acres of excellent, 
level bottom land, has I)een engaged in the raising of stociv in connec- 
tion with following agricultural pursuits in this county all his life, and 
has contributed no small share to the development and progress of 
his chosen calling in this community. His father, J. C. Lindsay, left 
Pennsylvania in 1838, where he had long resided, and emigrated to 
jSIissouri, settling in Platte county, which he made his home until 
his death, some 11 years later, in 1849. His wife was thrown from 
a horse and killed the following year. James C, the only surviving 
child of a family of five children, was born in this county July 15, 
1840, and as has been intimated, was brought up here, acipiiring such 
an education as could be obtained in the common schools. March 
2St, 18(55, Miss Ruth Cretchtield, a native of Clark county, Ky., be- 
came his wife, and to them have been born si.K children; Edward C, 
Lue, Cora B., Joseph H., James P. and Sallie. As will be gathered 
from the above facts, Mr. Lindsay is one of the influential men of Fair 
township. 

J. W. MAGEE 

(Farmer, Stock-raiser an^l Dealer, Section 12, Posl-offlce, Platte City). 

In preparing the history of this county one of its chief featui'es 
should l)e sketches of the lives of those sterling men who, by tending 
their fields and herds, produce the commodities necessar}'' to the 
prosperity of a county, and who have thus built it up and made it 
what it is. Prominent among this class of citizens is the subject of 
the present sketch. Like many of our best citizens he came from 
the North, having been born in Illinois, Jamuiry 1, 1841. His |)arents 
were Kentuckians by birth and removed to Illinois in an early day, 
and when J. W. was about eight years old his father came to Platte 
county. Mo., remaining here until 185(5. Then they returned to their 
old homo in Illinois, where J. AV. continued to reside until 18(55, 
when, upon going to Ottawa, Kan., he engaged in the lumber trade. 
To this he gave his attention until 1872, then went to Columbus Junc- 
tion, Iowa, where he ran the flouring mill at that place for some 
three years. In 1878 ho took a trip to Neln-aska and the same year 
entered into a partnership with R. D. Jones in establishing what has 
since been well and favorably known as the Jones & Magee Lumber 
Company, a company existing in many prominent cities and towns in 
l»oth Nebraska and Iowa. Tliey had in the neighborhood of 30 trad- 
ing points with the main yard and office at Crestou, Iowa, where Mr. 
Magee remained from 1879 to September, 1883. Then disposing of 
his interest in this company, he purchased his present homestead, con- 
sisting of 160 acres. On this place ho has turned his attention more 
l)articularly to cattle, raising, fattening and dealing in them. In this 
he has been very successful and he is recognized as one of the best 



1002 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

stock business men in this community. October 9, 18()5, Mr. Magee 
was married to Miss Annie A. Murclock, a native of Kentucky, and a 
sister of Claarles T. Murdock, whose sketch appears on a subsequent 
page. There are two daughters, named Lena R. and May E., in their 
family. 

MORTIMER M. MILLER 
(Farmer and Breeder of Hereford Cattle, Seotion 17, Post-ofHce, Settle Station). 

Among the prominent and growing industries of this county the 
cattle business is receiving no little attention. One of the most in- 
terested in this class in the county is Mr. Miller, the subject of this 
sketch. His place of 80 acres is located at Settle Station, and four 
miles east of Platte City, where is a very neat and commodious resi- 
dence, situated on an elevation ; the other improvements are of an 
excellent character and in full keeping with the general appearance of 
the place. One of the leading features of the farm is an orchard 
covering 20 acres and containing about 1,000 trees of select fruits. 
He finds the raising of apples quite profitable, and the past season 
had 1,325 barrels of this variety of fruit, besides that consumed for 
home use. His herd of thoroughbred cattle number 12 head, which, 
though few in number, are of a superior grade, and he is doing much 
for the promotion of this calling here. Mr. Miller was born in Rap- 
pahannock county, Va., Noveml)er 1, 1849, and was the son of Capt. 
W. J. Miller, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume. Young 
Mortimer accompanied his parents to Missouri when a child, and grew 
to manhood in Platte county, receiving an ordinary education in Platte 
county and Nebraska City. In the spring of 1872 he went to Colo- 
rado and was engaged in mining at Georgetown for two years, the 
livery business also occupying his attention for a year. He returned 
to his home in this county on Christmas, 1875, and soon thereafter, 
on February 4, 1877, he was married to Miss Mary Hoy, daughter of 
Samuel and Mary (Burton) Hoy, formerly from Kentucky. The 
former was an early settler in this county, and pre-empted the land 
ui)on which he afterwards made his home. Mrs. Miller was born and 
brought up in Platte county, here also receiving her education. To 
them have been born three children : Mabel Mary, Mortimer Middle- 
ton and Robert Jackson. After his marriage Mr. Miller farmed with 
his father for two years when he bought his present farm and settled 
upon it, as mentioned above. He is very energetic and industrious in 
the management of this place and deserves the success which seems 
to be crowning his labors. 

JAMES L. MILLER 

(Farmer, Post-offlce, Platte City). 

James Lewis Miller was born in Marion county, Ky., March 9, 
1835, and was a son of Lewis and Agnes (Anderson) Miller, who 
came to Missouri from Kentucky in 1839, and settled in Platte county, 
near Weston. The father became a leading farmer and large i)ropert\' 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1003 

holder of this county, one of the wealthy men of the county in fact. 
He died in about 1872. The mother preceded bim in 1868. They left 
twelve children, to each of whom was given $3,000 in money. James 
L. was reared on a farm near Weston and was married February 28, 
1859, to Miss Mary, a daugliter of Charles and Mildred Rice, who 
came to Platte county from Shelby county, Ky. Mrs. Miller was the 
fourth daugliter of Charles and Mildred Rice, and was born in Shelby 
county, Ky., in 1839. Mr. Rice liecame one of the wealthiest and 
most successful farmers in tlie State. He died in 1884. His wife 
Mildred still survives him. After his marriage Mr. Miller located near 
Smithville, on a tract of land where he resided, however, only a short 
time. He then sold out and l)ought his present place, two and a half 
miles west of Platte City. He has a good farm of nearly 300 acres, 
and is comfortably situated. Mr. and Mrs. Miller have eight children, 
namely : Lizzie, wife of Charles Settle ; Sallie, unmarried ; Charles, 
Mollie, Jane, Rice and Wardie. Their eldest, Mildred A., who be- 
came the wife of Frank Whiteley, died January 6, 1884. Mr. and 
Mrs. M. are members of the Baptist Church. 

GEORGE S. MOORE 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section 32, Post-ofBce, Platte City) . 

For the most part, descendants of the early settlers of Pennsyl- 
vania, in whatever State they may have become located, are recognized 
as farmers of no inconsiderable influence and prominence, when they 
have adopted agriculture as their occupation in life. Mr. Moore is no 
exception to this general rule. His genealogy may be traced back to 
Ireland, the first mention of the family in this country showing that 
they were residents of Pennsylvania. The father of George S. 
was a native of Scott county, Ky., and in that State his wife was also 
born. Her maiden name was Sarah Ann Mills. Upon leaving Ken- 
tucky (where their sou George had been born April 20, 1833), they 
came to Clay county. Mo., and in this vicinity his youth was princi- 
pally passed, his time being spent on a farm. A fair education was. 
acquired in the common schools. In 1857 Mr. Moore removed 
to Platte county and the following year located where he now 
resides. He and his cousin have a fine farm of 200 acres, the 
land l)eing rich and well adapted to the raising of grain, etc. 
Their place is being conducted in accordance with the ad- 
advanced ideas of agriculture. September (3, 1855, Mr. M. was 
united in marriage with Miss Elenora Pence, whose birthplace was 
also in Scott county, Ky. One son born of this union is living: 
Gipson. An only daughter, Ida M., loved and esteemed by all who 
knew her, and remarked for her lovable and loving disposition, died 
August 29, 1883. 

CHARLES T. MURDOCK 
(Farmer and Stocli-raiser, Section 13, Post-office, Platte City). 

Among the successful farmers and progressive agriculturists of Fair 
township, men who take the lead in the improvement of stock and are 



1004 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

active and progressive in all agricnltural matters, the subject of the 
present sketch holds an enviai)le position, and is justly entitled to 
more than a passing notice in any worthy history of Platte county. 
Mr. Murdock has followed farming all his life, though commencing 
without any means worth speaking of; he now has a well improved 
farm of 80 acres of choice land — one of the desirable places of this 
vicinity, and he is conducting it in a manner in full keeping with the 
natural advantages of the place. Mr. Murdock is a native of Ken- 
tucky ; his father was born in "Westmoreland county, Va., March 10, 
1804, and his mother, in Harrison county, Ky., April 8, 1804. He 
was born in Bourbon county, August 5, 1834. His paternal ances- 
tors for two generations were Virginians by birth and followed farm- 
ing principally as their occupation in life. The mother of Chai'les, 
whose maiden name was Nancy Chinn, died in Kentucky when her 
son was an infant. He was the second oldest child in the famih', and 
continued to remain in the State of his birth until 1847 when he ac- 
companied his father to Platte county, Mo. Here his father, John 
T. Murdock, died April 2, 1874. In addition to the common school 
education which 3'oung Charles received he added a course of one 
term at the school at Pleasant Kidge, in 1853-54, thus acquiring a 
good practical knowledge sufficient for the ordinary affairs of busi- 
ness life. He was married September 6, 1855, to Miss Malinda H. 
Chinn, of Bourbon county, Ky., daughter of Alexander and Mary 
Chinn, of the same place. They have an interesting family of three 
children, now living: Mary Elizabeth, wifeofB. F. Montague, of 
this county; Joel C. and Nancy L. Mr. and Mrs. M. and all their 
children are members of the Christian Church. 

LUTHER W. OVERBECK 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser) . 

The Overbeck family in this couutr\' were originally of German an- 
cestry, the family having settled in the United States about the year 
1820. The father of Luther W., Dr. H. A. Overbeck, took up" his 
permanent residence in Baltimore, Md., where he married sometime 
afterwards Miss Amelia C. Walz, a native of New York. Away back 
in the wilderness days of this county they came here, in 1837, being 
amongst the earliest pioneers. In 1849 the senior Overbeck went to 
California, but returned in 1851, and in 1852 took his family upon a 
trip to Oregon. In 1857, or some live years after leaving, he again 
came back to Platte county and located where his son, the subject of 
this sketch, now resides. Luther W. was born in Clay county, Mo., 
on the 5th day of August, 1843. He has been occupied in farming 
the greater portion of iiis life, and now has under his control 1()0 acres 
of good land, improved, which is cultivated to the best possible ad- 
vantage. Personally he is a man of worth, and is held in high respect 
by those who know him. Mr. Overbeck has been twice married. 
December 19, 1869, Miss Lydia Robertson, a Kentuckian by birth, 
and whose parents were eavly settlers iu this county, became his wifg^ 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1005 

To them were born five children: Charlie A., William R., Carrie L., 
George H. and Johnnie C. Mrs. Overljeck departed this life January 
11, 1878. Mr. Overheck was married the second time, November 
29, 1883, to Mrs. Alice Gabbert Dale, daughter of M. H. Gabbert, 
Sr., and her entire life has been passed within the borders of this 
county. Mr. Overbeck and his wife are prominent and intlnential 
members of the Missionary Baptist Church. 

S. P. SILER 

(Farmer, Section IG, Post-oflJce, Weston). 

Mr. Siler is a worthy scion of good old Virginia stock, and 
was himself born in that State, October 26, 1844. His father was 
Ellas Silor ; his mother's maiden name was Susan Sluckey. Both 
wore Virginians by birth, and after midving that State their home 
until 1847 they immigrated westward and settled in Platte county. Mo., 
where the father was interested in agricultural pursuits. S. P. Siler 
was brought up in this county, and was married here December 2ti, 
1871, to Miss Alwilda Wilson, whose ancestors were originally from 
Kentucky, though she herself was born in Platte county, Mo. Since 
his marriage Mr. S. has continued to remain here, prospering abun- 
dantly in agricultural affairs, and steadily rising to prominence and in- 
fluence among those around him. He has a desiral)le farm which is 
being cultivated in an excellent manner. Mr. and Mrs. Siler's family 
number four children : Mary Susan, Fannie Ellen, Jessie Phillips and 
Nellie. One daughter, Lucy Myrtle, is deceased. 

HENRY C. SKILLMAN 

(Merchant, and Stock Dealer, Settle Station). 

Mr. Skillman has an excellent general store in this place and is one 
of the public-spirited and enterprising men of the town. He was 
appointed postmaster in 1881, the duties of which position he has 
since continued to discharge. He is one of the native liorn residents 
of the county, his birth occurring June 4, 1852, consequently he is in 
his thirty-sixth year. C. A. Skillman, his father, aKentuckian hy birth, 
became a resident of Missouri when a young man , he at that time 
locating in Platte county. He was married to Miss Eliza Johnson, 
daughter of Andrew Johnson, also one of the early settlers from 
Kentucky. Mr. Skillman, Sr., was prominentl}' identified with the 
material interests and progress of this county for some 30 years, but 
in 1883 ho moved to Kansas City, where he is now engaged in the 
real estate business. His wife died in 1858, and he is now living with 
his second wife. Henry C. has passed the greater part of his life in 
this immediate vicinity, his youth being spent on the farm within one 
mile of Settle Station. He has become possessed of an excellent 
education, having supplemented his primary instruction by a course 
under Prof. Dibble, then at Camden Point. Some time after reach- 
ing manhood, or in the spring of 1881, he embarked in his present 



1006 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

business, which, though somewhat small at the beginning, has been 
sul)stantially increased annually. On the 28th of Octol)er, 1880, 
Miss Allie A. Conway, daughter of John Conway, of Liberty, became 
his wife. She was born in Kentucky, but was reared and educated 
in Clay and Platte counties. Mo. One sou has been born of this mar- 
riage, John C. Mrs. Skillmau is a member of the Christian Church. 

J. I. SKILLMAN 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section 2, Post-office, Platte City). 

In the sketch of his brother, Henry C. Skillman, which appears on 
another page of this work, we have given a brief outline of the father 
of the subject of this sketch, who was one of the earliest settlers of 
the county, originally of Bourbon county, Ky., C. A. Skiilmun, now 
a resident of Kansas City, and who deserves special mention for his 
aid and influence in the development of this county. J. I. Skillmau 
first saw the light in this county, Feliruary 27, 1850. This county 
has been his home since that time, and very naturally he has gained an 
extensive acquaintance. Brought up to the occupation of farm- 
ing, he has followed it as his life occu|)ation, and his farm of 160 acres, 
which he has well improved, is, indeed, one of the most desirai)le 
homesteads in this neighl)orhood. In former years he was a student 
at William Jewell College, at Liberty, where he completed an already 
fair comnif)!) school education. Honest and industrious in his life 
work, he is respected by all his neighbors, and is meeting with excel- 
lent success. Mr. Skillman was married B'ebruary 14, 1878, to Miss 
Sallie C. Thomason, daughter of William Thomason, one of the sub- 
stantial agriculturists of Clay county. Their family consists of two 
children living: AUie and Christopher A. Mrs. Skillman is a meml)er 
of tlie Christian Church. 

GEORGE W. SPEARS 

(Farmer, Section 11, Post-offlce, Platte City). 

The military careers of those who enlisted in the late civil strife were 
of course very similar in the main, though differing very materially in 
different individuals. From the effect of his severe service in that 
struggle, Mr. S|)ears has not entirely recovered. In December, 1861, 
he enlisted in Clay Carr's company of the Home Guard, and the fol- 
lowing January in the regular Confederate army. Soon after the battle 
of Elkhoru he was taken sick with typhoid pneumonia, and in 1862 
was brought iiome, where, under the careful and tender nursing of his 
motiier, he regained his health sufficiently to re-enlist under Thorn- 
ton's command. Failing to cross the line, they were forced to disband. 
In August, 1864, Mr. Spears was captured and taken to the military 
prison at St. Joseph, from which he was discharged the following 
December. The conditions upon which his freedom were based, were 
taking the oath of allegiance and leaving the State ; he was reprieved 
from the latter sentence through the influence of Gen. Ben. F. Loan, 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1007 

after which he returned home. The next w|)ring he was engaged in 
freigliting across the phiins, i)ut in August, 18()5, settled permanently 
upon the place which he has since occupied. Mr. Spears' parents 
were S. F. and Elizabeth Spears, nee Keller, prominent residents of 
Kentucky in an early day. They removed to Clay county. Mo., in 
1840, and in 1842 to Platte county, purchasing a fine farm of a quar- 
ter section of land which his son now occupies. Here he remained 
until his death, August 31, 1879. His widow is now living with 
George W., a lady of rcmarkai)lc vigor and tenacity of life. Three 
of the six children born to them are now living: Annie, wife of Richard 
Loan ; Dora Crawford and George VV. The latter, the second in the 
family, was born .fune 8, 1849, on the homestead which he now owns, 
there being reared as a farmer and enjoying common school advant- 
ages. Ho remained here until about 14 years old, when he entered 
the Confederate service. January 19, 1871, Mr. Spears was married 
to Miss M;iry E. Hord, daughter of Mason Hord, of Plattsburg. They 
have four children : Mason, Beulah, George and Mabel. 

T. P. STARKS 

(Fanmir and Stock-raiser, Siictiou 4, Post-offleo, Weston). 

From the year 18.57 until his death in August, 1884, no man in 
Platte county was better respected or more highly appreciated for his 
many sterling good qualities, as a friend, citizen and neighbor, than 
Price Starks, the father of the subject of the present sketch. And 
the memory of him who bore this name is as reverently cherished 
as he himself was widely and well known. A prominent representa- 
tive and worthy son of this man is T. P. Starks, who was born in 
Scotland county. Mo., March 15, 1849. Price Starks was a Ken- 
tuckian by birth, who came to this State in 183(5, locating in Scotland 
county, from which he ren)oved to C^lay in 185() and to Platte in 1874. 
Young Starks grew to manhood in this county, and tiiough compara- 
tively young in years he has well sustained the reputation acquired by 
his illustrious f ither. He is regarded as a man of high character and 
is quite influential in agricultural and other affairs throughout the 
county, especially when we consider his age. He has a good farm, 
where he resides, of 181 acres of choice land, and in a good state of 
cultivation. Doccmi)er 11, 1884, Mr. S. was married. Miss Sallie 
Pope becoming his wife. She was the daughter of A. Pope, an early 
settler of this county, where she was born. 

PROBASCO THOMAS 

(Manager of Phujiiix Mill and Elevator Company, Tracy) . 

The subject of this sketch was l)orn and raised near Connersville, 
Ind. Is descended on his father's side from an old and respected New 
York family, and on his mother's side from the Harluns, who came 
from Kentucky to where Connersville now stands when that valley 
was an unbroken wilderness. When the war broke out, being then 



1008 HISTOKY OF CLAY COUNTY. 

in the vigor of young manhood, young Thomas shouldered a musket 
and entered the Federal service as a private soldier in the Forty-first 
regiment Indiana volunteers. He gradually rose from the ranks, and 
at the end of three years' hard service came home in coiumand of his 
company and mustered them out. After settling up the affairs of his 
old company, Capt. Thomas returned to the army again as a private 
soldier in the Eighth regiment, First veteran army corps, army of the 
Potomac. He was again immediately promoted, and the end of the 
war found him chief clerk of and in charge of the books of head- 
quarters of the garrison of Washington, D. C. In 1865 Mr. Thomas 
was married to Miss Mary A. Sumniitt, of Bloomington, Ind., and 
the young couple came West and settled on their farm, near Platte 
City, Mo. Mr. Thomas was now surrounded by men who had been 
either citizens or soldiers of the late Confederacy, and, on account of 
his outspoken attachment to the cause of the Union, encountered to 
some extent their displeasure. His ability, however, to attend to his 
own business, his well tilled fields, the unobstrusive life of himself 
and his noble wife, soon gained them many friends. In 1868 Mr. 
Thomas became the choice of his party for county treasurer, but was 
beaten. Later on he consented to run on his party's ticket as candi- 
date for the State Legislature, and received a large complimentary 
vote from the Democratic party. In 1880 he assisted in the organi- 
zation of the Pha3nix Milling and Elevat(n" Company, and at once be- 
came its treasurer and business manager. They have a large merchant 
mill, and one of the largest and finest elevators in Western Missouri. 
Their business extends to all parts of Central Missouri, Iowa and 
Illinois, and is constantly growing. 

KIMBLE THOMAS 

(Farmer, Section 15, Post-office, Platte City). 

Mr. Thomas is one of the most successful fruit growers in Platte 
county, and though still comparatively a young man, he has risen to a 
position and a reputation among the citizens of this county which 
might well be envied b}' one older in years and experience. He has 
devoted the most of his life to fruit culture and upon his tract of 80 
acres of excellent land he has 21,000 apple trees, besides an abun- 
dance of cherries, plums, etc. It is his desire and intention to have a 
nursery second to none in this part of the count}', and every indica- 
tion points to a fulfillment of this wish. Mr. Thomas was brought 
up in Ohio, having l)een born there June 19, 1856. His father, 
William Thomas, and his mother, formerly Elizabeth Guire, were both 
natives of Pennsylvania, though the former was originally of Welsh 
extraction. He and his wife went to California in 1849, where he died 
in 1869, but his widow still makes her home in that State. Kimble 
Thomas was married March 2, 1882, to Miss Rosa Packer. They have 
one child, an interesting little daughter, named Laura. Mrs. Thomas 
is a daughter of I. C. and Sarah A. (Rosenborry) Packer, the former 
of whom was one of the most respected residents of Platte county. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1009 

and a man well known throughout this community. Coming here in 
1868, he purchased a mill in partnership with E. M. Harrington and 
Mr. P.'s two sons. From that time until his death, January 16, 1884, 
he was prominently and actively interested in milling. Out of the 
original Johnson Mill, on Big creek, came what has since been known 
as Packer's Mill. Besides the flouring department there is an excel- 
lent steam saw mill in connection. Mrs.'T. is one of five children. 

B. F. WHITELEY 

(Stock-raiser and Dealer, Post-office, Platte City). 

Every one who knows anything about the mercantile interests of 
New York City, especially that part relating to its financial affairs, or 
who has kept posted from time to time in various inventions as they 
have been introduced, will recognize at a glance the father of Mr. 
Whiteley, or " Frank," as he is more familiarly called. A. Wiiite- 
ley was a native of Ohio and was a man possessed of a great amount 
of ingenuity. Disposing of his most valuable invention, the Champion 
Reaper and Mower, he moved to Now York City, where he established 
a bank and soon became widely known among the influential moneyed 
men of the country. In 1865 he removed westward, locating for a 
time in this county, but subsequently he went to California, where he 
at present resides. One daughter is also living in that State. Frank 
Whiteley, a worthy representative of such a father, was born in Clark 
county, O., April 23, 1860. He accompanied his parents to this 
county upon their removal here and has since continued to make it 
his home. In his younger days he enjoyed excellent educational ad- 
vantages, supplementing his primary course by attending Denison 
University at Grandville, O. October 20, 1880, when in his twenty- 
first year, Mr. Whiteley was married. Miss Mary A. Miller, a most 
estimable young lady, becoraiug his wife. She was only spared to 
him, however, a little over three years, her death occurring January 
6, 1884. Her loss was keenly felt l>y a large circle of friends and ac- 
quaintances. Mr. Whiteley has become quite an adept in the stock 
business and makes a specialty of raising Poland-China hogs. He 
takes great interest in importing stock from Ohio, Illinois and Indiana, 
and has stock from the latter State recorded in the Central Poland- 
China Record of Indiana. He owns 110 acres of land, known as the 
Todd farm, one of the finest fruit farms in the county, included in 
which are to be found varieties of the Japanese persimmons, spice 
woods, etc. 

W. A. WILLHOITE 

(Farmer, Section 2, Post-office, Weston). 

lor about two years Mr. Willhoite has been residing upon his 
present place, having purchased it in 1883. Here he has a good farm of 
160 acres, which he is cultivating in an excellent manner. Of German 
and Scotch ancestry, he was l)orn in Oldham county, Ky., September 
5, 1843, and in 1855 accompanied his father to Platte county. Mo., 



1010 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

where he has since been actively and successfully engaged in follow- 
ing the occupation to which he was lirought up. We should except, 
however, the period during which he served in the war. Septemlier 
3, 1861, he enlisted in Co. B, Weston's regiment of the State Guard, 
and in 1862 entei-ed the regular Confederate service, becoming a 
member of Col. Stein's regiment. He served faithfully and with dis- 
tinction in the battles of Pea Ridge, Jenkin's Fein-y, Pleasant Hill, 
and others, being nmstered out at Shreveport. In 1865 he returned 
home and resumed his farming operations. On the 31st of March, 
1875, Mr. Willhoite was united in marriage to Miss Rebecca Lamar, 
a native of this county, whose ancestors were originally from Tennes- 
see. It should have been stated before that the ancestors of Mr. 
Willhoite were early settlers in Vii'ginia, and especially were they 
pioneers in Kentucky. Mr. and Mrs. Willhoite have two children : 
Fredda and Elmer T. 

G. A. WOODBRIDGE 

(Station Agent of the K. C, St. Jo. & C. B. and the C, R. I. & P. Railroads, at Beverly 

Station) . 

In the work of sketching the lives of the citizens of Platte county 
there is of course much similarity in the facts given, but occasionally 
one is met with whose life varies not a little from those of the gener- 
ality of men ai'ound him. Here is a case of that kind. Mr. Wood- 
bridge's father was a native of Massachusetts, and was possessed of 
rare intellectual endowments. He was a graduate of Yale College. 
George's mother, whose maiden name was Jane McConnell, was born 
in Ohio, though her parents were of Scotch ancestry. The birth of 
G. A. occurred January 18, 1856, at Crown Point, Ind., at which 
place he continued to reside until he was about 20 years of age. 
Going to Joliet, 111., he was in the employ of J. E. Shaw, Esq., in 
the brick business, also giving his attention to other matters. In 
January, 1879, he entered the employ of the railroad company at 
Weston as night (telegraph) operator, remaining here for aliout one 
year. He was then stationed at diflerent points as operator until ac- 
cepting the agency of the office at Sugar Lake, from whence in about 
a year ill health compelled him to leave. After operating at various 
places until May, 1882, he was given his present position, which he 
has since continued to fill with great satisfaction to the company and 
to the people of this place. Courteous and affal)le in his demeanor, 
and of an obliging disposition, his popularity should not be wondered 
at. Mr. Woodbridge was married June 28, 1883, to Miss Lizzie 
Ellinger, a most estimable 3'oung lady and an accomplished musician. 
She is a native of Missouri, being born and raised in Weston. Her 
birth occurred April 17, 1857. 



i^^g^izai 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

GREEN TOWNSHIP. 

Boundary aud Area^Nature of the Soil — Its Adaptability for Agricultural Pur 
poses — Timber — Stock-raising Industry — Early Settlers — New Market — When 
and by Whom Laid Out — Originally Called Jacksonville — Buena Vista — Camden 
Point — Location, Etc. — Atchison Junction — Dearborn — Sketch of Singleton 
Woods — Biographical. 

Green township is bounded on tlie north by Buchanan county, on 
the east by Preston township, on the south by Fair township, and on 
the west by Weston and Marshall townships. It is one of the largest 
municipal townships of the county, and is ten miles from east to west 
and seven and a quarter miles from north to south. The soil of this 
township ranks with the best in the county, and is remarkable for its 
uniformity and its adaptibility to agricultural and grazing purposes. 
There is very little waste land in the whole township, aud scarcely an 
acre can be found that is not valuable for growing grain or grass. 
The soil is principally a loam of great fertility, and sufSciently undul- 
ating to avert disaster to the crops in extremely wet seasons, and 
yet sufficiently retentive of moisture to preserve them from total 
failure in extreme droughts. The natural arrangements aiforded the 
early settlors ample scope for selecting their lands with a proper 
division of timber and prairie, and this has resulted in the establishment 
of some of the best organized farms for mixed husbandry in the 
county. The timber is principally white oak, black oak, elm, hickory 
and walnut. The township is well watered by the Platte river (which 
flows from north to south on its east boundary). Bee creek and other 
smaller streams, and untailing, living water is of easy access in well 
distributed localities throughout the entire township. So well is this 
township adapted to general, mi.xed and varied farming, that the entire 
territory is fenced, and either under the plow, in blue grass pasture or 
meadow. 

In population this township ranks second of the 10 townships, the 
census of 1880 giving it 2,425. Its inhal)itants are engaged almost 
exclusively in farming and stock-raising. Within the past few years 
great attention has been given to thoroughbred stock, both short horn 
aud Hereford cattle, and the interest taken in this industry, and tlie 

(1011) 



1012 HISTORY or PLATTE COUNTY. 

well improved condition of the farms, indicate their general pros- 
perity. 

EARLY SETTLERS. 

Among the early settlers of Green township were Isaac Dean, Edward 
Ohlhausen, Warren Harris, Richard Waters, John Jack, the Duncan 
family, Henry Brooks, Neal Burgess, Wm. Kincaid, Jas. Burnes & 
sons. Lance Woodward, John Eldridge, Willis Cartwright, Archibald- 
Perrin, John C. Bywaters, Henry James, Wm. Fincher, Robert 
Mitchell, Joshua Tofflemeyer, the Holland famil}', and others. 

NEW MARKET. 

The second town in the county was Jacksonville, laid off by Jacob 
Adam son, who came to Platte from Ray county. Being a Tennee- 
seean and a devoted admirer of Gen. Jackson, he insisted that Jack- 
sonville must be the name of his town, but when a post-office was 
about to be established it was found that some other admirer of the 
hero of the Hermitage had his Jacksonville, and Adamson was com- 
pelled, very reluctantly, to change the name of his town, and he called 
it New Market, a name it has ever since borne. 

It is situated on Bee creek, 12 miles north of Platte City, and 10 
miles northeast of Weston, and three miles south of the line dividing 
the counties of Platte and Buchanan. It is in the midst of a country 
unsurpassed in fertility of soil. 

The community is moral and intelligent, and the churches of all 
the religious denominations are well attended and liberally supported, 
and schools of a good class are maintained. Her population is about 
ISO. 

The business of the town has been injured, to some extent, by the 
laying off of the town of Dearborn, two miles northeast, on the Atchi- 
son Branch of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad. 

BUENA VISTA. 

In 1841 James Burnes founded the town of Buena Vista, a short 
distance north of Camden Point. A post-office was established and 
D. D. Burnes made postmaster. Several stores, a blacksmith shop, 
etc., were in operation, and the town prospered for eight or ten 
years, and then wont down, the business of the town removing to 
Camden Point. 

CAMDEN POINT. 

Camden Point, seven miles northeast of Platte City, and ten miles 
from Weston, was constituted a town by William Kincaid about the 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1013 

year 1848. The original intention of the founder was to make the 
place one for educational purposes, and to which end he and other 
prominent citizens directed their energies. Their efforts were suc- 
cessful, and in the summer of 1851 they erected a most excellent 
building at a cost of about $75,000. A full history of the school is 
given in another part of this work. 

Camden Point is located in the midst of an unsurpassed population 
morally, socially, religiously, and in all the qualities constituting a 
o;ood society. It is a place of considerable business, and is situated 
one-half mile from the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, 
from which point a large shipping business is done. Her churches are 
good and her public schools libcrallj' sustained. 

ATCHISON JUNCTION. 

In the eastern central part of the township is Atchison Junction. It 
has one store, depot, etc. 

DEARBORN. 

Dearborn, five miles from Atchison Junction, and two miles northeast 
of New Market, on the Atchison branch of the Chicago, Rock Island 
and Pacific Railroad, is quite a shipping point, and contains two or 
three general stores, lumber yard, blacksmith shop, post-ofiice and 
depot building. Its population is about 50. 

We copy from the St. Joseph Gazette the following in reference 
to an eccentric character of Green township : — 

THE ANCHORET OF SINGLETON WOODS. 

A short distance south of New Market, Platte county, Mo., and 
near the spot where the old log school-house stood in which the Hon. 
James N. Burues attended school when a hoy, there lives an old man 
who has a history of more than ordinary interest. 

This man is none other than Thomas Cannon, or " Uncle Tommy," 
as the people in that locality have called him for the past thirty-five 
or forty years. 

Yes, he lives, and that is almost as much as can be said, for it is by 
the merest thread that life now hangs to his poor feeble bod}', which 
has passed through eighty-eight troubled years. 

Uncle Tommy lives entirely alone, and for the last few years has sel- 
dom been seen away from his hermitage. He was born almost a cen- 
tury ago on the Isle of Man, an island in the Irish Sea on the coast of 
England, and lived there until a man of middle age, when he deter- 
mined to come to America, accom[)anied by a nephew who he per- 
suaded to accompany' him, and whose mother opposed it. 

On his arrival in this country he resided for a short time in Cleveland, 



1 014 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

O., in company with his young nephew, to whom he became very 
closely attached ; in fact he speaks of him now with as much fond- 
ness as a mother would of her babe, but Uncle Tommy was destined 
to have trouble, for the young lad became sick and died, leaving him 
a friendless wanderer in a strange land. 

Uncle Tommy then wrote his sister of the death of her boy, also 
informing her of his intention of going farther West. 

She desired him to return home, but he could never face his sister 
after persuading her only boy to leave her, though he did it with 
good intentions. He has never heard from her since, and she thinks 
him dead long ago. 

Early in life, like most young men. Uncle Tommy had his little 
love affair, which changed his life entirely. He fell in love with a 
beautiful, blue-eyed, light haired girl, whose winning manner and 
lovely dispositon made such an impression upon him that he never 
recovered from its elfects. 

They were engaged, and everything looked bright and cheerful for 
the future. But alas ! it was not to be. Just a few days before the 
wedding was to take place his affianced was taken seriously ill, and 
on the morning of the day set for the wedding death robbed Uncle 
Tommy of his fondest hope in life, and he never smiled again. 

After burying his nephew in Cleveland he came to Platte count}' 
and worked at his trade, that of a stone mason, until tlie commence- 
ment of the Civil War when, as old as he was, he got his tool sack, 
put in his tools, and started South, and under pretense of hunting 
work he reached the Southern army unmolested, and fought for the 
Confederate cause until the close of the war, when he returned to 
Platte county. For the first few years after his return he worked at 
his trade, and built in the neighborhood six or seven miles of stone 
wall, without assistance from any one. 

As has been said before, he lives alone, and if he only lived on an 
island and had a cat and parrot he would make a first-rate Robinson 
Crusoe. His house is built of stone and is about (5x10 feet inside, 
with a fireplace in one end, and little smoked windows about eighteen 
inches square, in the north and south sides. The furniture consists 
of one chair and a stool, one cot and three cracker boxes ; he also 
has an iron pot, a couple of tin pans and a tin cup. His diet consists 
of tea and crackers only; he has not tasted pure water for years. He 
has always been a great reader, and in his more prosperous days sub- 
scribed to half a dozen or more weekly newspapers, including the 
Gazette, all of which poverty has compelled him to discontinue. He 
now reads only his Bible, and days come and go and bring forth no 
change. 

The nearest neighbor supplies him with wood, and occasionally 
breaks the silence of his desolate home, which is surrounded by a 
high, thick hedge, by giving him a call. Once this winter he found 
Uncle Tommy just in time to prolong his life for a time. He had 
been lying on his back for ten days suffering with rheumatism, and 
could barely manage to reach his tea and crackers. It would prob- 



' HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1015 

al)ly have been better for the old man if he had not been discovered, 
for it will only be a repetition of the same snfferings when he will 
leave this world of which he has seen so little pleasure. 

May the sufferings of the good old hermit be as slight as possible 
the remainder of his days, is the ardent wish of the writer, who, until 
ten days ago, had not seen him for fifteen years, and in all probability 
will never see him again. 



BIOGRAPHICAL. 



HON. JAMES W. ANDERSON 

(Farmer aud Stock-raiser, Section 4, Post-office, Camdeu Point) . 

In any worthy history of Platte county the name that heads this 
sketch must always be given a place as that of one of the prominent, 
representative citizens of the county. Mr. Anderson was a son of 
Capt. Peyton Anderson, a native of Virginia, who, in the earlv days 
of that State, was a muster captain. His wife was Miss Sarah S. 
Jones, originally of the same State as himself. Capt. Anderson lived 
to be about 70 years of age, dying in Virginia in 1854. He had be- 
come a well known and highly respected citizen of the vicinity in 
which he made his home. Of the union here mentioned, James W. 
Anderson was born, in Rappahannock county, of the Old Dominion, 
May 28, 1827. He reached manhood at his birthplace, after which 
he remained in Virginia about two years, then removing to Missouri 
and settling first in Lafayette county in 1850. The following tall he 
came to Platte county and has c(mtinued to make his home within its 
boundaries since that time. He was then located at New Market, and 
having, while in his native State, followed the occupation of teaching, 
he very naturally resumed it upon settling here. The reputation 
which he gained as an instructor at that time has not forsaken him in 
later years. Mr. Anderson was married in the county February 2, 
1854, to Miss Lucy E. Bywaters, daughter of John C. Bywaters, 
formerly from Virginia, and one of the early settlers of Platte county. 
Mi's. A. was born in Callaway count}', removing here at the age of 
two years. After his marriage Mr. Anderson engaged in the pursuit 
of farming, to which he had been brought up, also teaching during the 
winter months for a number of years, or until about 1876. Years ago 
he became well known as one of the public-spirited citizens of this 
part of the county, and in 1880, when it became iiecessar}' to elect a 
man to represent the county in the State Legislature, he was very 
fitly chosen to fill the position, which he did, proving himself a sound, 
conservative and faithful representative of the people. A man of 
strong natural ability and good sober judijinent, he was well qualified 

59 



1016 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

to pass upon all proposed measures of legislation affecting the welfare 
and prosperity of the State. He served in the Thirty-ffrst General 
Assembly in both the regular and extra sessions. Mr. Anderson 
owns a farm of 256 acres, all fenced and in good improvement, a 
strilcing feature of which is a new and commodious two-story resi- 
dence, and other necessary outbuildings. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson 
have two sons. Temple P. and Joseph M., both young men, at home. 
Mi's. A. is a member of the Baptist Church. 

JACOB N. BLACKBURN 

(Telegraph Operator and Station Agent, C. R. I. & P. R. R., Camden Point). 

Mr. Blackburn is a Virginian, and is of the same family from which 
the Kentucky Blackburus sprang. He was born in Grayson county, 
of the old Dominion, June 13, 1846. His parents were Laraliuth Black- 
burn and Nancy (Hanks) Blackburn, both natives of North Carolina. 
But each was of Virginia descent. The father died when young 
Blackburn was quite young. There were eight children in the family, 
seven of whoin were sons. Left an orphan by the death of his father, 
and the widowed mother having a lai'ge family of children, young 
Blackburn began to do for himself at the age of twelve years, and 
without help from others, or education. He was, therefore, a self- 
made and self-educated man. Though only in his sixteenth year when 
the war broke out, he promptly enlisted in the Confederate army. 
Napoleon always said that boys make the best soldiers. Experience 
in all wars proves the correctness of his opinion. They are enthusi- 
astic, fearless and always ready to obey orders. These are the quali- 
ties that go to make a valuable, dashing soldiery. Though a mere 
boy, young Blackburn followed the flag of the Confederacy with 
unfaltering devotion, and through hardships and dangers and wounds 
and imprisonments that would have chilled the enthusiasm of any but 
the most resolute and patriotic. He was a member of the Fourth Vir- 
ginia infantry and served throughout the war, taking part in nearly all 
the great battles of Virginia and contiguous sections of the country. 
He was wounded no less than thirteen times, and nine ditferent bullet 
scars are still plainly visible on his body, one distinctly on his fore- 
head. That, alone, would have made him an accepted and honored 
member of the Old Guard under the first Napoleon. A soldier could 
bear no prouder decoration than the scar from a wound in the 
forehead received in open battle. In May, 1864, he was taken prisoner 
and held from that time, at Point Lookout, Md., until the close of the 
war. Young Blackburn then came West and spent two years in Min- 
nesota and Dakota. Returning to Virginia in 1867, he was married 
there November 6, of the following year, to Miss Thurma, a daughter 
of Stephen Ward, of Grayson county. He then came West and made 
his home at Burlinganie, Kan. Two years later he came to Platte 
City. Here he worked at anything he could get to do for a time, and 
after a while learned telegraphy. In 1881 he was appointed agent at 
Camden Point, and he still holds the position. He makes an efficient 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1017 

agent and is popular with both tiie officials of the company and the 
general public. Mr. and Mrs. Blackburn have six children: Ellen, 
Frank, Orville, Homer, Burton and Katie. His two eldest sons, 
though the oldest is only about fourteen years of age, are good tele- 
graph operators themselves, and are of much assistance to their 
father. Mr. Blackburn is a member of the A. F. and A. M. at Cam- 
den Point. 

BENJAMIN F. BOYDSTON 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-offlce, Edgerton). 

Mr. Boj'dstou is a worthy representative of one of the early and 
respected families in this part of the State. His parents, Henry and 
Mary Boydston, came to Western Missouri as earl}^ as 18.36. The 
following year they settled on the Platte Purchase, pre-empting land 
in what is now Platte county. The father improved a large farm and 
became one of the substantial men of his vicinity. He held the 
office of justice of the peace and some other local positions, and he 
and his wife were leading and active members of the M. E. Church. 
Their house was the stopping place of itinerant ministers of that de- 
nomination and of other churches, and there they always found a 
hearty welcome and every comfort and good cheer the country 
afforded. Mr. Boydston, Sr., and wife, when the division of the 
church came about, took sides with the Southern branch of it, and 
their home was used as a meeting house for a long time until their 
church building was put up. Mr. Boydston, Sr., went to California 
in 1851, but never returned, dying while absent on the Pacific coast, 
July 19, 1852, and there he was buried. His good wife survived until 
March 6, 1866, her death occurring on the same day as the demise of 
Alexander Campbell, the founder of the Reform or Christian Church. 
Benjamin F. Boydston was born in this county and was reared on the 
farm. He was the fifth in a family of children. After he grew up 
he was married, in 1867, to Miss Martha A. Borden, a daughter of John 
and Mary Borden, of Jackson county, but formerly of Tennessee. 

After his marriage Mr. Bo3'dston, the subject of this sketch, con- 
tinued farming, to which he had been brought up, and has been quite 
successful. He is one of the well-to-do farmers of this vicinity. On 
his farm, which contains 320 acres, he has a good, comfortable resi- 
dence, erected at a cost of $8,000, and other improvements to corre- 
spond. On his place there are two miles of good stone fencing, 
supposed to be as durable as the "Rock of Ages." He is engaged 
in general fanning and stock-raising, growing large quantities of grain 
and considerai)le numbers of hogs, cattle and other stock. He also 
has 264 acres of good Platte river bottom land. Mr. and Mrs. 
Boydston have had seven children : Mary L. (deceased at childhood), 
Marvin C, Wightman M., Vincil, Vandiver, Cora E., James E., 
Thomas H., Benjamin F. and Martha E. They are also rearinij- .i 
nephew and niece, Sammie Tilford and Nannie Stone. Mr. and Mr.-. 
Boydston are meml)ers of the .\I. E. Church South. Mr. B. is a 
member of the I. O. O. F. He has served as justice of the peace and 
director of the public schools, still holding the latter office. 



1018 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

GIDEON L. BROWN 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Wallace). 

If it is true that young men whose fethers have risen to enviable 
prominence in public affairs iu life inherit strong paternal character- 
istics, then surely Mr. Brown would unconsciously and without eflbrt 
attain to many high positions in any community in which he might 
live. His father, Hon.. T. J. Brown, is now presiding judge of Bu- 
chanan county, and a man well respected and highly honored in that 
vicinity. Admitting that Gideon L. is possessed of some of the better 
qualities of his father, we can truthfully say that his present position 
iu life has been reached through his own energy, perseverance and 
self-determination. Judge Brown came originally from Tennessee, 
and was one of the first to enter the Platte Purchase at its pioneer set- 
tlement. Going from here to Buchanan county, he went thence to 
Nodaway county, where he served on the bencli for several 3^ears. 
Subsequently, however, he returned to St. Joseph, where he has been 
honored with numerous local and other places of importance and trust. 
The subject of this sketch was born in Buchanan county, Jul}^ 26, 
1842, his education, however, having been acquired in Nodawa}' 
county. He was engaged in farming with his father until the breaking 
out of the war, when he enlisted in August, 1861, iu Co. B, 
Second Missouri cavalry (Shank's regiment). He participated in the 
battles of Blue Mills, Lexington, Pea Ridge, Prairie Grove and in all 
the battles of Shelby's brigade, finally surrendering at Shreveport, 
La. Returning home in July, 1865, he at once entered actively upon 
his former occupation of farming, following it in Buchanan county 
until 1867, when he became a citizen of Platte county. In 1872 he 
bought his present homestead, which consists of 160 acres, a place 
well improved with superior buildings and other necessary fixtures 
upon it. He has another place of 104 acres in this vicinity. March 
8, 1866, Mr. Brown married Miss Amanda Ma\'et, who died May 10, 
1879, leaving three children, Emma L., Henry and Nannie. His 
second wife was formerly Miss Laura Squires, to whom he was married 
December 6, 1879. This union has proved a most happy one. 

J. S. BROWN, M. D. 

(Physician and Surgeon, New Market). 

Dr. Brown has had only about four years' experience in the prac- 
tice of medicine, Iiut is a man of thorough general and professional 
education, and Since his removal to New Market, iu 1884, has 
followed the practice at that place with uninterrupted energy and 
perseverance, and with more than ordinary success for a young man, 
especially as a physician at the bed-side of the sick, if not in the 
accumulation of propert}'. The confidence of the people which he 
enjoys to such an extent, is well deserved, and, we know, sincerely 
appreciated. Dr. Brown is of Irish and German descent, representa- 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1019 

tives of the family having settled in Noi-th Carolina and Tennessee in 
an early day. However, he is a native of Mississippi, where he was 
born March 7, 1858. He eai"ly made such progress in his prepara- 
tory studies that he was qualified to enter college, and besides being 
favored with -opportunities for olitaining an education in the vicinity 
of his birthplace, he was a student in Columbia, Tenn. His pur- 
pose had long lieen to devote himself to the luedical profession, and 
upon coming of age he diligently engaged in its study. In 1881 he 
graduated with distinction at the Missouri Medical College, which he 
had attended for sometime previousl}', and during the spring of the 
same year he commenced to practice in Charleston, Miss. In 1884, 
as mentioned above. Dr. Brown became permanently located at this 
place. On the 15th of April, 1883, he was united in marriage with 
!\lis3 Livie Lea Bailey, also a native of Mississippi, and a lady of great 
strength of character and rare qualities of head and heart. The Doc- 
tor and Mrs. Brown have one son, John Maughs Sampson. 

CAPT. SIMEON HAYDEN BRYANT 

(Druggist, New Market) . 

The first record of the Bryant family, as far back as we can learn, 
appears in the birth of John Bryant, who was born in 17(30, in Vir- 
ginia, although it is known that the family primarily was from 
England. It is recorded of John Bryant that at the age of 12 years 
he served in the Revolutionary War, after wiiich, being a civil engi- 
neer by profession, he was engaged in surveying the State of Kentucky. 
It is also said that he and Daniel Boone were the two first white men 
who stood on the banks of the Kentucky river. In 1786 Mr. Bryant 
married Miss Owsley, a sister of Gov. Owsley, of Kentucky, and they 
were amongst the first settlers of that State. Their family consisted 
of 17 children. John Bi-yant died in 1833, and his widow in 1848, at 
which latter date there were 220 direct descendants living. Jona- 
than Owsley, the father of Smieon and the eleventh child in his 
parents' family, was brought up in Kentucky, his wife being Miss 
Martlia Kissinger, a sister of Hendley Kissinger, who donated liber- 
ally towards the building of the Female Orphan School of Camden 
Point. Their family consisted of 12 children, of whona Simeon H. 
was the youngest. He was l)orn February 27, 1839, in the Blue Grass 
State, there receiving a good education. Coming to Platte county in 
1857, he engaged in agricultural pursuits, and also devoted two years 
to the blacksmithing business, continuing it until the outl)reak of 
the war. Then following his own convictions as to what he I)elieved 
to be right, he enlisted in the Confederate service, under Capt. Gib- 
son. He was in the battles of Wilson's Creek, Lexington, Pea Ridge 
and in a skirmish near Elkhorn Tavern, in 1863, was taken prisoner 
and confined in the military prison in St. Louis, from which he suc- 
ceeded in making his escape some six months later. 

Going to Louisville, Ky., he soon entered into the mercantile bu->i- 
ness at Cralj Orchard with his brother, but in about three years dis- 



1020 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

posed of his interest in the establishment to Chris. Leavel. Now 
enterinjjinto the drug trade, he followed that until 1876, at which time 
he settled at New Market and opened a dru"; store in connection with 
a stock of fancy (groceries. Capt. Br3'ant has considerable real estate 
in this county, and since his settlement here has become. prominently 
identified with the progress and development of this county. He has 
served as postmaster of New Market for three years. In this connec- 
tion, perhaps, it would be well to state that his title of captain was 
given him on account of his having commanded a company of militia 
in Kentuck}', in 1868. Capt. Bryant has been twice married; first, 
Maj' 16, 1865, to Miss Susan W. Myers, also of Kentucky, and b}' 
this union there were five children : Eugene, Estella, Simeon, John 
and George. One son, Willie is deceased. On the 16th of Ma}', 

1874, Mrs. B.'s clothing accidently caught fire and before assistance 
could reach her she was fatally burned, her death occurring June 23, 

1875. Septeml)er 17, 1875, Capt. Br^yant was again married, his 
second wife having formerly been ]\Iiss Zerelda C. Bryant, a descend- 
ant of the same branch of the family from whence the Captain came. 
Ther.e are five children living of this union: Sallie, Jessie, Susie, 
Charlie and MoUie. The}' have lost one son, Handley. Capt. Bryant 
formerly belonged to the Crab Orchard Masonic Lodge of Kentucky, 
from which he dimitted. He also has his final card from the Odd 
Fellows' Order from the same place. 

COENELIUS M. BURGESS (deceased) 

(Vicinity of Dearborn) . 

Mr. Burgess died at his homestead in this county April 2, 1859. 
He was one of the old and respected citizens of the county, and for 
many years had been a prominent farmer and stock-raiser. Mr. Bur- 
gess was a man of high character and of many qualities of mind and 
heart that endeared him to those who had the good fortune of his 
acquaintance and friendship. He was a man of sterling intelligence 
and good general education and information. In early life he was 
engaged in mercantile pursuits, but even l)efore reaching middle age 
he turned his attention entirely to agriculture, for which he had a 
decided and controlling taste. A man of good habits and excellent 
business qualifications, he of course became successful as an agricul- 
turist. He became a large landholder in this county and in Kansas, 
and left a large estate at his death for distril)ution among his children. 
In every relation of life he was a man whose good qualities shone forth 
with more than ordinary brightness. Asa citizen he was law-abiding 
and true to every duty ; as a neighbor and friend he was one whose 
good opinion was prized by those who knew him above that of most 
men ; and as a luisl)and and fatiier his memory is cherished with the 
most sincere and tender solicitude. He is remembered by all as a 
true and good man, whose citizenship was an honor to the county and 
whose life was a benefit to all around him. Mr. Burgess was born in 
Lawrence couuty, Ky., June 4, 1809. His parents were John and 



HISTOKV OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1021 

Jane (Shannon) Biirixess, and his paternal grandfather was Edward 
Burgess. 

At an early day his father moved with his family from Virginia to 
Kentucky, and the son, the subject of this sketch, was born and reared 
in Lawrence county, of that State. At the age of twenty-one he en- 
gaged in business in Kentucky, and in 1832 was married to Miss 
Vienna Spencer, daughter of .lames and Sarah L. (Martin) Spencer. 
Six years later he removed with his family to Buchanan county, Mo., 
but in 1843 settled in Platte county. Here he engaged in farming 
and stock-raising, improvinir his own farm and commencing on small 
means. But l)y industry and good management he steadily pros- 
pered, and became amply successful as an agriculturist. At the time 
of his death he was a member of the Methodist Church, and had been 
for one year before. His wife still survives him, a motherly hearted, 
good woman, gi'eatly beloved in her own family and esteemed by all 
around her. They had a family of eight children: Sarah K., wife 
of Floyd Shannon; Nancy J., widow of Samuel Nower, deceased; 
Julia D., Lou Ella V., George W., Cornelius M. (deceased), John J. 
and Flo3'd S. Tiieir son Cornelius M. was murdered in Texas, May 
20, 1883. He was a lawyer of great promise and had been district 
judge iieforc he was 2d years old. 

THOMAS J. CARSON 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section 5, Post-otfice, Camdeu Point). 

Mr. Carson has been residing on his present place since 1867, 
though his acquaintance with the county dates from a much earlier 
period. His father, James Carson, married Martha Keller, and they 
were both Kentuckians by birth. In the spring of 1839 the family 
removed to Missouri, locating in Platte county the following spring. 
Here the father entered land and improved a farm, which he subse- 
quently sold, in 1852, then returning to Clay county. There he died 
May 6, 1873, in the seventy-eighth year of his age. He had been a 
prominent man in public affairs of the county, having filled with dis- 
tinction several official positions, among others that of county asses- 
sor of Platte. Thomas J. was ])orn before the family's removal to 
this State, February 19, 1832. His youth was passed on the home 
farm and in the acquirement of a common school education, and in the 
spring of 1850 he accompanied his uncle, Jeff. Keller, and others 
across the plains to California. He spent about a year in tiie mines, 
but becoming ill returned by Panama and New Orleans, ascending the 
river to St. Louis. April 28, 1853, he was married to Miss Amanda 
Jeter, daughter of Hiram Jeter, one of the early settlers from Ken- 
tucky, she having been born in Fayette county, of that State, though 
brought up in this county. After his marriage, Mr. Carson farmed 
one year in Clay county and since that time has been a citizen of this 
vicinity, though having rented land some time after his removal here. 
Dui'ing the war he was ameml)erof the Paw-paw militia for home pro- 
tection. He has improved the place which he now occupies, by his 



1022 HISTORY OF TLATTE COUNTY. 

own efforts, and has a neat farm of 80 acres, all fenced and with good 
appurtenances. In 1874 Mr. C. was township collector, and he has also 
served as deputy sheriff for a number of years. In addition to this 
he has held other positions of trust and honor. Besides his farming 
operations he has achieved considerable prominence as an auctioneer, 
his services in this direction being often called for in both Clay and 
Platte counties. Mr. and Mrs. Carson have a family of seven chil- 
dren : Emma Belle, wife of C. H. Shortridge, of this county, but who 
died in August, 1873; James H., Charles E., Luther L., Maggie 
T., Maud, William W. and Thomas J., Jr. Mr. C. and wife' are 
members of the Christian Church at Camden Point, in which he is 
deacon. 

THOMAS J. DAVIS 

CFarmer and Stock-raiser, Post-ofSce, Weston) . 

The name that heads this sketch is borne by a man well and favor- 
ably known in this county, and particularly in Green township. His 
father, John H. Davis, moved with his family from Indiana in 1837, 
and settled in Platte count}'. Mo., at a time when the improvements 
in this vicinity were of a very primitive nature, and when obstacles 
had to be overcome which at this day would seem almost insurmount- 
able. His wife ^as formerly Margaret P. Denny, to whom he was 
married before leaving Indiana. Of the 10 children born to them 
nine are now living, and of these Thomas J., the subject of this sketch, 
was the sixth. He is now in his thirty-seventh year, having been born 
in this county April 19, 1849. His entire life has been passed within 
the vicinity of his present home, except for a period of about three 
years, during which time he was at Denison, Tex., whither he went 
in 1876, and during this period he was employed in the machine shops 
of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad. Since returning Mr. 
Davis has given almost his entire attention to agricultural pursuits, in 
which he has gained by no means an undeserved reputation for ability 
and efficiency as a manager. His farm embraces 230 acres of good 
land devoted to the raising of grain and stock, and besides farming in 
a general way he is much interested in the raising of a high grade of 
cattle. Mr. Davis is a married man, the maiden name of his wife 
having been Miss Rachel Doyle. Siie was a native of Illinois, l)ut her 
ancestors came originally from Ireland. Mr. and Mrs. D. have three 
children : Walter S., Arthur D. and Barton D. 

G. B. GABBERT 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, New Market) . 

Among those with whom Mr. Galibert is acquainted he is familiarly, 
but none the less respectfully, known as "Benton" Gabbert, and on 
account of his long residence within Platte county, having been 
brought iiere when two 3'cars old, his knowledge of this community, 
and particularly of the people with whom he has so long made his 
home, is extensi*ve and varied. His father was William Gabljcrt, who 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1023 

■ came to this county in 1844, being among the pioneers here. Ben- 
ton's birthplace was in the State of Indiana, and December 3, 1843, 
was the date of his entrance into this world. Brought to this county 
when very young (as has been said before), he grew up here and has 
since been satisfied to make his home in the vicinity of where his 
early life was spent. After completing his adolescence, he was 
favored with an opportunity for pursuing a course at Pleasant Ridge 
College, of which he did not fail to avail himself. Here he displayed 
that earnestness and thoroughness in the prosecution of his studies 
which have characterized his career as a business man and agricultur- 
ist in hiter years. Leaving school with the satisfaction of having 
received a good educational training, he at once entoi'ed upon tlie life 
in which he has lieen so successfid, that of farming. His present 
place consists of 350 acres of choice land well adapted for the pur- 
poses to wiiich it is devoted, that of raising stock, grass, grain, etc. 
He has excellent water facilities — an important consideration to the 
successful conduct of a stock farm, and his general improvements are 
worthy of more than passing notice. Particularly in his attention to 
the raising of the Hereford breed of cattle is he being especially 
favored, and he has representatives of the families of Dauphin XVIII., 
Ladylove, Sir Charles, Spartan, Prince Edward and Protection. Mr. 
Gabbert has been entirely successful in all his business enterprises, 
and ill general affairs is regarded as a man of superior judgment and 
business qualifications. In the discharge of his various duties he is 
quick and accurate and he is (liked hardly less for his pleasant, agree- 
able manners than he is esteemed for his ability as a business man. 
Personally, he is quite sociable, though there is nothing light or 
frivolous in his character. March 21, 1865, Mr. G. married Miss 
Alice Layton, daughter of Judge James H. Layton, of this county, 
whose death occurred in February, 18()7. Four children have been 
born to them, Eva, now at the Daughters' College, of Platte City ; 
William H., Smith and Lewis Cass. 

MILES HARRINGTON 

(Retired Farmer, Section 5, Post-office, Settle Station). 

One of the most prominent of the older citizens of Green township, 
and a man who has Ijeen actively interested with the progress and de- 
velopment of Platte county for nearly half a century, is Mr. Harring- 
ton, the subject of this sketch, now having reached the allotted age of 
three score and ten years. He was born ou the 9th of October, 1815, 
in the State of Tennessee, a State which has furnished many of Mis- 
souri's best citizens. His father, William Harrington, a native of 
North Carolina, married Miss Hannah Lowell, of the same State. 
When our subject was a child the family moved to Kentucky and 
thence to Illinois, coming to Missouri about 1820. They first settled 
in Howard county, but in 1827 wont to Chainton county, from there 
to Clay county, and subsequently to Daviess. They afterwards lo- 
cated in both Buchanan and Clay counties respectively, and finally. 



1024 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

ill or near the year 1851, Mr. Harrington, Sr., toolc a trip to Cali- 
fornia, which he inade his home for some two years. He continued 
to live with his children after this until his death, which occurred in 
Platte county in 1868. Young Miles was with the family during the 
various moves above mentioned, but in the fall of 1836 he pre-empted 
land here, and in the fall of 1837 moved from Daviess county, though 
he did not locate permanently in Platte until 1839. His original tract 
comprised 100 acres, to which he afterwards added b}- purchase until 
his estate contained about a section. He has sold, however, all but 
some 400 acres, a tract of excellent land, upon which are all neces- 
sary iniprovements. He has been an active and thorough farmer, 
and now in the quiet evening of life is spared to enjo}' the fruits of 
a life of honest toil and industry. Mr. Harrington has been four 
times married. First, in Clay county, in 1836, to Miss Levisa Fowler, 
and by this union there were two children. His second wife was Mrs. 
Sarah Clark, whose maiden name was Cole, and to them was born one 
daughter. His third marriage was to Mrs. SophronaBrown, a daugh- 
ter of Mr. Gaines. Mrs. H. was boru in Kentucky . On Deceml)er 
12, 1867, Mr. H. married for his present wife Miss Cinderella Peyton, 
whose father was Benjamin Peyton, of Eappahannock county, Va. 
She was reared and educated in Virginia. Mr. Harrington's children 
are as follows: R. N., of Platte county; William, who was killed in 
the army ; Elizabelh, wife of Richard By water, of this county ; Thomas, 
of Platte; Flora, now Mrs. Ben. Pixley, of Clay county; Jefferson 
D. Harrington, who married March 8, 1882, Miss Gertie Powell, daugh- 
ter of James M. Powell ; and the youngest, Nannie Harrington, a 
young lady at home. Mr. and Mrs. Harrington are memliers of the 
Christian Church. 

E. B. KIRTLEY 
(Post-office, Camden Poiut"). 

The Kirtley family have been settled in this countr}' since prior to 
the Revolutionary War. The family is of English origin, but what 
time its original founder came here is not detinitciy known. Certain 
it is, however, that the first settlement was made in Virginia. The 
founder of the family had four sons born to him — William, Frank, 
Elijah and Sinclair — and after his death his widow married Capt. 
Ben. Roberts, whose record and career in tlie Revolutionary War is 
such a well known matter of history that it is unnecessary for us to 
enter into any detail of his military life, save that he was sent to 
Kentucky to establish forts and defenses for the early settlers of that 
territor}'. The subject of this sketch is a descendant of William 
Kirtley who, after removing to Kentucky, died there. The father, 
boru in Virginia, spent his life in the former State, occupied with 
farming, and during the War of 1812 was a captain under Gen. 
William H. Harrison. His wife. Miss Anna Kyle, was born in Mar\'- 
land, a cousin of Daniel Boone. Some time after their marriage the 
family removed to Ohio, where she died. E. B. Kirtley was born iu 
Kentucky, April 10, 1809, but was raised in Ohio, where he received 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1025 

a liberiil education. After followino; blackstnithing for fifteen years 
he engaged in farming. In 1828 he returned to Kentucky, which was 
his home. until 1854. Going to Buchanan county, Mo., he remained 
there for some years. During the war, in common with many others, 
he suttered severe h)ss and injury by the depredations of the unprin- 
cipled men of both sides, but from this he has entirely I'ecovered. 
While in Buchanan county he dealt largelj- in fine stock and did more 
to improve the cattle in that county than any other man. In 1864 he 
made a trip to Montana, but in 1866 he came to Platte county. Mo., 
and l)egan merchandising atCatnden Point. After four years of mer- 
cantile experience he purchased his present farm of 160 acres of choice 
land, upon which he has built a comfortable house, and where he is now 
spending the evening of his life in comparative ease and retirement, 
resting in the assurance of having passed an active and not altogether 
useless life, and with the respect of all who know him. He is very 
courteous in his demeanor and a hospitable man. July 20, 1831, Mr. 
Kirtley married Miss Jane Montgomery, daughter of Adam Mont- 
gomery. She was spared to him until her death, April 10, 1875 ; she 
loft a family of five children living: Anna, wife of Dr. Watson, John 
E., F., J., and Philip. Mr. K. has been a member of the Baptist 
Church for fifty years. 

T. J. LAMAR 
(Farmer, Post-office, New Market). 

Among the better class of citizens of East Tennessee who came out 
to Platte county in an early d;iy of the county's history was the family 
of Henry Lamar, who settled here in 1843. He j)urchased and im- 
proved laud near the present site of New Market, where he success- 
fully followed farming for many years. His wife was formerly Eliza 
Kennedy, and by their union they raised a family of five children. T. 
J. Lamar, the subject of this sketch, was Ijorn the same year of his 
parents' settlement in this county, October 27, 1843. Brought up in 
tiiis county to the life of a farmer, he engaged in that occupation for 
himself upon i-eaching an age when it became necessary, for him to 
start out in life for himself, and to the original tract which he pur- 
chased he has added from time to time uutil he now owns 240 acres, 
tiie improvements of which are on a par with any to be found in a 
large region of country. He is very attentive to the conduct of his 
place, and is constantly being rewarded in a material way for the time 
si)ent in his industrious farming and good management. Mr. Lamar 
married Miss Mary J. Doyle, of this county. Heaven has blessed this 
marriage with six children : Henry A., James W., Daniel C, Mary 
E., T. J. and F. E. 

JAMES G. AND THOMAS J. LEWIS 

(Farmers, Post-office, New Market). 

These young agriculturists are worthy sons of Isaac T. Lewis, a 
man who, from the first, was intimatel}^ and uninterruptedly connected 



1026 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

and associated with the growth and development of Platte county. 
He had come here t'rora Jackson county, Mo., in 1837, and remained 
until 1849, when, drawn into the caravan which moved westward to 
the gold fields of the far off Eldorado, he went to California, but re- 
turned in 1851. In 1850 he was married to Miss Mary J. White, and 
in this county they reared their family of children. The father is 
now a resident of Andrew county, Mo., whither he went in 1882, and 
where he now has a pleasant and comfortable home. He is distantly 
I'elated to the world renowned pioneer and hunter, Daniel Boone. 
The sons, James G. and Thomas J., now own jointly 180 acres ot 
good land, lying adjacent to the town of New Market, which they are 
cultivating in a manner which can not fail to be of substantial results 
to them. Thomas J. Lewis has been twice married, his first wife, 
Fannie Lewis, a native of this county, to whom he was married Feb- 
ruary 24, 1880, having died November 14, 1883. On the 22d of 
April, 1885, Miss Agnes Belle Douglas became his second wife. 
James G. Lewis is also married, the maiden name of his wife having 
been Miss Hattie Lee Owen, a daughter of John T. Owen, whose 
biography is found elsewhere in this work. Their marriage was con- 
summated February 24, 1882. Mr. and Mrs. L. have one daughter, 
Eula Belle. 

WILLIAM A. LOWE 
(General Merchant, New Market). 

William A. Lowe was born m Indiana August 26, 1843, and his 
life from that time to the present is one which has been passed in a 
manner worthy of commendation, and one in which he may feel a 
pardonable amount of pride when looking back over his past career. 
When he was an infant he was brought by his parents to this county, 
they settling at Weston in the year 1844. The father, Eld. S. J. 
Lowe, after locating permanently at Weston, was engaged in brick 
making for a time and also in merchandising, besides filling his regu- 
lar appointments as a minister. In 1851 he went to Hannibal, and 
was there occupied very extensively in slaugiitering hogs and cattle, 
in addition to which he iiad a large interest in a mercantile house in 
that cit\', and also at Palmyra. Unfortunatel}^ however, these nu- 
merous investments did not result satisfactorily in a financial point of 
view, and Mr. Lowe suifered almost a ruinous loss, from which he 
failed to recover. But in 1854 he came to New Market, and having 
learned by l)itter experience the utter uselessness of accumulating 
riches on this earth, he constantly studied how he could best serve 
his fellow-creatures and make his life most useful. Until his death, 
August 1, 18G1, he devoted his entire time to preaching the gospel. 
Williani A. Lowe early became acquainted with the struggles and 
hardships of this world. Owing to the misfortunes which befell his 
lather, the care of the family to a considerable extent fell upon him, 
and at the early age of 14 he contributed quite largely to their main- 
tenance. The principal part of his life has been passed in the busi- 
ness which he now so successfully follows. He has a good store at 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1027 

this place, keeps it well stocked, and is enjoying the patronage which 
his iiiir dealing and close attention to business tiioronghly merit. De- 
cember 26, 1860, Mr. Lowe was married to Miss Sarah A. Dodson, a 
Kentuckian by birth. The names of their seven children now living 
are Caroline J., William D., John S., Joie A., Pratt A., Sadie M. and 
Jubal Early S. They have lost one daughter, Linnie Elizabeth. Mr. 
Lowe is a worthy member of Unity O. S. Baptist Church. 

WILEY MOUNTJOY, A. B. 

(^Master of the Female Orphan School of the Christian Church, Camden Point). 

Prof. Mountjoy is a native of Kentucky, born in Anderson county, 
May 8, 1854. His father was LeRoy J. Mountjoy, a son of Wm. 
Mountjoy, originally of Virginia; and his mother was a Miss Louisiana 
Cardwell, daughter of John R. Cardwell, of Kentucky, who was a 
son of John Cardwell, from Virginia. Prof Mountjoy's father was 
l)rought out to Kentucky from Virginia by his parents when he was 
a mere boy. They settled in Anderson county, that State. There 
LeRoy J. Mountjoy grew to manhood and was married. He resided 
in Kentucky after his marriage until 186G, when he removed to Illinois 
with his family and located on a farm in Logan county. He died in 
that county three years afterwards. He was a farmer and stock-raiser 
by occupation and was fairly successful, accumulating a comfortable 
though not a large property. In Kentucky, before the Civil War, he 
was engaged in the stock trade with Southern dealers, buying and 
shipping quite extensively mules, horses, etc. Prof. Mountjoy was a 
lad about 12 years of age when the family removed to Illinois. After 
his father's death, being then some 15 years of age, he and his mother 
and several of the children of the family came to Missouri and made 
their home near Nevada City, in this State. Already he had taken a 
common school course, and now he began to prepare himself for col- 
lege. After taking an intermediate course in the preparatory schools 
he entered the Christian College at Canton, where he studied until he 
was graduated in 1880. In the meantime, however, he had taught 
school from time to time while obtaining his own education ; and while 
a student at Canton he taught in the Christian College at that place. 

After his graduation Prof. Mountjoy went to Montana, where he en- 
gaged in teaching; and having been ordained a minister of the Chris- 
tian Church, he also served in that office. Previously he had taken a 
Bible course of study at Canton. Prof. Mountjoy taught in Montana 
for about two years, and while there was connected with the Montana 
Collegiate Institute. Returning to Missouri in the fall of 1882, the 
following summer he was called to take charge of the institution over 
which he now presides. Prof. Mountjoy is a man of thorough educa- 
tion, conscientious in his work as a teacher, and ardently devoted to 
the profession of an educator. A man of energy and industry, and 
more than ordinarily gifted with those qualities which go to make a 
successful teacher, his career here at the head of tlie Christian Female 
Orphan School has been one of marked credit to himself, great bene- 



1028 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

fit to the institution, and the worlc for wliich it was founded, and of 
singular gratification to his friends and to all who have the best inter- 
ests of the school at heart. Elsewhere is given a historj' of this noble 
institution, founded by Christian and philanthropic men for the 
care and education of those whose condition appeals most forcibly to 
every sympathetic heart — orphans left alone in the world and friend- 
less but for the kindness and generosity of othei's ; and helpless to 
prepare themselves for intelligent and useful lives, but for this and 
similar institutions. The school is now in a prosperous condition and 
is doing a vast amount of good in the field of education it occupies. 
On the 27th of July, 1882, Prof. Mountjoy was married at Deer 
Lodge, M. T., to Miss Ella Irvine, daughter of E. H. Irvine, for- 
merly of Platte county. INIrs. Mountjoy was born in this county, but 
was reared and educated in Montana. She is a graduate of the Mon- 
tana Collegiate Institute, and is a lady of superior culture and refine- 
ment. Since her husband took charge of the Christian Orphan School, 
at. Camden Point, she has been matron of the institute, and still 
discharges the duties of that position. Mrs. Mountjoy is a member 
of the Christian Church in which her husband is a minister. She has 
charge of several classes at the Orphan School. 

JEROME MULLENDORE 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Dearborn) . 

The Mullendores are of German descent, but have long been set- 
tled in this country. On coming to America, originally, they located 
in Virginia, of which Jacob MuUeudore, the father of the subject of 
this sketch, was a native. He removed "West and married a Miss 
Wortze. Stopping for some 3'ears in Ohio, the family finally settled 
in Indiana. Jerome MuUeudore was born in the latter State, and was 
one in a family of ten children, nine of whom lived to reach mature 
years. The county of his nativity in Indiana was Shelby, and there 
his father, who was a tanner by trade, died in 1867. The mother, a 
native of Ohio, and daughter of Daniel Wortze, originally of Penn- 
sylvania, died in 1876. Both were members of the Lutheran Churcii. 
Jerome MuUeudore, the date of whose birth was December 16, 1832, 
was brought up at the tanner's trade, and, after reaching his majority, 
was in partnership with his brother in that lousiness. In 1855, how- 
ever, he came further West, locating at Leavenworth, Kan. But 
later along Mr. MuUeudore settled in Platte county, and has been a 
resident of this county ever since. Here he has become one of the 
substantial farmers of the county. His homestead contains 335 acres, 
and is well improved. Besides this he has another farm of 160 acres, 
a few miles north of his homestead. He is a large producer of wheat 
and corn, and also grows considerable stock, principally cattle and 
hogs, of each of which he fattens and markets a considerable number 
every }'ear. Mr. MuUendore's farm is located about eight miles north 
of Platte City. In 1857 he was married to Miss Sarah Maj', a 
daughter of Samuel and Nancy May, the father a native of Kentucky, 



IIISTOKY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1029 

l)iit the mother originally of North Ciirolina. Six children are the 
fruits of their union : George D., a teacher by profession ; Lewis B., 
May A., Albert S., Samuel C. and William D. Mr. and Mrs. Mul- 
lendore are members of the Presbyterian Church. 

JOHN T. OWENS 

(County Tax Collector, Post-offlce, Platte City). 

Mr. Owens, though a native of Henry county, Ky., born September 
19, 1835, was principally reared in Platte county, Mo., his parents, 
John S. and Harriet B. (Moore) Owens, having removed to this 
county from Kentucky, when he was yet in boyhood. They came here 
in 1845 and settled on a farm where John T. now resides. They made 
tliis place their permanent home and the father died here in 1852, the 
mother dying about nine years afterwards. Five of their family of 
children grew to mature years, four of whom are still living, includ- 
ing one daughter. John T. was the eldest of the sons and was reared 
on the farm, receiving as he grew up a good common school educa- 
tion. His schooling, however, was confined to the winter months, for 
in the summer he always assisted to make the crops. Farming very 
naturally became his regular occupation, and continuing on the old 
family homestead with success as a farmer, he was after awhile able 
to buy out tiie interests of the other heirs, so that he became sole 
owner of the place. His place contains over 250 acres and is situated 
about seven miles north of Platte City, It is one of the choice farms 
of the vicinity and is well improved. February 26, 18()1, Mr. Owens 
was married to Miss Minerva A. Dean, daughter of John B. Dean, 
formerly of Kentucky. Mrs. Owens, however, was educated at Cam- 
den Point and at St. Jose[)b. Mr. and Mrs. O. have six children : 
Harriet L., wife of Jas. G. Lewis ; Sidney M., now at Columbia Col- 
lege ; Andrew B., Lizzie, Lydia E. and Frankie. Mr. and Mrs. O. 
are members of the Christian Church. In 1873, Mr. Owens was 
elected township assessor and, illustrating the great fundamental prin- 
ciple of civil service reform that " 3'e have been faithful over a few 
things and I will therefore make you ruler over many," he was there- 
after, having given thorough satisfaction as a township assessor, 
elected to the office of county assessor. In this office he also showed 
marked fidelity and a degree of ability superior to the requirements 
of the position, so that he was elected to the responsible office of 
county tax collector in 1882. In 1884 he was re-elected to the latter 
office and is now serving his second term. He is giving quite as good 
satisfaction in this position as he did in the offices of township as- 
sessor and county assessor. Mr. Owens is one of the directors of 
Camden Point College and has been for the last five years. 

AYTCHMONDE L. PERRIN 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Camden Point) . 

Mr. Perrin was born in Lincoln county, Ky., April 8, 1811, and 
was a son of Achilles and Jane (Smith) Perrin, both originally of 



1030 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUKTY. 

Culpeper county, Va. They removed to Kentucky in an early daj-, 
and made their home in Lincohi county. There the father, who was 
an energetic, successful farmer, served as magistrate for a number of 
yeari's, and afterwards as sheriff of the county. But in 1843 the fam- 
ih^ came to Missouri, and settled in Platte count}', where the parents 
lived until their deaths. The father was for many years an elder in 
the Christian Church. Aytchmonde L. Perrin, the subject of this 
sketch, gi'ew up in Lincoln county, Ky., and at the age of 21 came to 
Missouri, and located at Palmyra. There, some six years later, he 
was married to Miss Julia S. Morton, a daughter of Samuel Morton. 
At Palmyra Mr. Perrin was engaged in merchandising, in which he 
continued at that place until his removal to Platte county, in 1843. 
In this county he has been principally engaged in farming and stock- 
raising, though in 1867-68 he was cashier of the Weston Savings 
Bank. Mr. Perrin's farm is located about eight miles north of Platte 
City, and is one of the choice farms of the vicinity. He makes a 
specialty of raising and fattening cattle and hogs for the wholesale 
markets, in which he is quite successful, and also formerly raised 
large quantities of hemp. In a word, Mr. P. is one of the enterpris- 
ing, progressive farmers of his part of the county. 

He is a man who takes a public-spirited interest in the cause of 
education, and is especially generous in assisting those whose circum- 
stances are not such as to enable them to secure the advantages which 
others, whose means are more liberal, can command. An instance of 
his interest in this direction is .the active part he took in establishing 
the Orphan's School at Camden Point. Mr. Perrin is one of the orig- 
inal founders of the school, and has ever been one of its most liberal 
and useful supporters. He was the first treasurer of the board of 
management, and since then has been president of the board. Mr. 
Perrin is comfortablj' and pleasantly situated at home. His farm is 
handsomely improved, including a large brick residence and other 
buildings to correspond. Mr. Perrin has been married twice. His 
lirst wife died in 1849, and two years later he was married to Mrs. 
Jane Shy, widow of the late Jesse Shy, and daughter of William 
Shanks, of Lincoln county, Ky. By his first marriage there were live 
children, four of whom lived to reach 3'ears of maturity, namely: 
Susan F., now the wife of Thomas E. Campbell, of St. Joseph ; 
Achilles, also of St. Joseph ; Morton, of Jackson county, and Julia 
J., the wife of H. C. Childs, of Jackson county. There are fpur 
children by the last marriage: Mary M., wife of S. C. Woodson, of 
St. Joseph, Mo. A. L., Jr., with his father on the farm ; Jessie S., 
Nannie and John, also still at home. Mr. Perrin and family are 
members of the Christian Church. Mr. Perrin has been an Elder of 
Camden Point Church from its organization to the present time. 

JOHN B. REYNOLDS, M. D. 

(Physician and Surgeon, Camden Point). 

The career of Dr. Reynolds as a physician and surgeon thus far has 
been one of gratifying and more than ordinary success. A young 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1031 

luiin full of life and energy and of superior general education when 
he l)egun the study of medicine, and having a decided preference for 
that calling above all others, as well as a marked natural aptitude for 
it, he prepared himself for his profession with zeal and thoroughness. 
Dr. Reynolds begun the study of medicine under Dr. Charles R. 
Woodson, of Buchanan county, one of the leading physicians of North- 
west Missouri, and after taking a due course of study under him, 
entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons of St. Joseph (now 
the St. Joseph Medical Hospital) in the falV of 1880. The following 
fall he matriculated at the Missouri Medical College, and continued as 
a student of medicine and surgery there until his graduation in the 
class of 1882. After his graduation Dr. Reynolds came immediately 
to Camden Point, and made his permanent location here for the prac- 
tice of his profession. His evident aljility and qualifications as a phy- 
sician, together with his high character and genial, popular address, 
so favorably i-ecommendecf him to all with whom he came in contact, 
that in a short time he found himself in possession of an excellent 
practice. Dr. Reynolds' practice at Camden Point and vicinity has 
grown with unusual rapidity, and now, not only in points of skill and 
ability, but of extent and value of practice also, he is justl}' recog- 
nized as one of the leading, successful physicians of this county. 
Dr. Reynolds is standing ph3'sician to the Female Orphan's School of 
tlie Christian Churcli at Camden Point. Ho was reared in Buchanan 
county, this State, and is a son of James J. Rejmolds, one of the 
leading agriculturists and wealthy citizens of that county. His father 
has a large model stock farm and is extensively engaged in raising and 
dealing in fine short horn cattle. Dr. Reynolds was born while his 
parents were residents of Kansas, near Iowa Point, in that State, in 
1858. The family had removed there from Buchanan county, and his 
father was a member of the Lecompton Constitutional Convention of 
Kansas. The family returned to Buchanan county, however, in 1858, 
where the parents still reside. While a resident of Kansas the father 
was extensively engaged in driving stock to California for several 
_years, and was quite successful. He is now well advanced in years, 
l)ut is still one of the leading active farmers and stockmen of Bu- 
chanan county. 

HON. BENJAMIN F. SHOUSE 

(.Judije of the Western District of Phitte County, and Farmer, Post-offlce, New .Vlarkef) . 

The Shouse family, or at least the branch of it of which the subject 
of this sketch is a representative, has long been settled in this country 
and for- generations was resident of Kentucky. Judge Shouse's 
father, B. P. Shouse, was a native of Kentucky, but in 1844 came to 
Platte county. Mo. He had previously been married, the maiden 
name of his wife being Miss Margaret Farra. Benjamin F. Shouse 
was born in Woodford county, Ky., July 29, 1843, but being brought 
here when only an infant, his youth was therefore principall}'^ spent in 
this county. Of course everybody practically in this State at that 

60 



1032 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

time followed farming, and to this almost universal occupation young 
Shouse was brought up. His opportunities to acquire an education 
were those afforded by the district and private schools in the vicinity 
of his father's home, in addition to which, by self-application, he be- 
came possessed of more than an ordinary intellectual knowledge. He 
early began farming for himself and continued it until the breaking 
out of the war, when, on the 15th of September, 1861, he enlisted in 
McGinnis' company of Winston's regiment, in the Confederate army, 
and participated in the battles of Lexington, Pea Ridge, Corinth, 
luka, Second Corinth, Helena, Mansfield, La., Pleasant Hill, Jenkins' 
Ferry and Monticello. After this service of four years of severe and 
continued fighting, he surrendered at Shreveport, La., May 9, 1865. 
He was also a member of Piudall's battalion of sharpshooters. Par- 
sou's brigade, Missouri troops, for some time. Returning home at 
that time, he resumed his farming operations, in which he has since 
been satisfactorily successful. Having led a life of untarnished integ- 
rity and being a man of many popular, social and neighborly qualities, 
Mr. Shouse has naturally won the esteem and confidence of those 
around him. In November, 1884, he was elected judge of the West- 
ern district of Platte county, a position entirely unsought for, but a 
mark of honor and esteem of his acquaintances which shows the posi- 
tion which he occupies among tiiose in whose midst he lives. Thus 
far he has discharged his oflicial duties in a satisfactory manner. 
Judge S. was married. November 8, 1866, to Miss Rebecca Clay, a 
native of this county. Seven children have blessed this union : Ida 
May, now at LaGrauge College ; Edwin Clay, Mary, Frankie, Ora 
Lee, William Arnold and Benjamin F. 

EDWARD C. SMITH 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section 35, Post-office, Weston). 

Edward Smith, the father of the subject of this sketch, and a man 
well known from the earliest settlement of the county, but none the 
less highly respected, came here from North Carolina in 1837, at 
which time he commenced to break the soil preparatory to opening a 
farm. Of an intellectual turn of mind, he was early persuaded to 
open a school here, which he did, continuing the occupation of teach- 
ing for many years. He served in various positions of a local nature, 
and was justice of the peace most of the time until his death. He had 
married in this county, in 1839, Miss Lucinda McLain, whose parents 
were formerly from Kentucky. Ed. C. Smith, the second child now 
living of his parents' family, is one of the native born citizens of this 
county, the date of his birth having been February 6, 1848. His 
entire life has been passed within this vicinity, save for a period of 
three years, during which time he made his home in Kansas ; but not 
being satisfied with his location there, he bought his present home in 
1878. A life well spent, and especially among those who have been 
acquainted with him from the time of his birth, has only tended to 
give him the reputation of l)eing one of the progressive and well re- 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1033 

spected residents of Greeu township, and he has many friends who 
will always rejoice with him at his prosperity. His place contains 
IfiO acres of choice land, the improvements of which are of a good 
order. March 13, 1870, Miss Amelia Davis, daughter of John S. and 
Mai'garet (Deney) Davis, became his wife. Her parents were also 
numbered with the pioneers of this county, they having come here in 
1830. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have three children : Edward D., Howard 
B. and Lena. Mr. Smith and wife are members of the Baptist 
Church. 

JOHN H. STYNE 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Soction 5, Post-offlce, Camden Point). 

Mr. Styne is a well known resident of Green township, having 
resided here since 18i33, a period of over a score of years. During 
this time he has gained a warm and permanent place in the estimation 
of the people, and richly merits the opinion held by others of him. 
Mr. Styne, a Virginian by birth, was born in Bottetourt county 
March 28, 1826, consequently is now in his si.xtieth year. His pa- 
rents were William and Sarah (Dolman) Styne, also natives of Vir- 
ginia ; the father of the former served in the War of 1812 with 
distinguished gallantry. William Styne died in the State of his birth 
during the late war. Young John was brought up in Bottetourt 
county, receiving a common school education, and when comparatively 
a young man came to Missouri in 1857, locating in Platte county, 
just east of Platte City. Here he was married in April, 1862, to Miss 
Ann Elizabeth Settle, daughter of John J. Settle, formerly from Vir- 
ginia (Culpeper county), but now deceased. In 1863 Mr. Styne 
located on his present farm, known as the old Roup place (entered by 
Mr. Roup), and has placed all the improvements on the farm which it 
now contains. The estate eml)races 240 acres, all in a body, de- 
voted to pasturage, timber, etc. His residence is a substantial one, 
and the other improvements are excellent. Mr. and Mrs. Styne 
have a family of five daughters : Jennie, wife of Thomas L. T. 
Jones, of Clay county; Sallie A., a very attractive young lady; 
Maggie A., Katie L. and Namiie J. Mr. Styne is a member of 
the Masonic Order at Camden Point. 

R. B. THOMAS 

(Farmer and Stocl^-raiser, Post-office, New Market). 

Mr. Thomas is a progressive, prosperous farmer, who settled in 
this county in 1881. He is from the State of Kentucky, and reveals 
in his methods of farming and in the appearance of his place many 
characteristics of the farmers of that State, of whom he is a worthy 
representative. He has a place of 160 acres, where he is occupied in 
mixed farming and raising grain and stock, and which is an excellently 
arranged, neat and convenient farm. Mr. Thomas was born in Ken- 
tucky July 11, 1817. His ancestors settled in Virginia in a very early 
day, but the father of the subject of this sketch subsequently went to 



1034 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

Kentiick}'. Young Thomas was educated in the schools of his native 
State. Reai-ed on a farm, he naturally acquired that taste for agri- 
cultural life which finally decided him to make farming his permanent 
occupation. In 1845 he moved to Buchanan county, Mo., and made 
his home there for some 36 years, or until the time when he took up 
his residence within the limits of Platte county and upon the farm 
which he now makes his home. This has already been spoken of. 
Mr. Thomas is a married man, his wife having been of German and 
Welsh extraction, though herself a Kentuckian by birth. Her maiden 
name was Mar}' A. Ewalt and their marriage occurred in September, 
1838. Mr. and Mrs. T. have I'eared a family of nine children, having 
lost three. Those living are: Robert H., Catherine S., wife of La- 
fayette Spencer; Moses, Samuel, Noah, Mary A., Benjamin F., Eva 
A. and Edward L. The three deceased are Jane, Sarah E. and John 
W., who was killed during the late Civil War. Although having been 
in the county only a comparatively shoit time, Mr. Thomas has gained 
a name which is a synonym for honor and integrity wherever it is 
known. 

THOMAS MERITT THOMPSON 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, New Market). 

Mr. Thompson, left an orphan in boyhood by the death of both 
parents, and without means or family influence to advance him in life, 
is now one of the foremost farmers and highly respected residents of 
Green township, and to his present enviable position, he has risen, as 
may be readily inferred from what has already been said, by the sheer 
strength of his own character — his indomitable energ}', industr}' and 
perseverance, and his sterling integrity and strong convictions of right 
and fair dealing. When he was four years old his father died, and 
five years later, when he was nine years of age, his mother also de- 
parted this life. Now dependent upon his own resources, he at once 
determined to rise to success and to acquire an honorable reputa- 
tion. In boyhood he was denied all opportunities for obtaining an 
education, but at the age of 20, after having accumulated sufficient 
means to bear his own expenses, he entered a school. On account of 
his unacquaintance with the English branches, and not being able to 
enter a class of ages somewhere near his own, he stopped school. 
Not discouraged, however, but determined to acquire something of a 
knowledge of liooks, he closely applied himself, and by studiousness 
and close attention to his studies has become possessed of sufficient 
knowledge for all the practical affairs of business life. In 1847 he 
enlisted in the Mexican War under Col. Gilpin, and was mustered out 
at Independence in 1848. Going to Texas, for aliout a year he dealt 
in horses, after which, for two years, he remained in the mountains. 
He now returned home, but the next year started for California, and 
on account of sickness contracted while en route he was left at Fort 
Laramie. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1035 

Upon his return to Buchanan county Mr. Thompson was engaged 
in farming for 10 years, and in 1863 went to Leavenworth county, 
Kan., where he continued tlie same occupation for three years. In 
1867 he came to this county, and in 1882 removed to the farm which 
he now occupies, a place consisting of 315 acres of as choice hind as 
is to be found in this community. The improvements are of a 
superior order, and besides a good orchard on the place is a fish pond 
which covers several acres, and which is supplied with an abundance 
of fish. Mr. T. was married July 15, 1857, to Miss Lucretia J. 
Adkison, a native of Virginia. She died January 27, 1872. Mr. T.'s 
second wife was Rhoda Harris, originally from Manchester, England, 
to whom he was married April 21, 1875. Mr. Thompson has afamily 
of five children : Algernon, Rebecca, Rose Hannah, Ira Mark, and 
Lola Pearl. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson are members of the Christian 
Church. The former is a strong advocate of the public school system 
of the present day. Mr. Thompson is now in his fifty-fifth year, 
having been born in Kno.Kville, Tenn., March 15, 1831. 

WILLIAM W. WILLIAMS (deceased) 

(Vicinity of New Marliet). 

The name that heads this sketch was born by a man who was identi- 
fied with the interests of Platte county for nearly 50 years. Honest 
and worthy in every particular, his life was one of great industry, 
spent in striving, as a good man, to bring up his family in a creditable 
way, and to leave a record of his career which would cause no l>]ush 
of shame to mantle the face of those near and dear to him at the men- 
tion of his name. The Williams family are remembered as having 
been early settlers in Kentucky, and from there William W. Williams 
came to Platte county, Mo., in 1837, among the very first pioneers, 
entering land just north of New Market. This he at once set about 
to improve, which he did, and upon which he made his home until his 
death, which occurred April 19, 1884. His marriage took place De- 
cember 2, 1847, when Miss Louisa Asher became his wife. She was 
the daughter of Singleton Asher, a native of Kentucky, who emigrated 
to this county in the spring of 1838. She is a woman worthy to have 
held the place she occupied by the side of her husband during their 
happy married life. Their family consisted of seven children : Esther 
A., wife of W. B. Baughman, living at the homestead; Martha J., 
wife of T. J. Bashford, of Dearborn • Mary F., Edith M., Lydia, wife 
of J. L. Johnson, of Buchanan county; John S., and Julia, wife of 
S. S. Cox. 

W. B. Baughman, the son-in-law of Mrs. Williams, was born in 
Kentucky and came to this county in 1846. In 1850 he went to Cali- 
fornia, where for seven years he was engaged in mining, but upon 
returning in 1857 he embarked in merchandising at De Kalb, Mo. In 
1863 he took a trip to Kentucky spending one year, also passing a 
like period in Montana, whither he went in 1864. He also was for 
some time in Idaho. Since 1865 he has been occupied in farming in 



1036 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

this county. His marriage to Miss Williams was celebrated in the 
spring of 1867. 

John S. Williams, a young man now at home and who is conducting 
the farm, was brought up and received his education in this vicinity, 
and now owns a tract of 160 acres of as desirable laud as one might 
wish for. Though still a young man, he bids fair to become one of 
the most substantial agriculturists of the county. He now raises 
grain, stock, etc. 

.JOHN M. WILLIAMS 

(Fai-mer aud Stock-raiser, Post-office, New Market). 

Mr. Williams is a son of John W. and Julia (Burgess) Williams, 
who took up their location in Platte county. Mo., in 1837, where John 
M. was born April 29, 1848. Mr. John W. Williams was a citizen of 
much value to the community in which he lived in an early day. His 
home was frequently a stopping place for those who subsequently 
moved to the county, for, one of the most hospitable of men, and ap- 
preciating the disadvantages under which new comers labored until 
they could establish themselves at least a temporary home, his door 
was always thrown open to them and he gladly favored them in every 
way he could. John M. Williams, the youngest son in his parents' 
family of three boys, was brought up to learn the minor details of 
farming, an occupation to which he has ever devoted his best energies. 
His education was a common school one, sufficient, however, for all 
practical purposes. Mr. Williams owns a farm of 160 acres, land 
well adapted to the use for which it is cultivated. His character as a 
farmer is readily seen in the appearance of his place, which bears the 
mark of an energetic and thorough proprietor. His house is beauti- 
fully surrounded by well kept and tastily arranged evergreens. Mr. 
Williams has been twice married ; first, June 27, 1869, to Miss Linie 
Finney, of this State, who subsequentlj' died. His second marriage 
was on the 3d of July, 1879, when Miss Alice B. Campbell became 
his bride. By this union there is one son, Floyd S. 




CHAPTER XXVII. 

\VESTON TOWNSHIP. 

Boundary — Peculiarities of the Soil — Location of the Most Highly Improved 
Lands — Early Settlers — City of Weston — Situation —When Platted — First 
Female in the Place — Early Business Men — Her Foreign Trade — Hemp Growing — 
Present Outlook — Commercial and Industrial Interests — Apple Shipments — 
Weston's Great Men— Pony Express and Overland Mail — Lodges — Miscel- 
laneous. 

Weston township lies along the Missouri river. It is bounded on 
the north by Marshall, on the east by Green and Fair townships, on 
the south by Fair township and the Missouri river, and on the west by 
the river just mentioned. 

A portion of this township, along its northwestern border, consists 
of what is known as " fancy bottom," tlic soil of which is of unknown 
depth and unexampled richness. Level almost as a floor, its fertility 
is amazing, and to the agricultural eye there is no finer sight than that 
of these fancy bottoms teeming with golden grain ready for the sickle, 
or with verdant rows of plumy corn, giving promise of the abundance 
that is to crown the harvest. 

Further back from the river and running parallel with the Wabash, 
St. Louis and Pacific Railway, diagonally across the township, is a line 
of picturesque bluffs that give to the landscape a romantic beauty 
equal to most of the much vaunted scenery along the Genesee valley. 
Back of these bluffs we come to the main body of the land in the town- 
ship, and they are not only rich in soil and timber and admirably 
adapted for agricultural purposes, but their gentle undulation makes 
the scene one of ideal rural beauty, greatly similar to the farming dis- 
tricts of England. The rise and f\ill of the slopes and vales are not 
suflicient to make the surface broken and hilly, marred by ravines 
and cliffs, but they ai-e of incalculable benefit in giving a perfect 
drainage, thus insuring the healthfulnessof the inhabitants by prevent- 
ing the formation of swamps and bogs and the accumulation of 
malaria. 

Probably the most highly improved lands and the noblest home- 
steads are to be found in the northern and eastern parts of the town- 
ship, but everywhere the land is fertile, intelligently cultivated and 
bears evidence of the wisdom of those who have acquired homes here. 

(1037) 



1038 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

The farmei's are, with but rare exceptions, men of education and 
ability, blessed with an abundance of this world's goods, and, fully 
posted upon the topics and issues of the day, they have secured to 
their descendants educational facilities second to none in the State, or 
for that matter in the United States, and their public schools are a 
credit to the communities in which they are located. While they are 
practical men, yet theory is not altogether neglected, and books and 
newspapers are abundant about their homes. No means of informa- 
tion are neglected, and take them as a body, they form an ideal yeo- 
manry. 

EARLY SETTLERS. 

Amongst the early settlers of the township we find the names of 
such men as John B. Wells, still alive, hale and hearty, at the ripe 
old age of 85 years ; Daniel Durbin, Theodore F. Warner, Henry 
Brill, Judge Ham, Nicholas Banner, John Light, A. D. Bl3'the, Ben 
Holladay, John B. Evans, W. G. Noble, A. Nower, John S. Woods ; 
and many others figure in this list of the pioneers of Weston town- 
ship. All were men of enterprise and of that courageous metal of 
which the first settlers of a country are composed. Most of them 
have long since passed away, but a few remain, " time honored 
fathers of a former age," the connecting links between our day and 
the pioneer age that is ftist vanishing. 

THE CITY OF AVESTON. 

The town, or rather the city of Weston — for Weston once had 
her metropolitan era when her streets were thronged with every 
known species of vehicle devoted to commerce, and when at her 
wharves lay steamers, barges, keel and flatboats to convey to the 
East and to Europe her accumulated products — is beautifully sit- 
uated on the east bank of the Missouri river, which laves her very 
feet. 

The town site was pre-empted by a soldier in a cavalry company 
at Fort Leavenworth, named Joseph Moore, in 1837. He sold out 
to a company who entered the land. A man named Ferguson was 
the surveyor. A plat of the town was made by Thomas Jordan and 
he and Mr. J. B. Wells gave the first streets their names. Mrs. J. 
B. Wells was the first white woman to place foot on the streets of 
Weston. Thornburg and Lucas built the first store house in the 
place. 

Among those who were prominent at an early day among its busi- 
ness men were T. F. Warner, E. Cady, Perrys & Young, A. Baker, 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1039 

McDonald Brothers and others. The merchants of Weston were men 
of hirge views, and, with the nerve, liberality and means to carry out 
their designs, extended the trade of the town in all directions, but 
principally toward the West, tapping all the vast stretch of country 
lying between them and the Rocky mountains, and even bursting 
through those granite barriers and invading the empire of the Latter 
Day Saints. 

HER FOREIGN TRADE. 

Over the arid plains that lay between Weston and the old Spanish 
city of Santa Fe, the former sent her caravans to dare the ire of the 
banded savages roaming along the Arkansas river, in order that they 
might share in the golden profits of the New Mexican trade. In the 
lodges of the Kickapoos, Shawnees, Delawares and Pawnees, as well 
as in those of their more remote brothers, the Sioux, Mandan, Arick- 
arees and Blackfeet, might be found bales of goods bearing the brands 
of these Weston merchants. 

But Salt Lake was, to use a Westernism, Weston's " best holt." 
First of all the Western cities to freight large quantities of goods to 
the Mormon capital, the profits realized were something fabulous, and 
those whose daring and enterprise so richly deserved it reaped a 
golden harvest from their saintly customers. The army officers and 
the privates stationed at Fort Leavenworth contributed their mites, 
and for a time, to paraphrase a Catholic maxim, " all ways seemed to 
lead to Weston." 

HEMP GROWING. 

Coming from hemp growing States to this city, that, like Tadmor of 
old, lay in a wilderness, a large number of her farmers continued to 
grow that product, the consumption of which, at that time, was enor- 
mous, and this added to her prosperit}'. Hemp was a commodity 
that commanded at all times a high price, and was to the West what 
cotton was to the South later on — king. All dealers must handle it, 
all other freights must wait for it, and in the market it took prece- 
dence of all else, its sale being ready, its payments cash. 

But, alas for the little city ! The Latin poet sang of the fallen 
walls and crumbling towers of the once proud Troy: " Troj'a full, " 
and at last the day of doom came to Weston in the building of the 
Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad, which diverted her trade and gave 
its quietus to a place that else might to-day be a grander city than 
Kansas City or St. Joseph. One by one her customers deserted her, 
charmed by the railroad sirens with the song of cheap freights, and 



1040 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTT. 

the glory departed from Ichabod. The overland trade migrated 
farther up the river to Kansas City, St. Joe, Omaha and Nebraska 
City, and left to Weston only the county trade. 

THE PRESENT OUTLOOK. 

Her present merchants, however, do not discredit her commercial 
ti'aditions, and in their tact, enterprise and business capacity they 
have shown themselves worthy successors of the men who opened up 
the overland trade and pioneered the way for the Pacific Railroads to 
and beyond the continental backbone, as Westerners call the Rocky 
mountains. Their stocks are large and well selected, evincing taste 
and judgment, and no town in Missouri of its size can boast of such 
stocks of goods, in every line, as can this little city. 

COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL INTERESTS. 

Her commercial emporiums consist of three dry goods stores, five 
devoted to staple and fancy groceries, two drug stores, two hardware 
and agricultural implement establishments, three boot and shoe stores, 
one jewelry bazar, one tobacconist's shop, two confectioneries, two 
book and stationei'y stores, one bank, one lumberyard, two saddlery 
and harness stores, three blacksmith shops, one wagonmakiug shop, 
one cabinetmaker and undertaker, one cooper shop and two flouring 
mills. 

The Western Milling Company has lately rebuilt a magnificent mill, 
fitted throughout with the latest improved machinery, and which has 
a capacity of 100 barrels daily. There is one large cooper shop, 
employing a considerable number of hands, and running to its full 
capacity. The distillery of David Holladay, a brother of Ben Holla- 
day, of Overland fame — a man who made an imprint upon his time 
second to that of no man of his day — is situated within a mile of the 
city, and it is justly celebrated for its product, a genuine, hand-made 
sour mash Bourbon whisky, which is absolutely free from all adulter- 
ation. Mr. Holladay claims for his distillation an absolute equality 
with that of the finest Kentucky goods, his grain being of equal or 
superior quality, and his spring water precisely similar in its constit- 
uents to that used by the Kentucky distillers. 

APPLE SHIPMENTS. 

In addition to other products, the township is noted for its magnif- 
icent orchards, from which are shipped yearly the finest apples grown 
in the West. The magnitude of this industr}' is immense, the ship- 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1041 

pers having gained a continental reputation for the quality of their 
fruit. This reputation has been honestly gained, every barrel of fruit 
being carefully packed, and none but the choicest apples, picked by 
hand, being used. North, South, East and West they go in car-load 
lots, bringing in every market the highest prices, and known every- 
where as " extra select." Amongst the shippers of apples W. R. 
Keller and C. Thorp are the largest, though there are others who 
handle in the season many hundreds of barrels. 

Weston's great men. 

When the Platte Purchase was thrown open to settlement, such 
reports of its richness and advantages had gone abroad that in a very 
few months there was not a vacant quarter section of land to be had 
in the county. Like the Israelites upon the borders of the longed 
for Canaan, there were numbers of adventurous men waiting for the 
opportunity to locate, and Weston township was filled to overflowing. 
Amongst those who, at one time or another, have been residents here, 
were Gen. Andrew Hughes and his son. Gen. Beta M. Hughes, -i 
Gen. Frank P. Blair, Gen. B. F. Stringfellow, Judge J. N. Burnes, Col. j 
John Doniphan, C. A. Perry, Judge S. P. McCurdy, L. M. Lawson — i 
now a banker in the city of New York — Ben Holladay, and others. 

Here was a collection of notables, the like of which could be met 
with in no other town of its size in America or Europe. Here 
were soldiers, jurists, financiers and adventurers whose fame is 
world wide, their names household words wherever the English 
language is spoken. Here originated the idea of overland freight- 
ing, and from this point was outfitted the first grand train that 
pushed the commerce of Missouri into and through the dreary 
wastes that lay between the river and the mountains, and invaded 
the solitude of the location chosen by Brigham Young for his de- 
luded followers. 

PONY express and OVERLAND MAIL. 

Here, too, Ben. Holladay conceived his daring schemes, and here 
he found the capital to put them in operation. It was his enter- 
prise in this direction that suggested and laid the foundation for 
the " Pony Express," a scheme that has found historians in prose 
and rhyme, an enterprise that joined the Pacific slope in close re- 
lations with its sister States and Territories, and that made prac- 
ticable the building of the Pacific Railways. In this little city was 
conceived the idea of putting in operation the great overland mail 



1042 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

line of coaches that, leaving the Missouri river, dashed on, day and 
night, through sunshine and storiu, summer and winter, until they 
reached the golden shores of California. Its relays of teams were 
sufficient to furnish the cavalry of an imperial army with horses. 

And such horses as these were ! Groomed and cared for by an 
army of hostlers, and handled by the most reckless but also the most 
skillful drivers the world ever saw, through the sandy desert and 
across the granite-ribbed mountains they kept up their tireless pace, 
and from station to station made their schedule time of ten miles an' 
hour. It was a heroic enterprise, originated by a heroic mind and 
carried out by men whose bravery and devotion to duty made them, 
despite their humble positions, true heroes. The gallant Argonauts 
that followed the fortunes of Jason in his search for the Golden Fleece 
were not more hardy nor more daring than the men that manned the 
stations and the coaches of Ben. HoUaday's overland mail line. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

The churches of almost every denomination are mentioned else- 
where, and will not be referred to in this connection. 

We have inserted the notice of the I. O. O. F. Order at Weston in 
this place, as the matter could not be obtained in time to insert in 
connection with the other secret orders of the county. (See Chapter 
XVI). 

In examining the charter of Phoenix Lodge No. 30, I. O. O. F., 
we found it impossible to obtain the names of the charter members, as 
the present charter does not contain them. Where the names should 
be inserted in the charter is noted that " this charter is issued in lieu 
of a charter issued Mai-ch 2, 1848 ; hence names of charter mem- 
bers can not be inserted, the original having been destroyed by fire." 
The present charter (duplicate) was issued August 1, 1855. 

The present membership is 30. The property of the Lodge is 
valued at about $1,500. 

The charter of Frontier Encampment No. 2, I. O. O. F., is found 
to be the same as that of the Lodge, except it does not give date of 
the original charter. The date of the present charter (duplicate) was 
issued June 1, 1857. The charter members can not be given. The 
present membership in good standing is 12. Funds on hand amount 
to about $1,000, while the personal property is valued at about $150. 

The German Benevolent Society, a local organization has a good 
membership and the Knights of Honor have a lodge numbering lt3. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1043 

Though the schools of Weston have l)een mentioned in general 
elsewhere, it may prove of interest to know that the repoi't for 1885, 
of the public school district of Weston, gives the enumeration of white 
and colored male pupils of school age iu the district at 208 ; female, 
194. The enrollment of white pupils was 283, of whom 143 were 
male and 140 female ; of colored, male 45, female 35. This makes 
the total number of white and colored pupils 363. 



BIOGRAPHICAL 



JOSEPH ANDERSON 

(Mauager of the Exchange Hotel, Weston). 

Born in Fleming county, Ky., May 10, 1845, Mr. Anderson was the 
son of Johnse Anderson, who was born in Kentucky, and a farmer by 
occupation. He died in 1845. His mother, whose maiden name was 
Mary A. Redman, subsequently married John Fugate. He died in 
California, and Mrs. Fugate afterwards became the wife of Thomas 
G. Turner. The latter departed this life iu 1881. Mrs. Turner 
died in 1870. Joseph Anderson accompanied his mother on her move 
to Platte county. Mo., iu 1849, and here he was brought up to the 
life of an agriculturist, which he followed until the outbreak of the 
war. His military career in that struggle is one worthy of mention, 
but one upon which we can only touch briefly. Enlisting in the Fed- 
eral army in the Eighteenth Missouri infantry, he served iu a great 
nuiiiy battles, among which were those of Shiloh, Tenn. ; Corinth, 
luka. Miss. ; Resaca, Kenesaw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek and 
Atlanta, Ga. At the latter engagement, July 22, 1864, he lost a limb 
and was sent to the hospital, where he remained until he was honor- 
ably mustered out of the service in 1865. Mr. Anderson now returned 
home and gave his attention to various occupations for some time ; 
holding also the oflices of constable, township clerk and justice of the 
peace. March 24, 1864, he was married to Miss Nancy Turner, origi- 
nally from Hart county, Ky., and a daughter of Thomas G. Turner. 
This union has been blessed with eight children : Joseph, Sarah A., 
Ada L., Charles T., Nancy I., Ella M., Jesse H. and Elizabeth Eli. 
Three are deceased. Mr. Anderson is now conducting the Exchange 
Hotel at this place for Mrs. Margaret Galibert, a half sister of his 
wife, who is also a daughter of Thomas G. Turner by a previous mar- 
riage to that of Mr. Anderson's mother. She was born and reared 
in Platte county, and on the 13th of April, 1882, married Eli Gabbert, 
a native of Indiana, born iu 1815. He died November 28, 1882. In 



1044 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

the conduct of this hostlery Mr. Anderson, who is also assisted by 
Mrs. Gabbert, is meeting with good success ; the result of which is 
due perhaps to his constant and earnest endeavors to attend to every 
detail connected with the proper management of a hotel. He is 
deserving of the patronage which he is receiving. 

ELIAS BAEBEE (deceased) 
(Late a Farmer on Section 8, Weston Township). 

Among all the horrors of the late Civil War, there was nothing 
which caused so much suffering among those closely united by the ties 
of family affection as to see husbands and fathers separating from 
those at home to enter upon a field of action from which they might 
never return. Many, we know, were buried where they fell, while 
others came back only to die in a short time from the effects of what 
they had undergone while gallantly fighting. Mr. Barbee was one of 
this latter class. Of Southern birth and antecedents, he entered the 
Confederate army in 1862, and was captured at the battle of Pea 
Ridge. Soon after he was taken sick, and though his wife succeeded 
in transferring him from Alton to his home, he died two days after 
reaching here, leaving his worthy companion alone in the midst 
of a cruel war with five children dependent upon her for support. 
Her love for these fatherless ones prompted her to persevere, and from 
that time to this her success in the management of her f;irm has been 
of noteworthy remark. The place embraces 80 acres, and the man- 
agement falls especially upon her son, Graham G., who is deserving 
of special mention in this connection. Mr. Barbee's father was a 
general in the Revolutionary War. He was born in Kentucky August 
29, 1841, was married to Miss Sarepta J. Graham, of Kentucky, 
whose mother was formerly Cassandra Stone, of North Carolina. 
Mrs. B. was born January 17, 1811, and was brought up in her native 
State. They lived in Kentucky until 1847, then coming to Missouri 
and locating in Platte county on a farm which she has since occupied. 
The names of the children are Nancy Owen, wife of J. J. Gabbei-t ; 
Robert J., Elias E., Laura, wife of David Darnell, and Graham G. 
The latter, together with his mother, is a member of the Baptist 
Church. 

A. G. BELLER 

(Residence, Weston). 

That early advantages may be made to contribute materially to 
one's advancement in life, to the giving of one's career a higher di- 
rection than it might otherwise take, can not for a moment be ques- 
tioned ; but that such is always the case, no one of general intelligence 
or reasonable observation would think of claiming. Indeed, judging 
by the lives of successful men, some have gone so far as to claim that 
the best school for a youth of brave spirit and ambitious mind is the 
school of adversity. Though A. G. Beller has reached no eminent 
station in the affairs of State, he has, nevertheless, accomplished much 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1045 

more than thousands of others have, and has achieved a degree of 
success which no worthy sketch of his life should fail to mention to 
his credit. In youth he had practically no advantages whatever to 
prepare himself for what he felt would be his position in life. At 
night he often spent his leisure in endeavoring to master the mys- 
teries of an ordinary, common school education, and by his industry, 
perseverance and natural gifts of mind has steadily made his way up 
until many, who had first preceded him by years, are now far in the 
rear. Mr. Beller was l)orn in Baden, Germany, in 1834, and was the 
son of Anton and May E. (jNIiienzer) Beller, both natives of the same 
place. When he was a child about 8 years old the family emigrated 
to the United States and some three years later, or in 1841, located 
in Buchanan county. Mo. The father was a farmer by occupation, a 
calling to which he gave his attention until his death, in 1846. The 
mother still makes her home with her son, A. G. She is now 80 years 
of age. 

After his father's death young Beller commenced to learn the 
blacksmith's trade, and after mastering it continued it as his chosen 
calling until the breaking out of the war. He now became a candi- 
date for official public honor and owing to his peculiar fitness for the 
position was elected mayor of Weston, a position which he held one 
term. He also served as a member of the town council. Subse- 
quently he was complimented by Gov. Fletcher by being appointed 
proljate judge, and the same characteristics which had attended him 
in other positions followed him here. After one year he became for 
eight years the publisher of the Border Times, a newspaper which 
was remarked for the fairness and ability with which it was conducted. 
He was postmaster for two years, 18(59-70. In 1871, disposing of 
his newspaper property, he entered the mail service and l)ecame a 
postal clerk, and he now is occupying a like position in the railroad 
service on the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad. Mr. Beller 
was married Deceml^er 3, 1851, to Miss Melville Commins, who was 
born in Buchanan county. Mo. She was the refined and accomplished 
daughter of E. G. Commins. This union, one of especial harmony 
and affection, has been blessed with thi-ee children: Vincent A., a 
resident of Chicago ; Emma, now Mrs. Rodgers, of Marshall, Texas, 
and Angle, a young lady at home. 

BENJAMIN BONIFANT, M. D. 

(Physician and Surgeon, Weston, Mo.). 

Dr. Bonifant, one of the most thoroughly educated and experi- 
enced practitioners in his profession in Northwest Missouri, is a 
native of Maryland, born in Montgomery county February 15, 1821. 
His father, John Bonifant, was also a native of Maryland and a 
]irominent agriculturist. The maiden name of his mother was Mary 
Tucker. She was born in Washington, D. C. The first 18 years of 
young Bonifant's life were spent on his father's farm and in attend- 
ing school. Having made choice of the practice of medicine as a life 



1046 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

calling, he placed himself under the cure of Dr. Benjamin J. Perry, 
an eminent physician, as preceptor. Following his course of reading, 
he matriculated in the Jefferson Medical College, of Philadelphia, 
and was graduated in 1849. In 1850 he came to Missouri and settled 
in Weston, and almost from the beginning commanded a good prac- 
tice, which has steadily increased, until he is recognized as one of the 
leading physicians in this part of the country. A marked character- 
istic of Dr. Bonifaut is that there is no pretense about him. Whatever 
he does, he does in earnest, in a plain, common-sense manner, going 
directly to the point in view. So when he read medicine, he read it' 
not because custom and forms required him to proceed through a reg- 
uhir course of reading, but in order to learn and to qualify himself for 
the intelligent and successful practice of his chosen profession. He 
served during the late war as surgeon of the Thirty-ninth Enrolled 
Missouri militia, and also the Fourth Missouri State militia. After 
leaving the army he resumed his practice in Weston. The Doc- 
tor is still a close student and keeps thoroughly posted in all 
the advances made in the science of his profession. He was 
married October 29, 1855, to Miss Matilda J. Leachman, a native 
of Kentucky, but reared in Platte county. They have two children : 
Ada, now Mrs. Shenkner, and Mary, at home. The Doctor is a 
Knight Templar in the Masonic Order. 

W. A. F. N. BOWEN 

(Post-office, Weston). 

Mr. Bowen was born on the 13th of October, 1839, in Fairfield 
county, Virginia. His ancestors were of English origin. His grand- 
father, John Bowen, Sr., was at the siege of Yorktown, and aided in the 
capture of Cornwallis. He married Miss Rachel Drake, who wasa lineal 
descendant of Sir Francis, one of the admirals who aided in conquering 
the Invincible Armada, in the days of Queen Elizabeth, and circum- 
navigator of the globe. From this union sprung John Bowen, Jr., 
Maj. F. D. Bowen, William Bowen and Newton Bowen. John Bowen, 
Jr., in the year 1836, married Miss Jeanette J. Newman. They 
were the parents of five children, viz.: J. Bowen, W. A. Boweu, 
Rachel Rowen, Lovel N. Bowen and P. O. Bowen. These children 
were blest with pious parents, both being consistent members of the 
Baptist Church. 

The father of the subject of this sketch died Julv 5, 1862, after 
which the widow received a pension from the Government, her hus- 
band having been a soldier in the War of 1812. She died July 12, 
1879, in the full faith of a blessed immortality beyond the grave. 
Three of her five children had preceded her, John Bowen, Rachel and 
Lovel Bowen. W. A. Bowen acquired an excellent education, under 
the auspices of his father, uncle. Profs. Yarnly, Carroll, Ratlington 
and F. G. Gaylord, of Daughters' College. He has attained con- 
siderable celebrity as a mathematician and composer in the fields of 
literature. His profession is that of teacher, and he stands at the 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1047 

head of liis profewsion. Tlif Civil War broke out just as he was enter- 
ing the threshold of niaiihood, and he and his brother Lovel, true to 
their colors, espoused the cause of the Soutli, and no braver soldiers 
ever fought on the field of battle than they. Lovel Bowen was killed 
in the baUle of Pea Kidge, March 7,1862. W. A. Bowen survived 
the war, and married Miss Nettie May, one among the loveliest maid- 
ens of Platte county, September 19, 1868. Mrs. Mary May, her 
niDlher, was a lady of many admirable qualities, who died April 27, 
I'S.SO, in the sixty-eighth year of her ago, having been a consistent 
Presbyterian for more than forty years. From this marriage have 
sprung Francis L., Lenore and Willie Florence Bowen. Francis 
Lovel, the first born, died in infancy. W. A. F. N. Bowen is a 
member of the Baptist Church, Ijelougs also to the noble institutions 
of Odd Fellowshii) and Masonry, having ai)ly represented his district 
in the Grand Lodge of the former for several terms. He has served 
three terms as school commissioner of Platte county. He has many 
warm friends, because he fearlessly performed his dut}', and he is 
looked ui)on as a worthy and excellent citizen. 

He has done much good for the cause of education. During one 
term of his official career he visited every school district in the county, 
and distributed a volume of the school law to each. This was no easy 
task, because during his visitation it rained many days in succession, 
and the roads were almost impassable. For this he received not one 
cent of compensation, for it is not one of the enumerated duties of 
the school commissioner, and no appropriation was made for such 
extra work. He did it to advance the educational interests of the 
county, and old Platte stands to-day at the head of the column, through 
the instrumentality of this nol)le educator. The Burruss district, 
where he has been engaged as instructor forsometime, is pre-eminently 
a community (jf deep thinkers, and intelligence is a marked feature of 
her people. 

JOHN H. BRILL 

(Farmer, Section 2, Po^^t-office, Weston). 

Mr. Brill was born in Fox Plain, N. Y., January 30, 1838. His 
father's name was Henry Brill, and the maiden name of his mother 
was Dora Hovendahl. The family were among the pioneers of Platte 
county. Mr. Brill settled in St. Louis in 1836, but the following year 
came to Platte county, and he pre-empted the land on which the i)ublic 
school of Weston now stands. He built the first blacksmith shop in 
tliis part of the county. During his life he made several trips to St. 
Louis on foot, walking tliis distance in about five days. John H. Brill 
was born in this county January 30, 1838. He was reared a farmer 
and has followed it as his chosen occui)ation. His farm includes 80 
acres of choice land, well improved. He was married March 20, 1862, 
to Miss Caroline Dorth, a native ol' Germany. They have two 
children: Jessie D. and William. 

61 



1048 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

GEORGE BRILL 

(Farmer, Post-office, Weston). 

In the earliest days of the settlement of this county, Henry Brill, 
the father of the subject of this sketch, settled here and erected the 
first blacksmith shop in the county. 

" Here smoked his forge ; he bared his sinewy arms, 

And early stroked his sounding: anvil warm; 
Around his shop the steely sparks flew, 

As out of steel he shaped the bending shoe." 

His was an establishment well patronized in that pioneer day, and his 
name is well remembered by the oldest living residents of this vicinity. 
The wife of Henry Brill was formerly Dora Hovendahl, and they 
came here in 1837. George Brill, a worthy representative of his 
father's family, was born in Platte county. Mo., May 27, 1842. He 
is of German extraction and that is enough to carry the assurance 
that he is one of the solid men of Weston township. Thrift is the 
leading characteristic of the German people, and those of German 
descent, and when they have good soil and favorable seasons, as they 
do in this country, they almost invariably become well-to-do. Mr. 
Brill is certainly a proof of the truth of this statement. He has 
made farming his life study, and has been very successful, now own- 
ing a farm of 100 acres adjoining the town of Weston. On the 10th 
of March, 1870, Mr. Brill was married to Miss Catherine Carson, and 
to them have been born five children, four of whom are living : John, 
Mary, Louis and Lena. George is deceased. 

WILLIAM B. CALVERT 

(Farmer, Post-office, Weston) . 

Mr; Calvert is a young and highly respected farmer of this county. 
The Calverts were early settlers of Kentucky from Virginia. The 
parents of William B. were from Scott county, Ky., and came to 
Platte county in 1838. His mother's maiden name was Martha Hern- 
don, a daughter of Dr. Herndon, of Kentucky. She is still living 
and finds a pleasant home with her son, John Calvert. William B. 
was I'cared in this county to the business of farming and stock-raising. 
He owns a half interest in the Calvert place of 237 acres of choice land, 
and has the management of 187 acres where he now lives. Mr. Cal- 
vert was married October 24, 1883, to Miss Nora Gabbort. They 
have one son, Lewis Cass. Mrs. Calvert's father, William Gabbert, 
a retired farmer and capitalist, was born in Lincoln county, Ky., Oc- 
tober 8, 1817. His father, James Gabbert, and his motlier, whose 
maiden name was Polly S. Sullivan, were natives of Virginia, but in 
1820 they moved to Indiana, where William was reared to manhood 
on a farm. In 1844 he came to Missouri and settled in Platte county 
and purchased a farm, and t^) this lie added Irom time to time until 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 104!t 

he became one of the largo property owners of the county. At 
present he owns 522 acres. He made it a cardinal principle of his 
life to owe no man anything, and in purchasing goods, if he had not 
the money to pay, went without. He was married December 27, 
1838, to Miss Frances Hamner, a native of Kentucky. They have a 
family of five children living: James J., George B., Michael H., 
prominent farmers in Platte county ; Ira T., a prominent physician of 
Caldwell, Sumner count}', Kan., and Nora. 

ISAAC P. CART WRIGHT 

(Residence, Weston). 

Mr. Cartwright is now interested in mining operations in the State 
of Colorado, where he spends a good deal of his time. In 1874 he 
l)ecame prominently interested in the welfare of Weston. At that 
time he engaged in the banking business, oi)ening the Weston Savings 
Bank, which he continued to conduct for some time. Owing to a 
straitened financial condition which unfortunately overtook him, he 
was compelled to close the doors of the b:iuk, after which, as stated 
above, he went to Colorado. It is V)ut justice to Mr. Cartwright to say 
that while the closing of the bank was deplored and its loss keenl}'- 
felt, not a word of reproach was ever laid upon Mr. Cartwright as 
being the cause of its failure. A native born citizen of the county, he 
has always retained and enjoyed the respect of those among whom lie 
has made his home. Born March 7, 1838, he was the son of Willis 
Cartwright, a native of North Carolina, who, during his life, was ac- 
tively interested in merchandising. The mother of Mr. Cartwright, 
whose maiden name was Nancy Pinkston, came originally from near 
Knoxville, Tenn. In 1836 the family took up their location in Ray 
county. Mo., l)Ut in 1837 found a home within the Platte Purchase. 
The father departed this life in 1877, but the mother survived until 
the 7th of January, 1882. Young Isaac enjoyed good educational ad- 
vantages in youth, and upon coming up received a mercantile experi- 
ence, which proved of great benefit to him in later years. He followed 
merchandising up to 18(31 and then went to Colorado, where until 18(;G 
he was occupied in various pursuits. Returning to Platte City, he was 
made dejnity circuit clerk and served very acceptably for four years. 
He also filled the position of cashier in the Farmers' Savings Associ- 
ation for the same length oF time, after which he came to Weston. 
Mr. Cartwright was married November 25, 1862, to Miss Anna E. 
Hamilton, daughter of Charles Hamilton. She was born in Scott 
county, Ky., but came to Missouri with her parents in an early day. 
Mr. and Mrs. Cartwright have five children living: Laura Inez, 
Charles W., Robert E., Meade G. and Frank O. One child, ;ui in- 
fant named Alva Ben., is deceased. Mr. Cartwright is a Knight 
Templar in the Masonic Order. 



1050 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

JAMES W. COBURN 

(Attorney at Law, Weston). 

The history of this country is replete with illustrations of the 
possibilities of true manhood and merit under our institutions. The 
3'oung man of to-day of character and courage and brains becomes 
the man of prominence of to-morrow, and afterwards the distinguished 
citizen. So it has ever been, so it now is, and so, at least as long as 
free and prominent institutions prevail, will it ever be. 

Here and there and in every section of this State may be seen young 
men whose characters and attainments and whose careers, hardly 
more than yet begun, point with a certainty, impossible to doubt, that 
tiiey are destined for the highest services in their respective depart- 
ments of life, if they are but willing to accept those positions to which 
they might be elected. Prominent among the comparatively j'oung 
men of this State whose career thus far has been an eminent one, is 
the subject of the present sketch, James W. Coburn. He was born 
in Mason county, Ky., and was the sou of Dr. JohilA. Coburn. The 
maiden name of his mother was Elizabeth M. Wood. Both his parents 
were Kentuckians by birth. The father was a prominent physician 
in his da}', and is remembered as being one of the leading members 
of the medical fraternitj' of the vicinitj^ in which he lived. His grand- 
father, James W. Coburn, was the first Federal judge in what was then 
known as the Territory of Orleans, holding his courts at St. Louis 
and New Orleans. James W. was reared at his birthplace, and wa> 
unusually well favored in his efforts to secure a liberal education, the 
assistance which his father cave him being greatly increased bj' his 
own studious habits and personal desire and ambition to receive a 
thorough collegiate training. His first entrance upon the career of 
professional life was in the circuit clerk's office in Maysville, Ky., 
where he performed most of the duties falling to the lot of that 
official. Here it was that he formed a taste for the legal profession, 
and with courage and determination, added to patieuce and perse- 
vei-ance, he improved his leisure time in preparing himself for 
admission to Harvard Law School. He was admitted to the bar in 
18(36, and it was only on account of his age that he was not admitted to 
the year before, no one doubting his qualifications and eminent fitness 
to take such a step. 

In 18(U) he came to Missouri and entered into partnership with John 
Doniphan, a lawyer of wide repute in the Platte Purchase, a relation 
which existed until Mr. Doniphan's removal to St. Joseph. Since 
then he has been engaged in practicing alone. He is a close student 
and a safe counselor, and personally he possesses those qualities 
which go far to win the respect and confidence of men. Plain 
and unassuming, his honesty is apparent to all, whilst his manners are 
agre()al)le, and his couversatiou, rtever too voluble, is always pleasant. 
Personal popularity comes almost unavoidably to such men. 

Mr. Coburn's library is perhaps one of the best in Platte county. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1051 

the voliiuies therein treating not only of legal and professional matter 
but being devoted to scientific and philosophical topics, etc. 

Mr. C. is at present serving his third term as prosecuting attorney, 
and it is entirely unnecessary to make any remarks upon the compli- 
ment which has thus been shown him by the people of his county, 
and those among whom he makes his home in thus repeatedly calling 
him to discharge the duties of by no means an unimportant office. 
He is a Knight Templar in the Masonic Order and belongs to the 
Encampment of the I. O. O. F. 

A. H. COX 

(Retired Farmer, Westou) . 

Mr. Cox is a venerable man whoso faculties of mind and vigor of 
body are still remarkably well preserved, and who, by industry 
and good management in the active years of a well spent life, has ac- 
cumulated a comfortable competency on which to rely in old age. He 
came originally, like many of the best men all over the West, from 
Virginia, the grand old mother of good citizens, as well as of the noblest 
and best Presidents who have ever occupied the Executive chair of the 
Republic. Mr. Cox was born in Cumberland county, April 3, 1S04. 
In 1809, when he was but 5 years of age, his father removed to Ken- 
tucky. Brought up in an agricultural community, as was to be 
expected, he became a farmer, and this calling has been his occupa- 
tion through life. In 1847 he emigrated to Platte county and pur- 
chased a farm and at once took a position as one of the leading 
agriculturists of the county and one of its prominent citizens. The 
same year of his removal here ( 1817 ) he married Miss Phoebe Larri- 
more, a native of Madison county, Ky. She died in 1849, leaving one 
son, William E., now in business in New York City. In 1852 Mr. 
Cox was again married to Mrs. Angeline Jones, of Buchanan county, 
Mo. She is a native of North Carolina and has two children by a 
former marriage, one daughter, who is the wife of Charles W. 
Campbell, for j'ears a prominent business man of St. Joseph, but now 
a resident of Florida ; and William Jones, a farmer in Buchanan 
county. In 1880 Mr. Cox disposed of his farming lands and removed 
to Weston. He is a man of many positive traits of character and 
unswerving in his convictions of duty and right. Caring nothing for 
the vanities of the world, he has striven to acquit himself faithfully 
and sincerely in every duty of life. 

MRS. MELISSA COX 

(Post-office, Weston) . 

Mrs. Cox (whose maiden name was Wilson), the relict of Jacob 
Cox, Esq., was born in West Virginia, and when quite a small child 
was brought by her parents to Missouri, their settlement being made 
in Platte county. Six days after reaching there the mother died, l)iit 
the father survived until February 17, 1883, when he, too, departed 



1052 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

this life. After growing to womanhood here Miss Melissa was mar- 
ried September 18, 1856, to Jacol) Cox, a Kentuckian by birth, and 
■who died February 13, 1869. Their family had consisted of four 
children, three of whom are now living: Oliver y., Spead S. and 
Kate, wife of Ben. Siler, of this county. One son, Jaoob Presley, 
is deceased. At his death Mr. C. left a homestead which is now being 
cultivated Iiy the two sons, Oliver S. and Spead S. These young 
men, having been reared on a farm, have very naturally chosen that 
calling in their early manhood and by industrj^ and good management 
have steadily prospered, until they are now numbered among the 
prominent agriculturists of this part of the county. Oliver S. received 
the principal part of his education in this county. Spead S. has also 
obtained a good school instruction. In the conduct of the home farm, 
which contains 128 acres, tliey are careful, painstaking and practical 
managers, and to their theory of how a farm should be cultivated, 
they bring 3'ears of experience and cousequentl}' must, of necessity, 
succeed. The improvements on the place are of a good class. 

GEORGE CRUTCHFIELD 

(Post-offlce, Weston). 

Without advantages or opportnnities as favorable as those of the 
generality of men, in fact, from circumstances far less favorable than 
those of most others, Mr. C. has risen to a position of creditable 
prominence and influence in the agricultural affairs of this county. 
He was one of a family of eight children left orphans by the death of 
their parents, and with little or no means to help them along in life. 
He and his elder brother, John A., with commendable zeal, much 
force of character and determined purposes, performed the obliga- 
tions so sadl}' thrust upon them in a manner highly commendatory to 
them, and reared the younger children in such a way that the}' have 
not onl}' become an honor to themselves, but all are well respected 
members of society. The farm of 60 acres left them by the father 
has, through the perseverance, econonw and indomitable energy of 
the two older brothers, increased to IGO acres, the improvements of 
which are of an excellent class. Looking back over the career of 
these brothers it must be manifest to the most casual observer that 
no men of mean ability or little force of character could achieve what 
they have accomplished. George Crutchfield was born in the State 
of Kentucky, August 28, 1833, accompanjnng his parents to this 
county in 1848. They were Elijah and Maria (Harris) Crutchfield, 
also of Kentucky nativity, and the latter was a sister of John Harris, 
whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work. Some six j'ears after 
their settlement here they fell victims to the cholera, dying in 1854, 
within twenty-four hours of each other ; they were buried in the same 
grave. George was the second in the faniih' of eight children. In 
March, 1862, he was married to Miss Elizabeth Pope, whose father, 
A. Pope, came to this county from Kentucky in an early day. Their 
family consists of four children living: John M., Jessie, Richard and 
Ann M. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1053 

John A. Crutchfield, who was born Jul_y 24, 1831, was united in 
man-iage, April 12, 1865, with Miss Medora A. Jackson, who died 
April 12, 1872, leaving a family of three children : Ada, Ola and 
Elijah. Mr. C. cultivates 1(')0 acres of good land. 

H. C. CUNNINGHAM 

(Farmer, Sectiou 17, Post-office, Westou). 

To be successful, in the true sense of the term, in stock-raising, 
one very important feature not to be overlooked is the presence of 
water on the farm for the purposes of watering stock. Mr. Cunning- 
ham is unusuall}^ fortunate in this respect, for upon his place are 11 
springs of pure living water, so distributed through the farm as to 
entirely water it. His tract embraces 300 acres and is known to be 
one of the best adapted for stock purposes throughout Platte county. 
This business has received great encouragement from Mr. C, for he 
has done nmch to promote its advancement and development. It is 
not to be wondered at that he has achieved such success when we take 
into consideration that he came originally from Kentucky. Of Welsh 
origin, the Cunninghams first became settled in Virginia, in this coun- 
try, in an early day, and afterwards located in Kentucky. The parents 
of H. C. were W. E. and Sarah (Owens) Cunningham, who came 
from Kentucky to this couutj' in 1851, and they are now residents of 
Clinton county, this State. The subject of this sketch was born Jan- 
uary 20, 1848, in Kentucky, but since accompanying his father here 
in 1851, has continued to make this county his home, where his edu- 
cation was acquired. September 18, 1877, Mr. C. was married to 
Miss Katie Viuyard, whose pleasing and courteous manners are only 
less attractive than her true intellectual worth. Her parents were 
among the first settlers of the county, having come here from Ken- 
tucky and settled on land before it was surveyed. 

JOHN A. DURIvES 

(■Nurseryman and Horticulturist, Sections, Post-office, Westou). 

The characteristic thrift of the German-American citizens is but iu 
few instances more forcibly illustrated than in that of the subject of 
the present sketch. His parents were both natives of Germany and 
while in that country his father was successfully engaged as a farmer 
and vine grower. In 1843 he emigrated to the United States and 
landed at New Orleans, going thence up the river to St. Louis, from 
which place he came on out to Weston, where he lived until his death, 
March 17, 1872. He left two children, Elizabeth, now Mrs. Guen- 
ther, and John A. His widow survived him until the autumn of 1876. 
Her maiden name was Elizabeth Gall. John A. Durkes was born 
June 10, 1837, in the old Fatherland, and accompanied his parents to 
this country upon their removal here. He was reared in Platte 
county, and in 1854 commenced working in his father's nursery. He 
was then but 16 years of age, but from that time to the present he 



1054 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

has assiduously devoted himself to the occupation which he now fol- 
lows. No one has studied more closely to meet the demands of this 
section in varieties of fruits best adapted to the soil, climate and loca- 
tion of orchards than he ; and no one enjoys a better reputation for 
sterling integrity and true worth. He keeps thoroughly posted in 
all matters of a literary nature pertaining to horticultural affairs, and 
expresses himself clearly on all topics relating to his business when 
called upon to do so. His landed estate embraces 325 acres, 50 acres 
of which are choice bottom land, and 75 acres are devoted to orchard. 
Mr. Dui'kes is a prominent member and active, earnest supporter of 
the Missouri Valley Horticultural Association, the Missouri State 
Horticultural Association and the American Horticultural Society. 
December 20, 1866, he was married to Miss Grace Wilkinson, who 
was born in Wicklow, Ireland. They have seven children : JohnE., 
June A., Mary G., Maud I., William A., Thomas, and an infant. 

MORRIS ELLINGER 

(Store-keeper and Gauger, Weston) . 

Mr. EUinger commenced his experience in life as a clerk in a mer- 
cantile establishment at Frankfort-on-the-Main, where he remained 
until he emigrated to the United States in 1850. After spending 
about two years in New York City he came to Weston in 1852 and 
was in a saloon for four years, after which he became interested in the 
business for himself, continuing in it until 1868. He now opened a 
hotel, and in connection ran a billiard room, giving his time to this 
calling up to 1870. He then received the appointment of a gauger, a 
position which he has eince held, and his duties consisted in acting as 
gauger in all the distilleries in this portion of Missouri. He was 
first stationed at Union Mills as Government storekeeper and gauger 
and for four years later was at Baiubridgo, Clinton county. After a 
term of six months he returned to Union Mills, and from there went 
to Weston, where he remained one and a half years, he being assigned 
to Waldron. His duties do not call him beyond this place now. Mr. 
Ellinger was a son of M. L. and Judith Ellinger, both natives of 
Hohenzoller, Hechingen, Germany, where also their deaths occurred. 
Ho, himself, was born there January 9, 1830. His youth and early 
manhood were passed in that community, and he received a good 
education in his native language, which has been of material benefit 
to him in later years, the results of which have never been forgotten 
or lost. His career from this time on has been noted. In 1854 Mr. 
Ellinger was married in Platte City to Miss Margaret Whitton, daugh- 
ter oif Red. Whitton. She was born and reared in Tennessee. To 
them have been born four children : Lizzie, wife of George A. Wood- 
bridge, of this county; Charles M., also of this county; James, of 
Denver, Col. ; and John, of Weston. Mr. E. is a recognized leader 
in educational affairs in this section of the county. He has done 
much for the upbuilding of schools, and as secretary of the Weston 
board of education for about four years, was largely instrumeutal in 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1055 

the erection of the school building at Weston. For one term he 
served as city collector, assessor, and also as councilman, discharsfing 
the duties of each of these positions with singular care and fidelity. 
He is a member of the I. O. O. F. at Weston, and also of the 
Encampment, in both of which he has fillled numerous chairs. He has 
also been a member of the Weston Benevolent Society for 31 years. 

JOSEPH B. EVANS 

(Post-office, Weston'). 

It would hardly be possible to write a history of any county in Mis- 
souri and Kentucky or Virginia without mentioning on its pages the 
Evans family ; for it is one of the most widely distributed families in 
the country, and its representatives wherever they reside are generally 
people of more or less consideration or prominence. Tiie gens oi the 
family of which we are now speaking took its rise, so far as the United 
States are concerned, in Virginia, and from that State the present 
branch of the family originally came. The genealogy of the family 
might be traced back to Wales. The mother of Joseph B. Evans was 
Polly, daughter of Capt. Joseph C. Belt, who served in the War of 
1812. The father of Mr. E. was a man of excellent business capacity 
and prominent in mercantile life. Bo_th parents died in Kentucky. 
Joseph B. was born in Kentucky, November 23, 1827. He remained 
in the county of his birth until 14 years of age, when he came to 
Missouri and in 1841 located in Platte county, which has since been 
his home. His career since his residence here has been an honorable 
and worthy one, and his life, well and usefully spent, has l)een 
rewarded with an abundance of this world's goods. His homestead 
is situated about one mile from Weston, on the AVeston and Platte 
City turnpike, and is known by the name of " Jersey Park." This 
beautiful place covers a tract of 63 acres of superior laud, all sown 
in blue grass. An orchard covering 12 acres is numbered among the 
improvements upon it. Mr. Evans has given more than the usual 
attention to the raising of Jersey cattle, and he now has about 20 
head of the Queen of Barnett and Koyalist families. Mr. Evans, dur- 
ing his lifetime, has Ijeen extensively occupied in mercantile pursuits, 
insurance, etc., and has frequently been called upon to serve his fel- 
low-citizens in various official capacities. Among them might be 
mentioned the positions of township trustee, marshal of the Weston 
court of common pleas and minor offices ; he is now magistrate. All 
his public duties he has discharged with singular care and fidelity. 
September 17, 1850, Mr. Evans was married to Miss Susan Davis, a 
Kentuckiau by birth, also of Welsh descent. They have had three 
children, only one of whom is now living, George W. He is a 
traveling salesman, and makes his home with his father, his wife, 
having been Miss Regiuia Brooks, of St. Louis. They have two chil- 
dren : Georo;e DeForest and jNIabel O. 



1056 \ HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

GEOEGE GABBERT 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section 33, Post-office, Weston) . 

In the sketch of Mr. James I. Gabbcrt (a brother of the subject of 
this sketch) we have shown that he is a representative of German an- 
cestry, members of this family having been among the earliest set- 
tlers of the colony of Virginia. George Gabbert, the grandfother of 
Mr. G., and for whom he was named, served under Gen. Shelby 
in the Revolutionary War, and was in the battle of King's Mountain, , 
North Carolina. Upon the close of that memorable struggle for inde- 
jjcndence he took up his location in Virginia, where his son, James 
Gubbert, was born. Subsequently he (George) took his familj' to 
Kentucky. James Gabbert, 14 years of age upon his removal to that 
State, grew to manhood there, and subsequently married Polly Sulli- 
van. Among other children born tb them in Kentucky was George, 
whose birth occurred in Lincoln county, December 26, 1814. When 
six years of age he accompanied his father to Indiana, where he 
reached his majority. Of something of an adventurous spirit, became 
to Platte county in 1839, and bought his present homestead, which he 
at once commenced to improve. This was not an easy task, but he 
was not a man to be discouraged by obstacles of such a nature. His 
career since that time has proven that he was fully able to become a 
pioneer in this new country, and to open the way for civilization. His 
present farm embraces 380 acres, an aljundant supply of water and 
other natural advantages, rendering it a good farm for stock purposes, 
in which he is engaged to some extent. Mr. G. hass filled several 
official positions of a local nature, such as township, chool and 
county offices, and was once nominated as arepresentativeto the Gen- 
eral Assembly, at a time when a nomination was equivalent to an 
election. But feeling it his duty, as well as a privilege, to devote his 
time and attention to the education of his children and the conduct 
of his farm, he was compelled to decline the proffered distinction. 
Mr. Gabbert was married January 8, 1836, to Miss Sarah Cox, a 
native of Indiana. Her parents were natives of Virginia, and removed 
to Indiana in an early day. They have a family of nine children liv- 
ing : James, George M., Thomas I., Jane, wife of L. Wilkerson ; 
Priscilla, wife of S. A. Hull, ; and xMarion N., wife of J. M. Tread- 
way, all of this county ; Ella, wife of James Crutchfield, of Texas ; 
William T. and Paul B. Mr. G. is a man who enjoys to an unlimited 
extent the respect of his neighbors and no one deserves it more 
than he. 

THOMPSON A. GILBERT 

(Agent of the Kansas City, St. Josepli and Council Bluffs Railroad at Weston) . 

Mr. Gilbert is one of the most popular and efficient station agents 
on the line of this railroad, and is justly entitled to the respect and 
esteem of the people of Weston. It was about 1870 when he began 
his railroad experience, and for the past 15 3'ears he has been in the 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1057 

employ of the Kansas City, St. Joseph and Council Bluffs Railroad. 
In this coanectiou it luigiit be stated that never has the compuny 
had reason to regret the choice they made in selecting him for this 
position. Mr. Gilbert is the son of Abel and Hannah Gilbert, nee 
Pasko, and was born in Weston, Platte county, Mo., July 26, 1851. 
His father was born in Canada West, and his mother came originally 
from Dutchess count}^ N. Y. Thompson was principally reared here, 
his education being obtained in the sciioois of Platte county and in 
St. Louis. In 1865, filled with the spirit of adventure, he went to 
Utah and remained there until 1868, following in the meantime va- 
rious pursuits. In that year he returned to Weston, and for a 
while thereafter was interested in merchandising, after which he be- 
came occupied in the business which has since received his attention. 
Mr. Gilbert has taken great interest in the local affairs of Weston, and 
for two terms served as a member of the city council. He has 
been prominently identified with the Masonic'Order, being connected 
with the Blue Lodge, Chapter and Commandery, and has also been a 
member of the Knights of Honor for some time. His marriage to 
Miss Ella Story, a native of Clay countjs Mo., occurred November 2, 
1875. This union has been blessed with two children : Leta and 
Walter. 

CHRISTOPHER C. GRAVES 

(Farmer, Sectioo 35,Post-olHce, Westou). 

Mr. Graves, a most successful farmer of this township and a man 
who, in accumulating a good property by his own industry aiid intelli- 
gence, has done much for the material development of the county, is 
a worthy son, liy nativity, of Jackson county, Tenn., where ho was 
born October 11, 1840. His father, James L. Graves, who was born 
in the same county in 1803, after growing up as a farmer, was married 
to Miss Sarah Hollaman, a nativ^o of Wilson county, Tenn. In 1844 
tiie family removed to Platte county, Mo., settling at latan on the 
first day of May. The father at once identified himself with the 
material interests of this county and became one of its well-to-do citi- 
zens, living here until his death in 1874. The mother died in July, 
1S84. Christopher C. was occupied in farming at the outbreak of 
the war, a calling to which he had been reared from early youth. Of 
Southern birth and antecedents, his sympathies were very naturally 
with the Confederate cause, and following the dictates of his con- 
s('ience as to what he thought was the right course to pursue, he 
enlisted in the Second regiment of Shelby's brigade and was wounded 
at the battle of Springfield, where he was taken prisoner. Soon after 
exchanged, he subsequently served under Cockrill in the Third and 
Fifth regiments and participated in the siege of Vicksburg, and the 
battles of Baker's Creek and Kenesaw Mountain, being wounded no 
less than three times. At the time of Lee's surrender he had charge 
of some mules in the interest of the Confederate Government on the 
Brazos river, in Texas. Upon taking the oath of allegiance at Bas- 
trop, La., he returned home and resumed his fanning operations. 



1058 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

He owns 190 acres of good land Well improved and at the present 
time is erecting a commodious, handsome and convenient dwelling 
which, when completed, will be one of tlie best in the township. Mr. 
Graves' wife is of Virginia parentage but was herself born in Platte 
county. She was a Miss Nannie Slier at the time of her marriage, in 
1868. They have five children : Tula, Delia P., Lora Lee, Forrest 
and Arly. Mr. and Mrs. Graves' religious preferences are with the 
Cumberland Presbyterian Church. 

CAPT. CHARLES GUENTHER 

(Deputy Revenue Collector, Storekeeper and Ganger, Weston). 

Capt. Guenther has been a resident of Weston since about the year 
1850, and his career since that time has been one of ceaseless activity 
and untiring energy. This perseverance and close attention to busi- 
ness have not been without their substantial rewards. Since 1869 he 
has been in the employ of the Government in his present position, 
the duties of which he has discharged with singular care and fidelity 
and to the satisfaction of all parties interested. He owns a landed 
estate of about 200 acres in this county — an excellent tract of land. 
Capt. Guenther was born in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, December 
8, 1829. His father, John Guenther, and his mother, Catherine 
Wetzel before her marriage, were both born in the same place and 
lived there until their death. The subject of this sketch came to the 
United States in May, 1846, and remained for a time in New York, 
working at the occupation of a barber. From New York he went to 
New Orleans, where he stopped ten months, after which he came up 
the river to St. Louis. Thence he went to Independence, intending 
to take a trip to Oregon, but owing to injuries received by a kick of a 
mule soon after they had started, he was compelled to al)andon tiie 
project and return to Weston, where he continued his chosen [)rofes- 
sion until 1858. He now became engaged in agricultural and horti- 
cultural pursuits. During the late war he was commissioned captain 
of a company in the enrolled militia, and afterwards entered the Six- 
teenth Kansas ctivalry. On being mustered out of the service, he 
returned to Weston and I'esunied farming. Now in the prime of life, 
Capt. Guenther is comfortably situated, and judging from the success 
which has attended his past life, he need have nothing to fear as to 
his material prospects in the future, and when the shadows of old age 
shall have commenced to hover around him. He and his wife have a 
family of three children, Catherine, John and Charles G. Mrs. 
Guenther was formerly Miss Elizabeth Durkes, also of German 
nativity, and their marriage occurred in Weston, Mo., in 1852. 

E. W. HARDESTY 

(Farmer and Raiser of Hish Grade Stock, Section 32, Post-Omce, Weston). 

Mr. Hardesty, though still a young man, not yet having reached his 
thirty-fifth year, is old in the experience which is given by a life spent 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTV. 1059 

ill hard, earnest and persevei-iug endeavor to secure a substantial footing 
in agricultural affairs. He was born in Platte county, Mo., December 
25, 1850, and is a son of J. W. and Emily T. (Wilhite) Hardesty, 
who came to this county from Kentucky in an early day. In 1863, 
or when about 13 years old, he accompanied the family on their trip 
overland to California, at which time they took across the plains over 
100 mules, and were also engaged in freighting, etc. On their return 
trii) they came by way of New York. Young Hardesty was more than 
ordinarily favored with opportunities to secure an education, and in 
addition to the primary course of instruction which he i-eceived, he 
attended school at Pleasant Ridge, Weston, and Jacksonville, 111., 
supplementing this with a course at the St. Louis University. Thus 
well qualified for the duties of life, ho at once prepared himself for the 
long-cherished intention of engaging in agricultural pursuits in con- 
nection with the stock business His fine farm of 215 acres is 
most excellently adapted to the raising of grain and stock, though the 
latter receives the most of his attention. He is much interested in the 
development of high graded cattle, and also has a choice flock of sheep, 
which he finds is a pajnng investment. May 10, 1878, Mr. Hardesty was 
married to Miss Martha B. English, who was also born in this county. 
Her father was a Kentuckian l)y birth and her mother originally of 
Missouri. They were married in Platte county when quite young, 
where they lived until about 15 years ago, then moving to Wyandotte, 
Kan. There the mother now resides, the father having died a few 
vears ago. Mr. and Mrs. Hardesty have a family of three children : 
Eva May, Willard Ancil and James Carlton. 

J. H. HARDESTY. 

(Farmer aud Stock-raiser). 

The subject of this sketch is the third son of J. W. Hardesty and 
wife, whose maiden name was Wilhite, mention of whom has been 
made in the sketch of E. W. Hardesty, which appears on a previous 
page of this volume. At that place is given a brief outline of the 
movements of the family and their trip to California, etc., so it is un- 
necessarv to repeat here what can he referred to in that connection. 
Mr. Hardesty's father is a warm advocate and stanch supporter of the 
educational system of the day, aud ever has be(;n, believing it just as 
essential that a person who adopts the occupation of tilling the soil 
should have as thorough a school training as one who intends to enter 
mercantile life, and in this he is certainly correct. Young Hardesty, 
like his brother before referred to, had excellent school advantages, 
which he did not fail to improve. After leaving the common schools 
in Platte county, he took a two years' course at Jacksonville, 111. 
Subsequently he attended Spalding's Commercial College, at Kansas 
City, from which institution he graduated with honor. Mr. Hardestj' 
has devoted his entire life to farming and besides has carried on the 
stock business to some extent. He raises horses, mules, hogs and a 
superior grade of cattle, much of his land also being devoted to the 



1060 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

growing of grain. The reputation which he has obtained among the 
citizens of this county, is the best testimonial of his ability and suc- 
cess, in a material point of view, in his calling. His farm, of 240 
acres is one of the best in this portion of the county, and on account of 
the presence of six unfailing pure water springs it is rendered an excel- 
lent stock farm. The improvements are of a superior class. Mr. 
Hardesty's wife was formerly Miss Bertie Kailey, daughter of E. W. 
Eailey, whose sketch is to be found elsewhere in this history, 
their marriage having occurred February 17, 1881. Two children 
have been born to them : Egbert and Shortridge. Mr. Hardesty was 
born in this county September 5, 1853, and is therefore in his thirty- 
second year. 

LOUIS HEILEMANN 
(Harness and Saddle-maker, Post-office, Weston). 

Mr. Heilemann was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, August 26, 
1838, and is the son of Christopher Heilemann, the maiden name of 
his mother being Mena Seiber. Louis received a good, practical edu- 
cation in youth, and then became an appentice to the harness-making 
business, in Stuttgart, at which he has since worked. After attaining 
his majority, he was employed as foreman for Halffsadler Miller, a 
prominent manufacturer at that time, and remained thus employed 
for three years. In 1866 he emigrated to the United States, to St. 
Joseph, Mo., and worked there until May, 1867, and then went to 
St. Louis, but in the fall of the same year he came to Weston and 
entered the employ of Henry Brill, and afterwards l)ecame his part- 
ner for two years, when Mr. Brill sold out, and a brother of Mr. Brill 
became associated with him and remained until recently, when Mr. 
Heilemann purchased his partner's interest. He makes a specialty of 
both fine and heavy harness as well as saddles, all hand-made and his 
own manufacture, and carries a full line of goods adapted to the busi- 
ness. His motto has been to sell as low as consistent with good work, 
and his reliability as a good workman and honorable dealer has never 
been questioned. Mr. H. has been twice married, first on October 
22, 1869, to Miss Fredricka Hess, a native of Stuttgart. Mrs. H. 
died August 30, 1875, leaving two children : Alfred and Hodwick. 
His second marriage occurred April 9, 1876, to Mary Wholhueter. 

WILLIAiNI W. HILLIX 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section 31, Post-office, Westou). 

Mr. Hillix is proprietor of " Locust Hill " farm, one of the hand- 
somest homesteads in Weston township. The place contains 260 acres, 
and is a plat of land of more than ordinary natural beauty. His 
improvements arc of a character to correspond with the natural 
appearance of his land. His fences are substantial and in excellent 
rcipair. His residence is one of the best modern structures tiiere is 
in the county, a most desirable pro[)erty, and the other buildings 
are constructed with an eye to utility and durability. When wc 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1061 

consider that Mr. Hillix's success is to be :ittril)uted to his own endeav- 
ors, that he had no pecuniary aid in starting out in life tor himself, 
then it is that we can better realize the credit which is due him for 
the enviable position to which he has attained among the progressive, 
enterprising and successful class of agriculturists. The Hillix family, 
a% far back as we are able to trace, sprung originally in Ireland, 
descendants of which settled in Kentucky in an early day, where the 
subject of this sketch was born October 9, 1830. While growing up 
it was his good fortune to enjoy an ordinary education, sufficient for 
all practical purposes. In 1853, leaving the State of his birth, he 
came out to Buchanan county, Mo. Remaining there for about two 
years, he then went to Kansas, which was his home for a period of six 
years, after which he returned to Buchanan county. In 1867 he 
bought his present property. Mr. Hillix is a worthy and popular 
member of Salem Christian Church. He was married February 14, 
1856, to Miss Ellen R. Whittington, who was born in North Carolina, 
and a daughter of Allen A. and Louisa (Smith) Whittington, the 
former of North Carolina l>ut the latter a native of Tennessee. Six 
children have been born of this marriage : William, Allen A., Charles 
H., Frank, Minnie and All)ert. 

RICHARD JACQUEMIN 

(Of Jacqueniin & Sheukner, Dealers in Dry Goods, Clothiug, Hats, Caps and Millinery 
Goods, Weston). 

Mr. Jacquemin is one of the leading business men of Platte county. 
He is a native of Germany and was born February 22, 1848. His 
father, N. Jacquemin, and his mother, whose maiden name was Miss 
A. Zimmer, emigrated to the United States in 1854, and settled in 
Platte county, where they made their home for five years and then 
removed to Kansas, living there for nine years. Richard was reared 
on a farm, and in 1867 commenced his mercantile experience as a clerk, 
and in 1869 engaged in business on his own account with Mr. F. W. 
Ham as partner. This relation continued until 1873, when Mr. R. O. 
Shenkner purchased Mr. Ham's interest, since which time the business 
has been conducted under the present firm name, and no firm in Platte 
county enjoys a more enviable reputation. They are both active and 
energetic men, giving their personal attention to business, and by 
honest industry in the management of their business, coupled with 
sterling integrity, they have succeeded in building up a large trade 
which has been attended with satisfactory results. Their stock is 
large and complete in all dei)artments, anil while large and containing 
a more varied assortment than is usually found in towns of this size, 
will compare favoral)ly with those of much larger cities. Mr. Jacque- 
min was married October 1, 1877, to Miss Pocahontas Railey, a daugh- 
ter of J. D. Railey, an early settler of Platte county. 



1U62 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

WILLIAM R. KELLER 

(Dealer in Groceries, Provisions and Qiieensware, Weston). 

Mr. Keller, who is one of the important factors iu the business growth 
and prosperity of Weston, is justly entitled to more than a passing 
notice in this volume. Since his identification with this city as a 
business man no one has been more active and enterprising and 
no one has done more iu his line to increase and extend the trade and 
influence of the place. Keeping always on hand one of the largest ' 
stocks kept iu towns of much larger population, and goods of the best 
class, and by dealing fairly with his customers, and treating every 
one courteously and politely, he naturally draws to his house a large 
trade. The name of Mr. Keller's father, WiUiaiu M. Keller, is fa- 
miliar to the old residents of Platte county. He was originally from 
Kentucky, where he was reared to manhood and followed the avoca- 
tion of a farmer. After attaining liis majority he removed to In- 
diana and there married Miss Mary Roi^ards. After the consummation 
of the Platte Purchase in 1837 he at once removed to this county 
' and entered the laud adjoining the city of Weston, including the 
land on which the residence of Dr. Bonifant is located. He followed 
agricultural pursuits until his death, which occurred on the 13th day 
of January, 1852, in the full triumph of the Christian faith. He was 
a man of many sterling traits of character, and he was closely iden- 
tified with the interests of the county, ilr. Wm. Keller was also an 
ardent, zealous and influential member of the Methodist Church 
South. He was a stanch High Mason, and very enthusiastic iu the 
cause of Masonry. He left besides his widow (who died April 5, 
18(59), five children: Martha A., now Mrs. Branscom, of Kansas; 
John R. (deceased), William R., Edward R., of Kansas, and Miranda 
A., now Mrs. Robbins, of Kansas. 

William R. Keller, the second and third child, was born and reared 
in Platte county, April 5, 1842, and was reared with a mercantile 
experience, four years of which time were spent in Leavenworth, Kan. 
Ill 1863 he, in connection with George Ellis, t)pened a house at 
Weston, under the firm name of^ Keller & Ellis, and continued iu 
l)usiness for one year, when Mr. Ellis sold out and Mr. Keller's brother 
became associated with him, but owing to impaired health he was 
compelled to abandon this calling and Mr. A. T. Kyle became Mr. 
Keller's partner, under the firm name of Kyle & Keller. This firm 
did a large business and after existing for several years vvas dissolved 
by Mr. Kyle's retiring, and the firm of Keller & Co. was formed, with 
J. S. Hamm as partner. Mr. Keller finally purchased his partner's 
interest and ha's since conducted the business alone. In addition to 
Ills grocery and provision business he is a large packer and shipper of 
apples and his business iu this direction is increasing each year, not 
Duly in quantity l)ut for the quality and reputation of his brand. His 
shipments are made principally to Colorado and Minnesota. He was 
ni uried January 5, 1865, to Miss Ellen N. Maxfield, a native of St. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1063 

Louis. They have a fiimily of four children: Willie A., Charles 
A., Elma and Edgar. 

J. L. KENNEY 

(Farmer, Post-office, Weston). 

When it hecomes necessary for a man upon reaching years of 
maturity to select some occupation which he may follow in the suljse- 
quent years of his life, it is but natural for him to choose that calling 
to which he has been brought up, and with which, of course, he is 
best acquainted. So it was with Mr. Kenney, for having been reared 
to agricultural pursuits, he has made it his life work. Though com- 
parativel}' a young man, by industry, economy and good management 
he has become possessed of a comfortable estate. His father was a 
native of Kentucky, his ancestors having come from Virginia orig- 
inally. His mother, formerly Polly A. Glass, was also a Kentuckian 
by birth. In 185(5, they immigrated to Missouri and located in Platte 
county, but the year following tiiey went to Daviess county. In 1864 
they returned to Platte county. J. L. Kenney was born in Scott 
county, Ky., August 21, 1853. He accompanied his parents on their 
various moves from that State, and since settling here has been 
actively and successfully tilling the soil. March 18, 1875, he was 
married to iNIiss Emma F. Overbeck, who was born in Oregon. They 
have four children: James E., Henry L., Lena G. and Andrew Lee. 
Mr. and Mrs. Kenney are prominent members of the Missionary 
Baptist Church, of which the former is clerk. He now bids fair to 
become one of our most sul)stantial citizens. 

JOHN F. KENNEY 

(Blacksmitb, Etc., Post-otllce, Weston). 

It is a very noticeable fact that in the majority of cases the business 
to which his father devotes his attention will be the calling which his 
son will adopt upon arriving at an age when it becomes necessary for 
him to enter into active business life. This fact is borne out in one 
instance, at least, in the life of Mr. Kenney, who has followed the oc- 
cupation which his father formerly carried on. He accompanied his 
parents to Weston in 185(i, learned the blacksmith's trade here under 
Iiis^ father and continued it until 1864, when he went to Nevada. 
After remaining there about two years he returned to this county and 
has since been interested in blacksmithing at Weston. Not only has 
lie closely attended to his own work, but he has found time to identify 
himself with the material interests and prosperity of Weston, and in 
return his fellow-citizens have shown their appreciation of his efforts 
by electing him at different times mayor and a member of the council 
of the town. Politically, an ardent Democrat, he has served as 
chairman of the Democi-atic county central committee. Personally, 
he is a friend of all. He is a member of the Masonic Order, belono^- 
ing to the Blue Lodge, Chapter and Commandery. During the war he 
served as second lieutenant in the State service for about nine 

62 



1064 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

months. Mr. Keiuie}' is a native of Kentucky, having been born in 
Warsaw, Gallatin county, October 30, 1841. His parents were Will- 
iam N. and Jane (White) Kenney, also originally from Kentucky, 
who came to Missouri in 1856. Their family numbered five cliildren : 
Helen, John F., T. M. S., Eliza and Alice. Mr. K. was married 
June 1(5, 1863, to Miss Laura H. Cordary, who was born iii Weston. 
They have two children, Charles Chase and Nellie H. Mr. Kenney is 
a musician of considerable merit, and for many years was the leader 
of the Weston cornet band, which acquired such a wide reputation. 

ALFRED laRIO^ATRICK 

(Farmer and Insurance Agent, Section 31, Post-office, Weston"). 

Mr. Kirkpatrick is a sou of Samuel Kirkpatrick, a native of South 
Carolina, and a farmer by occupation ; his mother's maiden name was 
Jane Steele, originally from Ireland. The latter died in 1848, in 
Scott county. Mo., whither the family had moved in 1844. The 
father departed this life in 1852. Born in Jackson county, Tenn., 
January 24, 1817, Alfred Kirkpatrick grew to manhood there 
and in November, 1841, came to Platte county. Mo., and commenced 
farming, the occupation to which he had been reared. This he has 
since followed, more or less, and during the last 15 3'ears he did a suc- 
cessful fishing business. In connection with his son he owns 300 
acres of land in this community. For 12 or 14 years he has con- 
ducted a profitable insurance business, and at first represented the 
American Insurance Company, of Chicago, as long as it continued in 
existence. Since that period he has represented the Home, of New 
York ; Marine, of St. Louis, and the Continental Insurance Company, 
of New York, and a more eflicient, honest, or honorable representa- 
tive can not be found anywhere. In his intercourse with his patrons 
he not only impresses them with his fairness aud honorable dealing, 
but has proven this in the interest he has taken in the adjustment of 
their losses when they have occurred. Mr. Kirkpatrick has also 
served for several years as justice of the peace. August 10, 1839, 
he was married to Miss Mahala P. Bland, originally from Monroe 
county, K}'. Their famil}' now numbers seven children living: 
William Henry, Minitia E., now Mrs. W. F. Butler; Mary E., now 
Mrs. Stephens; Lue, wife of R. Kirkpatrick; Minnie, wife of J. M. 
Anderson, and John De Wilton. One son, James W., enlisted in 
Shelby's brigade during the late war, and when Price made his last 
raid through Missouri he came home on a visit. While attempting 
to rejoin his command he was brutally shot in Platte county ; and in 
addition to this bitter sorrow, which seemed to almost overwhelm the 
family, was added the refusal of a request made by his mother of the 
military authorities in command of this post, to be allowed to bring 
the dead body of her first-born to Weston, that it might have Chris- 
tian burial. 



J 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY, 1065 

GIBHART KURTZ 

(Westou). 

Mr. K'irt.z's father, Joseph Kurtz, is ;i native of Wurtemhurg, 
Germany, and was born in 1813. He learned the cooper's trade in 
youth, and lias followed it as his life avocation. He married Miss 
Victoria Noll, and in 1847 they emigrated to the United States, and 
in 1848 came to Platte county. Their family consists of four sons, 
all residents of this county : Giljhart, Ciiarles B., Andrew and Joseph 
M. Gibhart, the eldest son, was born in Wurtemhurg in 1844. He 
was ])rincipally reared in Platte county. During the late war he en- 
listed in the Federal array in the Eighteenth Missouri volunteer 
infantry. After serving three years he re-enlisted as a volunteer. 
He was in a number of the hardest fought battles of the war, among 
them the battle of Shiloh, luka, Corinth, and in all of the leading 
battles in the Georgia campaign, Resaca, Big Shanty, Kenesaw Moun- 
tain, battle of July 22d and the siege of Atlanta. At the latter place 
he lost his right arm. After being honorably discharged he returned 
home, and for several years was engaged in the i)0()k and stationery 
business. Mr. Kurtz is plain and unassuming in his manner and of a 
retiring disposition, well informed on general subjects, and as a 
citizen stands high in the estimation of all who enjoy his acquaintance. 

HENRY W. MAGERS 

(Dealer in Hardware, Stoves, Tinware, Agricultural Implements, Lime, Cement and 
Hair, Weston, Mo.). 

Mr. Magers is one of those industrious, intelligent ineu who have 
had the energy and enterprise to succeed in life und establish them- 
selves comfortably, it matters not what tiieir early opportunities may 
have been. He was l)orn in Germany August 7, 1838. His parents, 
Heinrich D. Magers anil Louisa Kuidnian, were both natives of the same 
place, and in 1840 the family emigrated to the United States and set- 
tled in St. Louis county. The father was a cabinetmaker by occupa- 
tion. In 1844 he came to Platte county and worked at his trade until 
his death, which occurred in 1851. Three of his children are still liv- 
ing: Henry W., Thomas C. and Louisa, now Mrs. Mundy. Henry 
W. was reared with a mercantile experience, and in October, 1865, 
engaged in his present business. He carries a large stock in his line, 
which is a ])romineut business, characteristic of its leading merchants. 
It is not saying too much to mention the fact that in the hardware 
business Mr. Magers is one of the best posted men in the county. 
Since the establishment of his store he has had marked success, doing 
a large business, and his custom is steadily increasing, and the char- 
acter of the goods he keeps is so well known that they need no recom- 
mendation except their own use. Mr. Magers has not only been 
[irominent as one of the business men of Westou, but has served six 
years and a half as mayor, ami in educational matters he has taken a 



1066 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

deej) interest, having served thirteen years as a member of the school 
board. He was re-elected for three j'ears in April, 1885. 

THOMAS C. MAGERS 

(Weston) . 

Thomas C. Magers is a brother of Henry W. Magers, of the pre- 
ceding sketch, and was born in St. Louis county, Mo., September 
9, 1841, and he is a son of D. Magers and Louisa Kuhlman, natives of 
Germany, who emigrated to the United States in 1840. The father 
died in 1851 and the mother in 1884. Thomas C. was reared and 
educated in Platte county, and for many years was engaged in mer- 
cantile pursuits. During the late war he was a member of the Slate 
militia, and he has served the city as a member of its council. For 
several years past he has been in the employ of the Government as 
storekeeper and ganger, and has made a faithful and efficient officer. 
He is a man of tine business qualifications and popular with all who 
know him. September 14, 1865, he was married to Miss A. E. 
Mundy, who was born in the Delaware nation, now included in the 
State of Kansas. They have one sou, Roy V. They have lost three 
children : Eva, Beulah and Walter. 

S. M. MILLER 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Weston) . 

This reliable, trustworthy and good man was born in Kentucky on 
the 29th of August, 1827. Those of the earliest settlers of the county 
well remember his father, Samuel Miller, who came to this county 
in 1839 from Kentucky, for he was a man of marked characteristics and 
much influence in an- early day, and was held in high estimation by 
the people of this community. He pre-empted the land now owned 
by Mr. James Pence, mention of which is made on a subsequent page 
of this book. S. M. Miller, the son, has always lived in Platte county, 
and following the example of his father, has l)een occupied in ftirm- 
iug and stock-raising. His educational advantages in youth were 
such as the common schools of the neighborhood afforded, but in them 
he acquired a sufficient knowledge of l)ooks for all the practical pur- 
poses of ordinary farm and business life. His farm embraces 160 
acres of choice land fairly improved. Mr. Miller has been twice mar- 
ried ; the first time. May 24, 1855, to Miss Elizabeth Furnish, who 
died March 27, 1869. She had borne him six children, as follows : 
Jonathan, Annie, William, John Waller, Elizabeth ami Samuel M. 
His second wife was formerl}' Miss Orlena Cooper, of this county, 
and their marriage was consummated January 10, 1871. Three children 
were given them : Luther, Isabella and George. Her parents were 
primarily from Tennessee and were early settlers of this portion of 
Missouri. Mr. Miller is one of the most honored citizens of Platte 
county, and shows great liberality and zeal and falls l)ehind no one 
in steps taken to advance the best interests of the community at large. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1067 



JACOB A. MILLEK 

(Baker and Confectioner, Weston). 

Jacob A. Miller was born in AVeston, Platte county, July 18, 1862. 
His father's name was Jacob Miller, and the maiden name of his 
mother was Caroline Beck. The former died in 1865. Jacob A. was 
reared on a farm and educated in the schools of the county. He com- 
menced to loarnthe baker's trade in 1879, and in July, 1884, engaged 
in business on his own account, and by dealing in the best materials, 
and the standard quality of the goods he manufactures, he has secured 
a satisfactory and constantly increasing trade. 

M. W. MITCHELL 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section A5, Post-office, Weston). 

Another one of those successful men and excellent citizens of whom 
this county contains so many is Mr. Mitchell, a native of the State 
of Kentucky. The place of his birth was Woodford county, and the 
date December 12, 1811 ; consequently he is now in his seventy-fourth 
year, but notwithstanding his age he is remarkably well preserved and 
still active in mind and body, and takes a great interest in the atfairs 
of the county in which he has made his home foi- over 40 years. Mr. 
Mitchell's father was George K. Mitchell, and his mother's maiden 
name was Elizabeth Watts, both being Virginians by birth. In later 
life they came to this State and made their home with the subject of 
this sketch (who had settled here in 1845) until their death. Having 
been brought up to learn thoroughly the occupation of farming, 
young Mitchell continued that calling when it became necessary for 
him to start out in life for himself. In 1838, leaving Kentucky, he 
removed to Boone county, Mo., but in 1839 located in Jackson 
county. In 1844 he purchased land in Platte county, settling perma- 
nently upon it the year following. By numerous additions to his 
original tract, Mr. M. now has in his possession over 500 acres of 
fine land and he is fixed so as to live, in the language of Shakespeare, 
'• as free and independent as the winds that blow." Mr. Mitchell's 
wife was formerly Miss INIary M. Guthrie, originally from Kentucky, 
to whom he was married February 8, 1838. Three children have 
been l)orn of this marriage : Thomas, Oscar B. and William W. 
Thomas Mitchell, the eldest son and upon whom the conduct of the 
farm principally rests, is a worthy son of his father. He has always 
lived in Platte county, and indeed, on the farm which he now occupies, 
having been born here in 1848. His early training and his education 
were similar to the early advantages possessed by most of the youths 
in this vicinity at that day. Upon reaching manhood he was married 
to Miss Jennie McKinnin, also of Kentucky birth. They have five 
children living: John M., Thomas F., Hugh Clifton, Maud E. and 
Harry Foster. One daughter, Jennie May, is deceased. 



1068 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

O. B. MITCHELL 

(Farmer aucl Stock-raiser, Section 7, Post-office, Weston). 

It is the youug fai-mers aud stock-raisers of this county who deserve 
special mention in matters pertainini^ to the county's agricultural 
affairs, for they are destined sooner or later to take the place of those 
older than themselves who have for so many years been actively and 
successfully engaged in tilling the soil here. Mr. Mitchell's father, 
M. W. Mitchell, was an early settler in Platte county from Ken- 
tucky, and in this county the sublect of this sketch was born October 
11, 1855. He was brought up and educated here and has continued 
his farming operations with unabated vigor and enterprise. His place 
consists of 210 acres, well improved and upon which are good build- 
ings. October 11, 1877, Mr. Mitchell was united in marriage with 
Miss Emma, daughter of Nicholas Benner, one of the pioneers of this 
county, and a lady of rare personal attractions of mind and heart. 
The fruits of this union are two interesting children, Ida Ruth aud 
Charlie D. Mr. Mitchell is connected with the Pleasant Ridge Baptist 
Church. 

JOHN B. MUNDY 

(Editor of tlie Weston Chronicle) . 

Mr. Mundy was born in what is now the State of Kansas, Septem- 
ber 2, 1851. His father, Isaac Mundy, was a native of North Caro- 
lina, and was a blacksmith by trade, and was for a long time in 
the employ of the Government as blacksmith for the Delaware In- 
dians, in Kansas Territory. He was accidentally shot while hunting 
in 1858. The mother, whose maiden name was Lucy Hiues, and 
who was a native of Virginia, is still living, a resident of Platte 
county. There are seven children in the family : IMollie, now Mrs. 
L. W. Ringo ; Richard, Annie, now Mrs. T. C. Magers ; Virginia, 
John B., James, and Mattie, now Mrs. Hamm. Mrs. Mundy, with 
her family, came to this county in 1859, and John B. was principally 
reared here aud learned the printer's trade. He afterwards worked 
in St. Louis and various leading cities, and then for six years was 
in the mercantile business. In 1883 he purchased the Weston Chron- 
icle, and in the management of this paper he has proven himself 
to be a man of good judgment in directing its editorial policy. Mr. 
Mund}' has been carefid to give no worthy man just cause of com- 
plaint for anything pul)lished of a personal nature, his view of the 
province of the editor being that there is enough to write about 
without entering into personalities of an obscene character. Under 
this policy the Chronicle has become well establishetl as one of the 
representative country journals of Missouri. Mr. Mundy has held 
the offices of constable aud marshal of the court of common pleas at 
Weston, and he has served on the school board. He was married 
December 11, 1877, at Kansas City, Mo., to Miss Amelia Overbeck, 
a native of Jacksonville, Ore. Thev have two children: Madge aud 
Coburu. 



HISTOUy OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1069 

ALEXANDER R. MURDOCK 

(Deputy Sheriff of tlie Comity and Farmer, Section 4, Post-office, Weston). 

Mr. Murdock's life has been one of great activity and industry, not 
unspiced witli some thrilling local adventures, and, withal, substan- 
tially successful in a material point of view. He came originally from 
Ireland, where he was born May 22, 1839. His parents, William and 
Catherine Murdock, nee Witson, emigrated to the United States from 
the county of their nativity in 1849, and settled in Platte county, 
Mo., in a section known as " Fancy Bottom," where they raised a 
family of 11 children. Alexander R. was the next to the youngest in 
this family of children. His youth was spent in this county upon his 
father's farm, occupied with assisting in the work about the place and 
in attending the excellent schools kept in the neighborhood from time 
to time. Since his residence here he has been closely identified with 
the material interests and prosperity of the county, and no man in this, 
community has been more sincerely earnest in the development and 
progress of all matters which might prove a benefit to it, than he. 
Especially have the agricultural affairs found in him a warm friend, 
for he has always followed farming, and the result of his industry is 
seen in the excellent farm of 320 acres which he owns in "Fancy 
Bottom." For a long time Mr. Murdock has been serving as deputy 
sheriff of this county. As a private citizen and in the public walks of 
life Mr. M. has gained and now enjoys the esteem of all who know 
him. His wife, to whom he was married March 10, 1859, was for- 
merly Miss T. C. Stultz, who was born in Buchanan county. Mo. 
Mr. and Mrs. Murdock have four children: James W., Anna M., wife 
of Ed. White, Robert W. and Charles A. They have lost two: Lee 
Jackson and Florence Jessie May. 

ROBERT MURDOCK 

(Farmer and Stocli-raiser, Section 18, Post-otfice, Weston). 

Mr. Murdock is originally of Irish birth, his parents, Robert and 
Margaret (Duncan) Murdock, having been natives of Ireland. In 
1851 they carried out an idea long entertained of emigrating to 
America. That year they settled in Philadelphia, Pa., and in 1852 
they came to Platte county. Mo., where Mr. Murdock was engaged, 
with no inconsiderable degree of success, in farming. About two 
3^ears after his location here, on December 1, 1855, his son, Robert, Jr., 
was born. He was reared on the farm to that free and independent 
life which has ever been considered so conducive to the development 
of true sterling manhood. His education was also acquired here. Mr. 
Murdock now owns a farm of 200 acres, within one mile of Weston, 
on the Weston and Platte City turnpike, which is most excellently 
adapted for stock-raising purposes, and of which he is making some- 
thing of a specialty. December 1, 1881, Mr. INInrdock was married. 
Miss Emma M. Cook, daughter of George and Mary E. Cook, nee 



1070 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

Stultz, becoming his wife. She was born in this county. They have 
been blessed with two children: Cora Emeline and William D. 

JOHN G. NEWHOUSE 

(Dealer in Hardware, Stoves, Tinware and Agricultural Implements). 

Benjamin F. Newhouse, the father of the subject of this sketch, was 
born near La Porte, Ind., in 1818, January 22d, and after spending 
some years in Indiana and Illinois he came to Missouri and settled in 
Clinton county. His early life was spent on a farm, but he after- 
wai'ds worked for some years at the wagonmaking business, and also 
followed merchandising. He married Miss Elizabeth T. Gadberry, a 
native of Kentucky, July 4, 1842. John G. was born in Clinton 
county April 11, 1844, and came with his parents to Platte county in 
1848, and in 1850 to Weston. In 1864 he became impressed with the 
importance of a young man having a regular occupation, and he 
apprenticed himself to the tanner's trade and worked during his 
apprenticeship in Leavenworth. In 1869 he engaged in business 
in Rushville, Buchanan county ; but after remaining there one year a 
favorable opportunity opened in Weston, and in 1870, in company 
with his father, he engaged in his present business. His career has 
been one of marked success, and illustrates what can be accomplished 
by industry, economy and close attention to business when coupled 
with sterling integrity. Mr. Newhouse was married March 4, 1868, 
to Miss Lavenia E. Kenny, a native of Kentucky. They have two 
children : Lula and William L. His father died June 1, 1878, and his 
mother departed this life May 22, 1852. 

A. J. NEWTON 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section 5, Post-office, Weston). 

This entei'prising farmer and stock-raiser of Weston township is of 
English extraction, and was born in Baltimore, Md., June 21, 1832. 
He was reared there until 15 years of age, when he accompanied his 
mother overland to Michigan, remaining in that State until 1853. 
Coming on Westward, he now located at St. Joe, Mo., and was there 
engaged in railroading on the Hannibal and St. Joe Railroad, from 
which place he went to Atchison. From that time until the fall of 
1860 he was occupied in superintending the grading in the construc- 
tion of a road running from that place. Since the year mentioned he 
has given his attention principally to farming. His homestead in this 
county now contains 57 acres of fine land, in addition to which he is 
the possessor of 45 acres of timber. Of course Mr. Newton is a 
married man. Miss Eveline Quinn having become his wife November 
24, 1859. She was a native of this count}'. Their family consists of 
four children: Cora F., Jesse L., Ella D, and Jennie P. One son is 
deceased. Mr. Newton is an Episcopalian. His wife is a member of 
the Christian Church, and his two oldest daughters of the Reform 
Church. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1071 

WILSON G. NOBLE 

(Grain Dealer, Weston) . 

No worthy history of Plutte county could be written which does not 
accord to the name that heads this sketch a conspicuous and honorable 
place. Over 47 years ago Wilson G. Noble came to Weston, a young 
man of humble means and a stranger, one who had made his little by 
his own exertions and worth. He is a native Missourian, and was 
borne in Boone county. His father, Thomas Noble, was a farmer and 
moved from Boone county to Randolph, and thence to Monroe county, 
where the subject of this sketch was reared. His life until 15 years 
of age was spent on the farm with his father. He then learned the 
harness and saddlers' trade in Paris, and followed this business in 
Monroe county until 1838, when he came to Weston and opened a 
shop on his own account. He was then young, and the future of 
Weston was written all over with bright letters. His courage was un- 
faltering, and ills hope as radiant as the earliest morn. He went to 
work with all his energies to succeed. His business steadily grew in 
importance, and his trade continued to extend itself out over the sur- 
rounding county, which continued until the outbreak of the war. He 
tlien sold out, and afterwards engaged in the grocery business, which 
he conducted for eight years, the latter part of which time he also 
bought and shipped grain. He then sold his grocery business and has 
since devoted his whole attention to the grain trade, and in this busi- 
ness he has proven himself a good friend to the farmer from the fact 
that his grain is bought in special orders from permanent customers 
and he has given the farmers better prices than they could realize in 
the Kansas City or Chicago markets. In his intercourse with his 
customers he has pursued a straightforward business course, and has 
secui'ed for himself an enviable reputation for fair dealing. He was 
married in 1848 to Miss Elizabeth J. Alderson, a native of Kentucky, 
and after a happy married life of 13 years, on the 13th of August, 
1861, Mr. Noble was subjected to the severest trial one can undergo ia 
this life, the loss of his loving and devoted wife. She was borne to 
the grave amid the sorrow of all who knew her, for she was known 
as a lady of exceptional worth and much beloved by neighbors and ac- 
quaintances. She left three children: William A., now a practicing 
physician in Kansas ; Charles, and Lizzie, wife of James Cox. Charles, 
the second son and mayor of Weston, was born February 23, 1852, 
and has been reared in this county with a mercantile experience. In 
1879 he married Miss Julia Pettijohn, of Chicago, 111. They have 
one daughter. Birdie. 

MATHIAS NOLL 

(Wagon Manufacturer, Weston). 

Among the substantial and reliable business men of Platte county, 
no one is more deserving of special notice than the subject of this 
sketch. He was born in Germany, February 9, 1827, and was reared 



1072 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

there, receiving a good primary education. He was early apprenticed 
to the wagonniaking business, and after attaining his majority emi- 
grated to the United States in 1849. Subsequently, after working in 
St. Louis, Chicago and other cities, he became infected with the 
California fever, and accordingly turned his face toward the setting 
sun, but reaching Weston, which was then in its zenith, he accepted a 
situation as journeyman at his trade. About five years later he opened 
a shop for himself, and in his management the sturdy German quali- 
fications, industry and economy, coupled with sterling integrity, 
secured for him an enviable reputation and satisfactory success in his 
business. He found a wife in the person of Mrs. Grace Kurtz, 
formerly Miss Noll, who was also born in Germany. They have three 
children : Victoria, now Mrs. E. Brill ; Mathias, a druggist of Atchi- 
son, Kan., and Mary. 

WILLIAM OHLHAUSEN 

(Weston Milling Company). 

Edward Ohlhausen, the father of William, was born in Virginia, of 
German ancestry. He learned the tinner's trade and gradually turned 
his attention to the occupation of a machinist. The maiden name of 
his mother was Anna M. Ellis, who died in 1876. William, the third 
child and second son, was born in Platte county, Septemlier 12, 1841. 
He was here reared and learned the tinner's trade. He then en- 
gaged in steamboating on the Missouri river as an engineer and fol- 
lowed this business for 12 years. He then abandoned the river and 
had charge of the engine at the mill and subsequently purchased an 
interest. The mills, now known as the Weston Milling Company's 
mills, have recently been re-built, and supplied with a full and com- 
plete plant of the latest and best machinery, including the patent rol- 
ler process, and have a capacity of 100 barrels per day, with sufBcient 
room to increase the capacity to 200 barrels per day. Mr. Ohlhausen 
is one of the representative, enterprising, public-spirited citizens and 
does his full share for the growth and prosperity of the city. In 18(i2 
he was married to Miss Harriet Johnson, a native of England. 
They have three children : Charlie, John and Willie. They have 
lost one child. 

JOHN C. PAKR, M. D. 

(Dealer in Drugs, Paints, Oils, and Druggist's Sundries, Weston, Mo.). 

Dr. Parr's parents, Andrew and Elizabeth (Merhardt) Parr, were 
natives of Germany, and in tiiis country their sou, John C, was 
born, September 18, 1831. In 1837 the family emigrated to the 
United States, and settled in Cincinnati, Ohio, where the subject of 
this sketch was reared and reiieived tlie l)enefits of a good common 
school education. In 1851 his father died, and his mother died in 
1852. He early began to learn the drug busiuess and followed it 
in Cincinnati until the outbreak of the war. During his leisure hours 
in the drug store, and at night after his day's duties were over, he, 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1073 

by close application to reading of medical works, prepared himself 
to matriculate in the Ohio Medical College, from which he was gradu 
ated in 1859, but finding his legitimate liusiness more congenial to 
his taste, he gave but little attention to his professional calling, and 
devoted all of his time to his present occupation. After the out- 
break of the war he removed to Covington, Ky. Besides having 
graduated as a ]ihysician, he also graduated at the Cincinnati College 
of Pharmacy. Dr. Parr is a man of singular unpretentiousness, but 
as little as he says about himself it is a fact, nevertheless, that he 
is one of the most capable men in his line of business in the western 
part of the State. He came here in 1869 and bought out a Mr. Oli- 
phant, who had conducted a successful drug business. Dr. Parr's 
sterling qualities as a man, not less than his thorough knowledge of 
pharmacy and close attention to business, have had the result to make 
him one of the leading druggists of Platte county. He is a member 
of the American Pharmaceutical Association and of the Missouri 
Pharmeceutical Association. He keeps an unusually fine stock 
of goods, always fresh and well selected, and being a man 
of excellent taste, his store is without question one of the neatest in 
this section of the country. March 22, 1868, he married Miss Eliza- 
beth Kunselman, who was born in Germany, but reared in Ken- 
tucky. 

JAMES PENCE 

(Farmer, Sectiou 6, Post-office, Weston) . 

Born in Scott county, Ky., September 20, 1838, Mr. Pence was a 
son of Joseph Pence and Sallie (Chism) Pence, both Kentuckians by 
birth. In an early day his grandparents had removed from Pennsyl- 
vania to Kentucky, of which they were very early settlers. The 
mother of James died there, and sometime afterwards, in 1849, he 
accompanied his father to Missouri, the senior Pence at that time set- 
tling in Platte county. The common schools found in the son a close 
and industrious pupil, and upon emerging from the school-room he 
had l)ecome possessed of an education which has been of much bene- 
fit to him in later years. When not occupied with his studies in 
youth his time was passed on the home farm. In January, 1864, 
Mr. Pence was married to Miss Susan M. Parrott, originally from 
Virginia. This union has been blessed with four children: Ella E., 
Emma R. Joseph H. and Etta M. Mr. P. has a tract of land num- 
bering 160 acres, the improvements of which are of an excellent class. 
He devotes much time to the raising of grain and stock, is well re- 
spected for his energy and industry, and takes a public-spirited inter- 
est in all local affairs. 

COL. JAMES A. PRICE 

(Dentist, Weston). 

Nathaniel Price, the father of James A. Price, was a native of Vir- 
ginia, as was his mother, whose maiden name was Nancv Lee. The 



1074 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

purity of character and modest worth of a Lee is i-ecogaized wherever 
American history is read. The grandmother on the paternal side was 
an Early. James A. Price was born in Bedford county, Va., Septem- 
ber 7, 1829. His father was a farmer by occupation, and in 1841 
removed to Lafayette county, Mo. Here he became prominently 
identified with the interests of the county and held the office of county 
judge for many years. James A. spent his youth on his father's farm 
and attending school, and was educated in the schools of Lexington 
and Pleasant Hill, Mo. He subsequently entered upon a regular 
course of study for the dental profession, and at the same time was 
occupied with the practical work of the laboratory as well as in assist- 
ing at the patient's chair. His preceptor was that distinguised dentist 
of the State, Dr. H. E. Peoples, of Lexington, Mo., and he also 
attended the Baltimore Dental College. In 1851 he commeuced the 
active practice of his calling and was requested by his preceptor to go 
to Fort Leavenworth and fill the appointments made by him for offi- 
cers at this post. Dr. Price remained at the fort at Leavenworth 
during the winter, and then came to Weston and opened an office. 
On February 5, 1852, he was married to Miss Rosella Warner, a 
sister of T. F. Warner, Esq., of this county. She was boru at Inde- 
pendence, Mo. In April of the same year Col. Price crossed the 
plains to California and settled at Shasta, wh^'-e he remained until a 
loss by fire induced him to go to Sonoma, and he then entered the 
employ of Gen. Vallejo, with whom he remained two years. 

Owing to the illness of a sister of Mrs. Price's she was compelled 
to return to Platte county, and some mouths after her departure Dr. 
Price made a visit to Weston, intending to return to California, but 
the continued illness of his sister-in-law prevented his carrying out 
his plans. For a year or two he assisted Mr. AVarner in his business, 
at the same time doing professional work for a few friends at Weston. 
He was then elected clerk of the court of common pleas, and held 
the office at the outbreak of the war. He enlisted in the eigh- 
teenth Missouri infantry in December, 1862, and was commissioned 
captain. At Shiloh he was wounded in the ear, which has perma- 
nently injured his hearing. He was promoted to major for meritori- 
ous conduct and commanded the regiment after the first battle of 
Corinth. He went into the service weighing 212 pounds and when 
mustered out, on account of sickness, weighed but 112 pounds. After 
his return home he began organizing and recruiting for the Thirty- 
ninth Missouri militia, and had his commission revoked by the 
Governor for opposition to the Paw-paw militia. He obtained from 
the Secretary of War permission to raise the Twelfth Missouri cavalry 
and equip the same, but owing to jealous feeling on the part of State 
officers, he transferred his recruits to the Sixteenth Kansas and went 
into camp at Fort Leavenworth. After the close of the war the 
Doctor resumed the practice of his profession. He held the office of 
United States Assessor for one and a half years, and storekeeper for 
a time. In February, 1876, he was appointed postmaster by Presi- 
dent U. S. Grant, and he has held this position since that time. 



HISTORY or PLATTE COUNTY. 1075 

December 16, 1875, Col. Price met with the great misfortune of his 
life in the death of his wife, she leaving five children : Nathaniel E., 
Mary B., Minerva Warner, Nannie Corinth and Benj. Bonifout. Col. 
Price was again married May 26, 1880, to Miss Mattie Gibson, of 
Weston, Mo. In his profession Col. Price has achieved marked suc- 
cess and is recognized as one of the most prominent dentists in 
Northwest Missouri. 

JOHN M. AND EGBERT W. RAILEY 

(Of the Firm of Railey & Bro., Bankers, Weston) . 

In preparing a sketch of the lives of the Railey Brothers, the writer 
meets with facts which are greatly to tiieir credit. Men of long and 
recognized prominence, and for years closely identified with the 
history of this county, they have become so intimately interwoven 
with its material development and progress that, to mention their 
history, a sketch of'the county's history must of necessity be given. 
Mr. John M. Railey is a native Virginian, Ijorn November 29, 1821, 
and Egbert W. Railey was also born in Albemarle county, Va., June 
6, 1830. Their father, Daniel Railey, of the same State, was married 
to Miss Jane Watson, and in 1840 they came to Platte county, Mo. 
The father had been brought up with a mercantile experience, and 
upon locating here very naturally chose that business as the calling to 
which he should devote his attention. John M. Railey, brought up to 
a thorough knowledge of a mercantile life, became interested in 
this business first as clerk ; and in 1849, he entered into a part- 
nership with a Mr. Post, under the firm name of Post & Railey. 
In 1861 he was made cashier of the Mechanics' Bank, and continued 
to hold this position, the duties of which he discharged with rare abil- 
ity and fidelity, until 1865. Then, in company with his brother, 
Egbert W. Railey, the present bank estaldishment, with which they 
are connected, was established. This is well known as one of the 
soundest and most reliable banks in this county ; and the high char- 
acter of the Messrs. Railey and their well known personal honor and 
integrity have contributed very largely to give the bank the enviable 
reputation it enjoys. It should have been stated before that of a 
family of eight children of their father's family, four were sons and four 
daughters. John M. Railey was united in marriage October 6, 1842, 
to Miss Elizabeth Steel, who was born in Richmond, Ky. To this 
union have been born six children: Sadie, wife of W. H. Cockrill; 
Hampton P., John W., O. D., Pocahontas, wife of R. S. Jacquemin, 
and Eva. Mr. Egbert W. Railey married Miss Mary E. McAdow, 
a daughter of Dr. Samuel and Julia (Bean) McAdow, the former a 
Kentuckian Ijy birth, and a physician by profession. He came here 
in 1837 and had a successful practice. In 1850 he went to California, 
and, while on his return, died at Panama. Mr. and Mrs. Railey have 
three children: Bertie, now Mrs. Hardesty ; Dixie, now Mrs. Mays, 
of Texas, and Daniel. 



1076 HISTOKT OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

HENRY EAINEY 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section 3, Post-office, Weston). 

Although a native of Kentucky, in which State he was principally 
reared, Mr. Eainey has become well known in Platte county, having 
resided here since he was eighteen years old, or about thirty 3'ears. 
He was born on the 16th of December, 1837, and upon coming here in 
1855 he at once engaged in farming, the occupation which he had pre- 
viously followed, and in which he has since been occupied. His farm 
is in the Missouri river bottom and embraces a tract of 120 acres well 
adapted for general farm purposes, including the raising of stock. 
In politics Mr. Rainey is a Democrat. In religion he and his wife are 
esteemed and worthy members of the church. In August, 1862, Mr. 
Rainey was married to Miss Frances Linn, whose parents were origi- 
nally from Indiana, though her birthplace was in this county. Mr. 
and Mrs. Rainey have a worthy family of eight children : Rachel E., 
Lura, William, Henry, Robert A., John W., Jennie, May E. and 
Thomas O. One son, Daniel, is deceased. Besides their own family 
of children, Mr. Rainey is kindly caring for and raising two boys, 
George and Benjamin H. Fowler. 

JOB ROBBINS 

(Weston) . 

Mr. Robbins has been a resident of Platte county since 1847. His 
father, Levi Robbins, was a native of Virginia, and the maiden name 
of his mother was Sallie Mayers, also a Virginian. Job, their son, 
was born in Vii-ginia December 3, 1831, and came with his parents to 
this county November 16, 1847. He was reared on a farm and fol- 
lowed it as an occupation until the late war. He then engaged in his 
present business as a retail dealer in wines, liquors and cigars. He 
was married November 16, 1859, to Miss Catherine Kissinger. She 
was born in Virginia. They have a family of six children : Job, 
Aaron, George, Ida, John and Walter. Mr. R. is a member of the 
Knights of Honor. 

VINCENS RUF. 

(Weston). 

Since 1853 Mr. Ruf has been one of the landmarks of Weston. 
His father, George Ruf, was a native of Baden, Germany, as was his 
mother, whose maiden name was Barbary Stoeckle. George Ruf was 
a liquor dealer by calling. Both parents died in Germany. Vincens 
was born in Baden October 17, 1822, and lived in his native country 
until 1853, being brought up to learn the nailsmith business. In 1853 
he emigrated to America and landed at New Orleans, and thence to 
Weston. He followed different avocations until he engaged in his 
present business, in 1858. He has been very successful in business, 



HISTOKY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1077 

and has a large trade, and prides himself on his quiet, orderly house ; 
and his standing in society illustrates forcibly the truth that — 

" Honor and shame from no condition rise, 
Act well your part there all the honor lies." 

Mr. Euf married Miss Eilenorah Seile, a native of Germany. They 
have two children : Pauline and Eilenorah. 

A. SCHNEIDER 

(Of the Firm of Schneider & Schindler, Dealers in Groceries, Provisions, Etc., 

Weston). 

Mr. Schneider is one of the active and live business men of Weston. 
He was born in Switzerland in 1842, and was the son of Htirtman and 
Christine (Miller) Schneider, both natives of that country. After 
remaining there until 1849 they emigrated to the United States, and 
almost immediately wended their way to what was then the western 
border of civilization. Locating at Weston, they here reared their 
son. When growing up he availed himself of the opportunities 
offered to learn the shoemaker's trade, and from 18.56 to 1866 followed 
that as his chosen occupation. After that time he embarked in the 
grocery business, a calling to which he has since devoted his entire 
attention. In 1868 his present partnership with Mr. Schindler was 
formed, a relation which has since existed to the mutual benefit of 
each. By enterprise, close attention to business and fair dealing, this 
house has risen to the position of one of the most prominent business 
establishments in the county. They carry a large stock, embracing 
everything to be found in a first-class house in their line. Since the 
commencement of his business career, which has been both honorable 
and successful, Mr. Schneider has contributed his full share in sus- 
taining the reputation of Weston as a business center,' and he is known 
as a man of fine intelligence, wide general information and superior 
business qualifications. He was married in 1872 to Mrs. Alice F. 
Nolley, a Virginian b}' birth. They have one child, Augu.st V. Mrs. 
Schneider has one child by a former marriage. 

RUDOLPH O. SHENKNER 

(Of the firm of Jacquemin & Shenkner, Dealers in Dry Goods, Clothing and Millinery 
Goods, Weston). 

Mr. Shenkner is a native of Switzerland, and was born November 
16, 1851. His father, Henry, and his mother, Anna, were both na- 
tives of the same place. The family emigrated to the United States 
in 1856 and settled in Weston. The father was a machinist by trade 
and Uved here until his death, which occurred in 1857, leaving one 
son, the subject of this sketch. Rudolph learned the printer's trade 
in youth, and after working at this business for some time he com- 
menced his mercantile experience as a clerk. In 1873 he became a 
partner with Mr. Jacquemin, under the firm name of Jacquemin & 



1078 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

Shenkner, dealers iu dry goods, clothing, hats, cap? and millinery- 
goods. Mr. Shenkner is one of the most snccessful of the young 
business men of Platte county. He is a man of fair education, ample 
business experience, safe judgment as a merchant and full of enter- 
prise, such a man as would go to the front in the business aftairs of any 
place or community. The firm of which he is a member carries an 
exceptionally large and well selected stock of goods, one, in fact, in 
which may be found every article in their lines. Their custom is more 
than an ordinaril}^ good one, and by fair dealing and accommodating 
dispositions they have proved themselves eminently worthy of it. In 
the past they have dealt hirgely in hemp and wool, also in walnut 
lumber, and have shipped out larger quantities of the latter than 
any one in the county. In connection with their present business 
they are extensively interested in the Weston Milling Company, which 
has recently completed a new roller mill, furnished with all improved 
machinery, with a capacity of 100 barrels per day. Mr. Shenkner 
was married in 1878 to Miss Ada Bonifant, a daughter of Dr. Boni- 
fant, of Weston. She was born in Platte county. They have three 
children : Anna Joyce, Matilda Susan and Benjamin Bonifant. Mr. 
Shenkner is a member of the city council and takes an active interest 
in educational matters. 

LOUIS C. STABLER 

(Farmer, Sections 18, 19, and 20, Post-office, Weston). 

Mr. Stabler, who has every promise of a long and successful career 
in agricultural pursuits in this county, has only been located hei"e since 
1883. At that date he abandoned the occupation of railroading, in 
which he had been engaged for so many years, and purchased his 
present farm, conceded by all to be among the representative places 
of the county.. It embraces 411 acres and has upon it excellent 
improvements, most of which have been made since he became its owner. 
He was born in Maryland, January 30, 1842, and was of English 
origin, his grandfather having come from that country to the United 
States away back before the Revolutionary War. The family has been 
located in Maryland since aliout the year 1770. Edward Stabler, the 
father of Louis C, a native of that State, lived there until 89 years 
of age, occupying the same house in which he was born. His wife 
was formerly Anna R. Gilpin, also of Maryland. There they reared 
their family of ten children, all of whom are now living, and of whom 
the subject of this sketch was the eighth child. He was taught the 
rudiments of farming from the time that he became of an age suitable 
for receiving such instruction, and continued it until 1863. Being 
desirous of entering military life, he enlisted in the Baltimore Home 
Guards, under Capt. Pope, and remaineil in the service during the 
balance of the war, principally occupied with guard duty in the vicinity 
of Baltimore and along the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. He was 
discharged at the close of the war in 1865, and in the fall of that year 
he came to St. Louis. His e.vpeiience in railroading during the two 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1079 

jjrevious years led him to enter the employ of a railroad corporation, 
and for upwards of 18 years he acted as freii^ht and passons^er con- 
ductor, most of the time on the Missouri Pacific Railroad, until 1883. 
Though a citizen of this county only a short time, he has become well 
and favorably known and is meeting with good success in the manage- 
ment of his place. Mr. Stabler was married September 27, 1882, to 
Miss EfSe L. Wright, of Lexington, Mo., her ancestors having been 
Kentuckians liy birth. They have one son, Gilpin Louis, born No- 
vember 2.5, 1884. Mrs. S.'s mother is now living with them, and here 
she finds a pleasant home. 

J. W. STEELE 

(Farmer aud Stock-raiser, SectioQ 31, Post-ofBce, Westou). 

In every biographical history of Platte county worthy of such a title 
the name that heads this sketch must ever occupy a prominent place 
on its pages. A resident of this county since 1847, he has proven 
himself to be a man of talents and energies of a high order, and with 
such energy and resolution he has risen to more than ordinary dis- 
tinction among his fellow-men. He has always taken an intelligent 
interest in public affairs, ever casting his ballot and infiuence for what 
he conceives to be the best interests of the community, the county and 
the whole country. Always zealous in the cause of education, he has 
taken a leading part in the estal)lishTnent of schools throughout the 
county, the welfare and prosperity of which he has viewed with earn- 
est solicitude. For upwards of 30 years he has been a member of the 
school board, and has also held other positions of minor importance, 
the duties of which he has invariably discharged to the entire satis- 
faction of his constituents and with great personal credit. Active in 
agricultural matters, he has been president of the Agricultural Asso- 
ciation of Platte county for many years. Mr. Steele was horn near 
Lexington, Ky., March 23, 1820. His father. Rev. Brice Steele, 
came originally from Ireland, and upon settling in Kentucky in an 
early day became occupied in agricultural affairs. He was also a 
minister of the gospel, of the Baptist belief, and preached during the 
greater portion of his lifetime. His death occurred near Lexington. 
He led a life useful and just, and one that was made valuable at the 
same time to the community in which he lived. His wife, formerly 
Elizabeth Thornsburg, a native of Virginia, and a lady of singular ex- 
cellence of character and amiability, became his wife. She was a 
worthy helpmate to her honored husband and survived him some 
years. Brought up in the State of liis birth, where he also obtained 
his education, J. W. Steele subsequently became engnged in mercan- 
tile pursuits in Richmond, in 1837, where he remained with good suc- 
cess until 1845. Going thence to Lexington, he continued liis opera- 
tions there until 1847, when he disposed of his business and came to 
Platte county. Mo., here eral)arking in agricultural aflairs. This he 
has since followed. He owned a farm of 210 acres in Marshall town- 
ship, but upon selling it purchased his present homestead, which 

63 



1080 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUXTY. 

consists of 47 acres of choice laud, beautifully improved and embel- 
lished with rare flowers, trees, etc. jNIr. Steele's wife was formerly 
Miss Sallie Hart, to whom he was married March 1, 184(5. She was 
a daughter of Col. Jack Hart, one of tire most influential citizens of 
Fayette countjs l\.y., and is a lady of sociability and great personal 
worth and attraction. They have seven children living: William, 
John, Clay, O. C, Lee, Alice, wife of J. W. McAdow, of this county, 
and Bertie. Mr. Steele is a member of the executive board of the 
Orphan School, mention of which appears in another part of this 
work. He and his wife are influential members of the Christian 
Church at Salem, of which Mr. Steele has been an elder for over 20 
years. 

JOHN W. STULTZ 
(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section 4, Post-office, Weston). 

Mr. Stultz is one of the native bora residents of this county, and 
were we to omit a brief outline, at least, of his life, we would leave 
out the sketch of one who, though young in years, has borne a con- 
spicuous part in the promotion of the agricultural inte^-ests of the 
county in recent years. His father, James Stultz, who came origi- 
nally from North Carolina, went to Illinois when quite young, and 
was there married. Miss Marv Ann Wells becoming his wife. She is a 
sister to John B. Wells, whose biograph}' is given elsewhere in this 
volume. Mr. and Mrs. Stultz came to this county in 1837, and here 
the former continued to make his home, one of the respected and 
highly honored citizens of the township, until his death in 1878. His 
widow is now making lier home with her son, the subject of this 
sketch. John W. Stultz is now in his twenty-eighth year, his birth 
having occurred August 2(5, 1857. He was reared on a farm here, re- 
ceiving a good common school education, and early started out in life 
for himself. His residence in this county has been characterized by 
untiring industry, and has not been without substantial results. He 
has made himself an excellent home, and has one of the best farms of 
its size in the township, numbering 150 acres of choice bottom land. 
Octol)er 16, 1880, Mr. Stultz was united in marriage with Miss Ada 
Bnckner, who was born "\n Hanorer, Germany. One daughter of 
this union is living, Mary ; their only son, James B., who was born 
September 30, 1881, having died August 20, 1882. Mr. Stultz is a 
clear-iicaded, energetic young man, of steady habits and frugal, and, 
appreciating the duties and responsibilities of life, is striving to dis- 
charge them in a useful and worthy manner. 

JUDGE DAVID J. THORP 

(Section 3G, Post-office Weston). 

If, as is self-evident, this work would be incomplete without sketches 
of the more public-spirited of the successful farmers and substantial, 
well-to-do citizens of Platte county, then the biograjihy of the subject 
of this sketch justly finds a place in this volume. David J. Thorp is 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1081 

u native Missoiirian, liaving been horn at Loxington, February 14, 
1820. He was the sun of James Thorp, a Virginian liy birtii, who 
moved to Kentucky in an early day and to Missouri in 1812, wiien 
there was scarcely any habitation in the then territory. His wile, the 
mother of David J., was also born in Virginia, and was quite young 
when taken to Kentuciiy. The father died in 1836 at Lexington. 
His widow survived until 1852, when she de[)arted this life in Platte 
county. David J., on l)eing i-eared to nianiiood, went to Buciuinau 
county in 1838, but subsequently moved to this county in 1850, re- 
suming his occupation of farming, which he has followed all his life. 
His career has been more than an ordinary one, and his energy and 
enterprise have not been without substantial results. For six years 
Mr. Thorp held the office of county judge, and in discharging the 
duties of that office he displayed such ability and keen insigiit into 
the manner of how it should be filled as to make for himself a repu- 
tation which will never desert him. May 26, 1846, Judge Thorp was 
married. Miss Sarah E. Linville becoming his wife. She was born in 
Lafayette county. One son has been born of this marriage, Corio- 
laiius. 

CORIOLANUS THORP 
(Farmer and Fine Stock-raiser, and Fruit Packer, Section 30, Post-offlce, Weston). 

Among the younger citizens of Platte county who, by their industry 
and enterprise, give promise of future prominence and usefulness in 
the material affairs of the county, is the gentleman whose name heads 
this sketch. He is a son of Judge D. J. Thorp, an outline of whose 
life appears above, and is a worthy representative of his distinguished 
and respected father. Born August 4, 1848, in this county, he has 
been reared and educated here, and both by inheritance and the influ- 
ence which surrounded his early life, has become imbued with those 
sterling virtues that make men respected and esteemed wherever in- 
tegrity, courage and honest industry are valued. Mr. Thorp for 
twelve years has been actively engaged in packing fruit for Denver 
and other Northern markets, and the enviaijle re[)utati()n which he has 
achieved for the quality of his fruit and his manner of packing might 
be a source of pardonable pride to him. For six years his attention 
has been devoted to raising fine short horn cattle, and his herd of 
forty thoroughbreds are all recorded, or eligible of record, and are un- 
surpassed by any in the western portion of Missouri. The father and 
son live together, and their farms are well improved. Mr. Coriolanus 
Thoi'p is now secretary of the Platte County Short Horn Breeders' 
Association, Thorougldy devoted to his chosen calling and a pro- 
gressive man in every particular, he avails himself of every oppor- 
tunity for information, and few men are better posted on all matters 
of public and local interest than he. His wife, formerly Miss Maud 
Lovelady, a daughter of A. J. and Juda (Newby) Lovelady, he 
married March 6, 1873. Their family consists of four children, 
William, D. J., Egbert and Thomas M. 



1082 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

J. J. THROCIQMORTON 

(Farmer, Fine Stock-raiser and Dealer, Section 8, Post-offlce, Weston). 

In preparing a biographical conspectus of Platte county to accom- 
pany the general history of the count}', it would be an omission to be 
regretted, both by the publishers and by the public, not to include a 
sketch of the life of the worthy citizen whose name stands at the head 
of this brief statement of facts. He is a representative of two fami- 
lies which have long been prominently and influentially identified with 
the history of Virginia and Kentucky, and, indeed, other States ; and 
representatives are to be found in almost every State of the Union. 
Gov. Throckmorton, of Texas, came from this same family. Orig- 
inally of English origin, some members of the family settled in 
Virginia in the days of the colonies. Mr. T.'s father, also J. J. 
Throckmorton, was a Kentuckian by birth, of which State his ances- 
toi's were pioneers. On his mother's side Mr. Throckmorton 
descended from the Dudleys, she having been a sister of the celebrated 
Dr. Dudley, of Lexington, Ky. The mother of the subject of this 
sketch was Lucy HoUaday, a sister of Ben. HoUaday. In 1853 Mr.. 
T. lost his father, by death, in Kentucky, and the following year, 
accompanied by his mother, he came to this county, where she died 
in 1859. Since that time he has continued to live here, and it is but 
just to say that no man has been more prominently identified with 
the county's interests in its material progress and developments than 
he. His farm, which contains 287 acres, is conceded to be the best 
farm in Platte county, the improvements upon it, which are of an 
excellent character, rendering it a most valuable place. 

But it is in the raising of fine stock to which Mr. T. devotes most 
of his time, raising principally short horn Durhams, etc. He has rep- 
resentatives of the families of White Rose, lantha, Amelia, Caroline, 
Miss Mott and others, and it goes without saying that he has done as 
much as any man in the county for the advancement of the stock 
business. In 1861 Mr. Throckmorton enlisted in Capt. Mitchell's 
company of the State service, and participated in the battles of Lex- 
ington, besides others. After the conflict was over he resumed his 
farming operations, but like many others he had seriously felt tiie 
effects of war troubles, having lost all he possessed. It is unneces- 
sary, to remark that he has fully regained his former substantial posi- 
tion. On the 21st of January, 1858, Mr. T. was married to Miss 
Elizabeth C. Bowen, a native of Kentucky, whose ancestors were 
also among the first families of that State. Her mother was the 
daughter of Andrew Hughes and a sister of Andy Hughes, who set- 
tled at Far West in an early day, being there during the Mormon 
troubles. Mr. and Mrs. Throckmorton have eight children living: 
Charlie B., Addie T., J. J., Harry, David T., Elizabeth C, N. P. Og- 
den and Leota. One daughter, Jennie, died October 15, 1867. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1083 

H. C. TURNER 

(Farmer aud Stock-raiser, Post-office, Weston). 

It is a fact noticeable to all that as a county becomes peopled with 
a thrifty, intelligent class of citizens from Eastern States, the primitive 
schools of early pioneer days are supplemented by others of a more 
modern nature, and those which l)ecome noted for their thoroughness 
and efficiency in different departments. But a point not to be for- 
gotten is that there are always some who take more of an interest in 
the development of educational matters in the county than others, 
and Mr. Turner is a representative of this class. He has been pro- 
minently identified with the development and progress of education 
in this county, and for a long time was clerk of the school board. 
Born in Kentucky, November 3, 1831, he was a son of William aud 
Margaret (McAdow) Turner, the former of Virginia and the latter a 
Kentuckian by l)irth. The father emigrated to this county in 1840, 
and lived here until death. When quite young H. C. entered the 
quartermaster's department in the Mexican War, but returned the 
year after. In 1849 he went to California, aud for 20 years was a 
resident of that State. Ten years of this time were spent in the mines. 
Freighting also received his attention for a like period. He was quite 
successful during this time, but ui)on returning to Platte county 
in 1869, he soon commenced selling goods at Leavenworth, Kan., for 
three years, and thence at Settle Station, which he continued for two 
years. In 1879 he moved upon his present farm and has since given 
his attention to agricultural pursuits. Mr. Turner is a married man, 
his wife's maitlen name having been Miss JSIissouri T. Brown, to whom 
he was married February 24, 1870. She was born in this county. 
They have three children : James, Nellie aud William. Mr. T. is 
connected with the Masonic Order, beluga member of the Blue Lodge, 
Chapter and Commandery. 

GEORGE WEISSER 

(Baker anil Coufectioner, Post-office, Weston). 

Mr. Weisser is a native of Switzerland, and was born in Canton 
Schaffhausen, on the Rhine, January 25, 1838. His parents, John 
and Mary Weisser, were both natives of Switzei'land, and 
the father was a butcher by occui)ation. In 1847, when George was 
six years old, his parents emigrated to the United States and stopped 
at Independence, where he left his family while he weut and selected 
a location and a home in which to settle, but while at Brunswick, 
Chariton county, he was taken with fever and died in 1848, leaving a 
widow aud two children, both sons. George learned the baker aud con- 
fectionery business, which he has since followed with satisfactory suc- 
cess. He remained in Jackson county until 18(>3, and went to 
Leavenworth, Kan., aud after working at his trade there one year he 
came to Westou, where he has since been identified with the busi- 



1084 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

ness interests of the town. He purchased the interest of his employer 
in 1872. He carries a complete stock in his line and enjoys an en- 
viable reputation for the quality of material used as well as 
the products of his manufacture. He has been married three times. 
His present wife before her marwage was Miss Frances Green, a 
native of Weston. She was born in 1848. They have by this union 
one daughter, Mary Albertina. Mr. W. has three children by a 
former marriage : John, James and Elvira. Mrs. W. was a daughter 
of Frank and Johanna Green, natives of Hanover, Germany. 

JOHN B. WELLS 

(Retired Farmer, Weston). 

Mr. Wells, a venerable old farmer, whose faculties of mind and 
vigor of body are still remarkably well preserved, and who, by in- 
dustry and economy, has accumulated a comfortable competency on 
which to rely in old age, came originally, like many of the best men 
all over the West, from Kentucky, and was born in Montgomery 
county, November 16, 1800. His grandfather, John Wells, was a 
native of Virginia, but removed to Kentucky at an early day. Here 
Hasten Wells, the father of John B., was born and reared on a farm. 
The subject of this sketch lived in his native State until 1832, and 
there married Miss Tabitha C. Davis, on the 12th of April, of that 
year. She was a daughter of Benjamin Davis, a son of John Davis, 
a native of Wales, who came to America during the Revolutionary 
War. In the fall of 1833 John B. Wells and wife emigrated to Mis- 
souri and settled in Marion county, near Palmyra, and in December, 
1836, he came to what is now Platte county, and selected his claim 
and returned for his family. On the 9th of January, of the follow- 
ing year, he came to his present homestead, and he is, without a 
doubt, the oldest living pioneer resident of the county, if not of the 
entire Platte Purchase. Mr. Wells at first pre-empted 160 acres, and 
to this he has added from time to time until his landed estate now in- 
cludes 600 acres. Mrs. Wells was the first white woman to tread the 
streets of Weston, and to her belongs the honor, jointly with a Mr. 
Jordan, of naming many of the first streets of Weston. After war 
was declared against Mexico, Mr. Wells established what was long 
known as Rialto Ferry, and some idea of the business done may be 
formed when it is stated his toll some days amounted to $500. This 
ferry proved a profitable investment until the building of the bridge 
at Leavenworth. After its completion Capt. Wells sold his boat and 
abandoned the ferry. During the war he suffered greatly, and his 
large barn, with farm implements and two years' crops of wheat, was 
burned. His home was protected and saved by the courage of Mrs. 
Wells, who made up her mind to defend it until the last, and her de- 
termination frustrated ever}^ attempt to destroy it. Mr. and Mrs. 
Wells have had a family of seven children: Leander E., John D., 
Littleton M., Laura, now Mrs. Mills; Henrietta, now Mrs. Clark; 
George, Frances, Luther J., and Mittie, who married J. C. Frazier, 
and died in August, 1881, leaving two children, Veruie and Regenie. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1085 

WILLIAM. W WILKERSON 

(Farmer, Section 20, Past-office, Westou). 

One of the most prominent men and a man of great influence in 
the early days of tlie county's history was Mr. Wilkerson's father, 
Hon. Hall L. Wilkerson, who came to this county from Tennessee in 
1838. He pre-empted the laud which his son now owns and for many 
years was intimately connected with the material growtKand develop- 
ment of the community in which he made his home. Of great intel- 
lectual ability, of much personal worth and highly respected as a 
citizen and neighbor, he was frequently called upon to fill many im- 
portant positions of public trust. He was the first clerk of the 
county and subsequently represented with distinction his constituents 
in the Legislature. He was one of the first to tender his service as 
a soldier in the Mexican War and his bravery and gallantry won for 
him the title of major. His public life and private record were alike 
untarnished. Although a peaceable, law-abiding citizen, he was 
brutally murdered October 20, 1851, by a gang of roughs led by one 
John Flush, who, for the commission of his crime, was sent to the 
penitentiary, where he died. Two of Flush's sons were also sentenced 
to imprisonment for 24 years, one of whom was drowned while on his 
way to receive his punishment. Hall Wilkerson was a prominent 
member of the Masonic fraternity. Wm. W., the son, was born Jan- 
uary 6, 1843, at the homestead which he now occupies and here was 
aflbrded excellent opportunities for receiving an education. Septem- 
ber 8, 1878, he was married to Miss Sarah E., daughter of M. M. 
Patton, Esq., who came to Platte county about the year 1870. The 
family of Mr. and Mrs. W. consists of three children: Rosie L., 
Mary J. and Bertie. 




CHAPTER XXVIII. 

MARSHALL TOWNSHIP. 

Boundary — Fertility of Soil — Fine Stock Interest — Fruit Growing — Pioneers — 
Society — latan — Early Business — Present Business Men — Sugar Lake and Bean's 
Lake — Their Prospective Future — Biographical. 

Marshall township, in the northwest portion of the county, is 
bounded on the north by Buchanan county, on the east by Green 
township, on the south by Weston township and the Missouri river, 
and on the west by the Missouri river. 

PHYSICAL FEATURES. 

Portions of the township are quite hilly; much of the high land, 
however, is luidulated. The soil is good and highly productive, the 
bottom laud on the Missouri river is of superior quality, and produces 
bountiful crops. 

There are perhaps more of the pioneer settlers, or of their 
descendants, living in Mai'shall township than in any other township 
of the county, and in this township is found some of her most pros- 
perous farmers. The raising of thoroughbred stock in cattle, hogs 
and horses is attracting more than ordinary attention. Among the 
leaders in this direction may be mentioned Messrs. Alderson, Thorp, 
Cook, Risk, Stone and Siler, besides many others. In hogs, Mr. D. 

F. Risk is without a peer in the county, and in thoroughl)red short 
horns Mr. J. C. Alderson's herd numbers 100 females, besides calves. 
Fruit growing is absorbing the attention of many, and proving a profit- 
able industry. 

The oi'chards recently planted, belonging to Messrs. Rees & Downey, 
are the largest in Northwest Missouri. 

EARLY SETTLERS. 

Among the earl}' pioneers of the township were John Bigham, A. J. 
Lovehidy, James Lovelady, George Martin, John McAdow, Samuel 
McAdow, Simeon Collier, N. J. Alexander, Wm. Prather, Andrew 
Henson, Elkannah Risk, Abraham Risk, Thomas Dye, Levi Lollar, 

G. W. Dyer, J. W. Steele, J. C. Harris, Matthew Kyle, Nathan 
Newby, Alfred Soward, A. G. Smith, M. Dale, Alfred Allen, Lewis 

(1086) 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1087 

Shouse, VV. Ralston, Jesse Page, J. O. Abbott, Andrew Thompson, 
Thomas D. Cook, John D. Aldersoii, — Byrani and others. 

The society of the township is an ideal one, for here we find the 
large-hearted liberality, the open hospitality and the true manliness of 
the dweller in the county, mingled with the suavity, the cultui'e and 
the metropolitan manner of those whose lives are spent in cities. 
Good books, classical music, vocal and instrumental, fine pictures 
and other works of art adorn the houses of the farmers as well as 
those of the inhabitants of the towns. The State University and the 
Female Colleges of this and other States receive a very considerable 
patronage from this township, and, in consequence, the percentage of 
cultured and refined men and women residing here equals that of 
almost anv other similar section in the United States. 



latan is situated on the Kansas City, St. Joseph and Council Bluffs 
Railroad, six miles aljove Weston, and was selected as a town site by 
Maj. John Dougherty. At one time it promised to be one of the most 
important places on the Missouri River, and was a large shipping 
point. The business of the town in general merchandise and grocer- 
ies is done by A. G. Smith and J. A. Gittinger ; the druggist is Dr. H. 
P. Grover. 

SUGAR LAKE. 

Sugar Lake is also located on the Kansas City, St. Joseph and 
Council Blufls Railroad. It is a new place, in themidst of a rich 
county and excellent population. The place takes its name from the 
lake near which it is located. It promises to be a place of consider- 
able importance as a fishing and pleasure resort. Sugar Lake, like 
Beans' Lake, with which it is connected, is a beautiful clear body of 
water, well stocked with fish, and the surroundings are such that it 
would seem almost impossible to prevent it in the near future of being 
a popular summer resort. We take the following from the St. Joseph 
Gazette: — 

As to Sugar lake, it is the opinion of the Gazette that it is the love- 
liest lake in the West, similar in many respects to Bean's and Lake 
Contrary. It has a crowning glory that man or money can never 
make — the bluff covered with forest trees and rock descending to the 
water's edge — which will make it at some future time the resort of 
the West. In the near future the bluff will l)e crowned with summer 
hotels and cottages, and lovely drives and walks will descend in grace- 
ful curves to the lake, upon whose bosom sail and row boats filled 



1088 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

with meriy parties will make the valley ring with song and laughter 
and merry peal. Children are now living at Sugar Lake who will live 
to see land sell there for a thousand dollars an acre. It will soon be 
demonstrated that better fishing can be had at Bean's and Sugar Lake 
then can be had at Spirit Lake, Big Stone, Minnetonkaor AVhite Bear. 
Perhaps after a long while Messrs. Anderson, Dunford and Connor 
may realize these facts now so apparent to all but them. We are also 
very fortunate in having these lovely lakes situated upon the Kansas 
City, St. Joseph and Council Bluffs, whose able and liberal manager, 
J. F. Barnard, will assist in making them the great fishing resort of 
the West. 

Twelve hundred car loads of ice were shipped from this station 
during the past winter, giving employment to one hundred and fifty 
men for several weeks. The business of the place is done by B. F. 
Moore, a popular merchant, who carries a good general stock, and he 
also buys grain and produce. 



BIOGRAPHICAL 



J. O. ABBOTT 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section 29, Post-ofHce, latan). 

Mr. Abbott, on starting out in life for himself, naturally adopted 
farming as his regular occupation, and this he has followed with unin- 
terrupted energy and success ; indeed so prosperous has been his 
career that he is now one of the most substantial citizens in the 
community in which he lives. Upon coming to Platte county in 1842 
he purchased a farm, to which he has added from time to time, until 
he now owns 570 acres of land, a place which is in good cultivation 
and well improved ; in fact, the improvements are exceptionally fine, 
everything about the home being conveniently arranged for the various 
necessary farm purposes. The reputation which Mr. Abbott enjoys 
for sterling worth and true uprightness of character is well deserved. 
He is no political enthusiast, but at the request and sincere desire of his 
many friends he has filled the office of justice of the peace for several 
years, the duties of which he has discharged satisfactorily to all. Mr. 
Abbott was married to Miss A. Brady, March 21, 1842. She was born 
in Spencer county, Ind. They have had a family of nine children, five 
of whom are living, viz. : Allen H., Annie, wife of J. A. Gittinger; 
Hiram B., Charles Edwin and William P. Mr. Abbott came origin- 
ally from Montgomery county, Ky., where he was born December 11, 
1810. His father, Joseph Abbott, and his grandfather, of the same 
name, were natives of New Jersey. The mother of J. O. Abbott was 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1089 

formerly Miss Ehoda Masterton, aKentuckian by birth. Leaving his 
birthplace Mr. A. went to Ohio, but after ten years returned to Ken- 
tucky, where be lived seven 3'ears. In 1842, as before stated, he lo- 
cated in Platte county. Mo. He is a member of the I. O. O. F. 

Charles Edwin Abbott, the si.xth son and eighth child in his parents' 
family, was born at his father's homestead, in this county, October 
28, 1858, here being brought up. In addition to the excellent com- 
mon school education which he received in this vicinity, he completed 
a course of instruction at that well known and far-famed institution of 
learning, Lombard University, of Gaiesburg, 111. December .3, 1879, 
Miss E. White, who was born in Stark county. 111., became his wife. 
They have two children, Inez V. and Gertrude L. Mr. Abbott is now 
engaged in selling agricultural implements, and in this business is 
meeting with good success. 

N. J. ALEXANDER 

(Deceased^ . 

Among the pioneers of Platte county was N. J. Alexander, a native 
of Milledgeville, Ga., and a cabinetmaker by trade. He came here in 
1837 and worked for a short time at his trade and then engaged in mer- 
chandising. During the palmy days of hemp growing he was a large 
buyer and shipper of hem]) at latan, and one of its prominent mer- 
chants. He also sold goods at Union Mills and Owen's Mill, and he 
was recognized as one of the active and live merchants of Platte 
county. After the war he settled on his farm in section 17. Mr. 
Alexander married Miss Lucy Vaughan, of Clay county. On the 8th 
day of December, 1881, Mr. Alexander died, leaving, besides his 
widow, who still resides on the homestead, six children: Samuel, who 
is now living in Montana; George W., Theodore, now a resident of 
Gentry county. Mo. ; Lucy, now Mrs. Roper, of Rich Hill, Mo. ; 
William and Charles. George W., the second son, and manager of 
the farm, spent his early life in the county and then for several years 
was engaged in the stock business and other pursuits in Colorado and 
Texas, but after the death of his father, at the solicitation of his 
mother he returned to Platte county and took charge of the farm, 
which contains 153 acres of productive land well improved. 

JAMES A. ALLEN 

(Farmer, Section 1, Post-office, Weston). 

Mr. Allen was born March 9, 1835, in Scott county, Ky., his 
parents, Alfred and Amney (Thomas) Allen, being natives of the 
same State. In 1842 the family came out to Missouri and lived on a 
farm. The mother died in 1861, and the father survived until 1869. 
Mr. Allen, the subject of this sketch, was reared a farmer, and farm- 
ing has continued to be his occupation. He was married March 7, 
1861, to Miss Cynthia Allison, a native of Kentucky. There were 
seven children by this union : Lee, William, Emmet, Homer, Eva, 



1090 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

Odis aad Laura S. Mr. Allen's father left only one child besides 
himself at his death: William. He and wife are members of the 
Christian Church. Mr. Allen has a neatly improved farm of 294 
acres, and he is a man of industry and energy, and is well esteemed 
by all who know him. Plain and unassuming in his relation to his 
neighbors and those with whom he comes in contact, he is nevertheless 
quite successful in the management of his farm, and the improvements 
upon his place indicate the character of a farmer he is. 

JAMES C. ALDERSON 

(Farmer and Raiser of Thorough-bred Short Horn Cattle, Section 9, Post-office, 

latan) . 

Mr. Alderson is one of the leading farmers and stock-raisers of the 
count}'. He was horn in Simpson county, Ky., May 17, 1833, and 
was the son of John D. Alderson, also of Sumner county, Tenn., who 
was a farmer and stock-trader by calling. His mother, whose maiden 
name was Nancy Couther, was born in Rockingham county, N. C, 
but was brought by her parents to Kentucky, where they made their 
settlement. In the removal she rode the entire distance on horse- 
back. In 1842 John D. Alderson removed with his family to Platte 
county. Mo., arriving here November 8. On the 10th of November, 
two days afterwards, he purchased what is now known as the Shouse 
farm, and afterward he bought the claim of James Lovelady — the 
farm now owned by Wesley B. Cook. Mr. Alderson devoted con- 
siderable attention to the raising of horses, and was prominent in all 
matters pertaining to the development of the county. He died in 
August, 1855, leaving three children: James C, Elizabeth, who mar- 
ried W. G. Nol)le, since deceased, and Eliza (now deceased), who 
became Mrs. J. H. Trundle. James C. was reared on his father's 
farm, and has followed agricultural pursuits as his chosen avocation, 
together with the stock business. He has been much interested in the 
raising of short horn cattle, and his herd numbers at the present time 
100 females, besides calves. Strains of all the leading short horn 
families are represented in this hei"d. He has been unable to supply 
the demand for his stock, which has been sought for at his door and 
has gone largely into this and surrounding counties, while the State 
of Kansas has been a patron to a considerable extent. Though Mr. 
Alderson at one time owned 1,700 acres of land he has reduced his 
acreage by selling, and now owns 643 acres of choice land well im- 
proved. His dwelling is very commodious and pleasantly situated, 
and at this time he is erecting two large barns, one 54x64 and the 
other 36x72. Mr. Alderson was married November 21, 1865, to 
Miss Mattie Stone, a most estimable lady, a native of Paris, Bourbon 
county, Ky. To them have been born the following children: Annie, 
May, Lillic, Manson, Herbert, Bessie and J. C. They lost one in 
infancy. Mr. Alderson is a thorough-going practical man and is highly 
esteemed by all who know him. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1091 

FRANCIS M. ANDREWS 

(Farmer, Post-office, Sugar Lake). 

Mr. Andrews is a native Missourian, his father, Elias Martin 
Andrews, having emiizrated from Kentucky at an early day and settled 
in Howard county, Mo. His mother, nee Elizabeth Jacks, was also 
l)orn in Kentucky. They removed to Platte county in 1841 and lived 
here until their death. The father died in February, 18(56, leaving 
seven children : Richard I., Francis M., Jasper and Mary F., now 
Mrs. Hurst ; Gardner J. (deceased), Elias M., James and Elizabeth, 
now Mrs. McQueen. Francis M. was born in Howard county, De- 
cember 17, 1831, and came with his parents to Platte county in 1841, 
and has become a prominent and successful farmer. He owns 1391/2 
acres of as fertile hind as there is in tiie State, and no farmer can 
boast of better crops continuously than Mr. Andrews. He has been 
twice married, first, in 1850, to Miss Mary Jones, of Platte county, 
who died in 1863, leaving one child, Elizabeth, now deceased. His 
second marriage occurred in 18(56 to Cinderella Jackson, a native of 
Iowa. Mr. A. is a meml)er of the Christian Church, of the A. F. 
and A. M. and the Protection Association. 

JOSIAH M. BAILEY 

(Farmer, Post-office, Sugar Lake). 

Mr. Bailey was born in Monroe county, Ky., October 5, 1839. His 
father, John P. Bailey, was born in Edgefield District, S. C, but re- 
moved when a boy to Monroe county, Ky., where he was reared to 
manhood. He married Miss Parthenia Bailey, a native of Kentucky. 
In 1850 he came to Platte county. Mo., and took rank as one of the 
successful farmers in the section of the county in which he resided. 
He followed the occupation of farming until his death. Josiah M. 
came with his father's family to Missouri and has followed farming 
all his life. He owns 84 acres of choice land. He was married De- 
cember 28, 1869, to Miss Georgiana Varble, a native of Buchanan 
county, Mo. They have a family of six children: Olive, Gladiator, 
Gertrude, Thomas J., Robert E. and Albert W. They have lost one 
son, George M. 

JACOB BENNER 

f Farmer, Section 27, Post-offlce, Weston). 

If industry, hard work and ceaseless activity, united with a strong 
and determined perseverance, can accomplish anything in this world, 
then Mr. Benner is bound to succeed ; for in him are to be found 
all the characteristics mentioned, and indeed, he is deserving of more 
than ordinary credit for his career thus far in life. He was born in 
Weston, November 28, 1846, and was the son of Nicholas and Mar- 
tha Benner, both originall}' from Germany. The father instilled into 
his son the partiality which he had ever had for farming and this 



1092 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

occupation Jacob has always followed. He owns 160 acres of good 
land well cultivated and improved. In March, 1870, he was mar- 
ried to one of the native born daughters of the county, Miss Annie 
Bland, and to them four children have been born : Johnnie, Louie, 
Allie and Willie. Mr. and Mrs. Benner are members of the Baptist 
Church. 

A. D. BLYTHE 

CFarmer and Stock-raiser, Section 6, Post-office, Sugar Lake). 

For about 40 years Mr. Blythe has been a resident of Platte county, 
and during this time he has occupied an enviable position among 
its better class of citizens, and has made favorable and lasting im- 
pressions upon those around him, Ijoth as a business man, as an agri- 
culturist, and in the private walks of life. His parents were Samuel 
and Jemima Blythe, nee Lay, both Kentuckians by birth, but in the 
early days of the history of Missouri the}^ removed to Howard county, 
within the borders of which they made their home until their death. 
Young Blythe was born in Fayette count}', Ky., May 10, 1815, and 
was brought by the family to this State upon their removal from Ken- 
tucky. Quite young when they located in Howard county, he com- 
pleted his adolescence here and received a good general education in 
the schools of his neighborhood. In 1844 the reputation of the Platte 
Purchase as a prominent agricultural district, and the importance of 
Weston as a business point, attracted him to this locality, and here he 
found a desirable location and renewed his farming operations, not, 
however, without substantial results. In keeping with the progress 
of the county, he, too, prospered, for those years ofthever}' noonday 
of his life were not spent in idleness. On the 5th of November, 
1846, Mr. Blythe was married to Mrs. Margaret Byram, whose maiden 
name was Watkins, originally from Kentucky, and who came to this 
county in 1840. She is a lady of strong character and of refined 
taste, as well as of an amiable disposition — such a lady as is calcu- 
lated to be esteemed wherever she lives. Their family consists of 
two children, Mary, now Mrs. Goodwin, of Memphis, Tenn., and 
Samuel J., who was born on the home farm in this county, January 
6, 1854. He was brought up and educated here and in 1879 was 
married to Miss Jessie Force, whose father, Daniel Force, is one of 
the old and respected residents of St. Joseph, Mo. She is descended 
from a cultured and hospitable foniily and is a lady of many estimable 
qualities. They have two children : A. D., Jr., and Mary. The 
landed estate of Mr. Blythe comprises aiiout 600 acres and his home- 
stead has upon it excellent buildings and other improvements of a 
superior class. Dignified in his bearing and a man of great sociability, 
Mr. Blythe is a friend who is respected by all who are fiivored with 
his acquaintance. 

JAMES F. BROWN 

(Farmer, Section 5, Post-offlce, Wallace). 

Mr. Brown's whole life has been spent thus far in Platte county, 
where, as we will readily admit, he has attained to a position among 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1093 

the agriculturists of tl^e township which might well be envied by those 
older in years and experience. Born here December 4, 1853, he 
was a sou of James L. aud Rebecca (Weaver) Brown, who became 
early settlers of this county, having pre-empted a claim three miles 
north of Platte City, which long continued to be their home. Many 
interesting incidents of their pioneer experience are well worth a place 
in this history, which we regret we have not the space here to relate. 
James F. Brown is now actively and successfully engaged in the occu- 
pation to which he was brought up, that of farming, and years of ex- 
perience have only tended to give him advanced ideas as to the proper 
method of conducting a farm, in addition to the natural tastes which 
he has had for this pursuit. His estate embraces a well improved 
tract of 2(55 acres. A go-ahead, energetic young farmer, he has by 
his own industry acquired a fine property, and made for himself a 
comfortable home. October 4, 1874, Mr. Brown was married to Miss 
Eoenia Buford, who was born June 5, 1855, in Kansas, though brought 
up in this county. One son has been Ijoru to this marriage, Oria 
Franklin, born August 6, 1875, and a daughter, Onie Myrtle, the 
second child, was born February 5, 1883. 

SIMEON COLLIER 

(Deceased). 

Mr. Collier was a sou of James and Nancy (Ballou) Collier, the 
father a native of Virginia, and the mother originally of French ex- 
traction. He was born in Kentucky August 20, 1804, where he resided 
principally until his removal to Missouri in 1844. At this time he 
took up his location in Platte county, settling on a farm of 160 acres 
in Marshall township (in section 7), which he improved, and upon 
which he lived a worthy and industrious life. He was highly i-e- 
spectcd bj- his neighbors, both as a citizen and in the private walks of 
life, and he was a respected member of the Christian Church at New 
Market. Mr. Collier's death occurred April 25, 1885, at the advanced 
age of over 80 years. Mr. Collier was a resident of Platte county for 
40 years, and was a witness to and an active, useful participant in the 
building up of the county from a wilderness to one of the most pros- 
perous and enlightened communities of this State. September 11, 
1827, he married Miss Elizabeth Berkshire, of Kentucky nativity, who 
died March 2, 1871. There are six children now living of this mar- 
riage : Nanc}' Jane, wife of A. A. Downing, of this county ; Robert S., 
Thornton S., Asenath, who married James A. Gault ; Hannil)al and 
Amelia. Mr. Gault, the son-in-law of Mr. Collier, was one of the 
most intellectual and intelligent men of the community up to the 
time of his death, in 18(54. A Kentuckian by birth, he was born 
March 27, 1835, and was raised and educated there, the principal 
part of his schooling having been obtained at Maysville, Ky. Decid- 
ing to devote himself to the practice of law, he commenced its study, 
but finding it unsuited to his tastes, he embai-ked in agricultural pur- 
suits. He came to this county in 1856, and about two years after- 



1094 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

wards was married to Miss Collier, a lady of rare personal worth and 
many estimable characteristics. Mr. Gault fell while gallantly fight- 
ing during the late Civil War. Besides his wife he left one daughter 
to mourn his loss, Mary Elizabeth. 

HAMILTON COOK 

(Farmer aucl Stock-raiser, Section IG, Post-office, latan). 

No man is better or more favorably known in Platte county than 
the subject of this sketch. He was born in Berkeley county, W. Va., 
September 1, 1835. His father, Thomas D., was born in Virginia 
and was a farmer by occupation. His mother, whose maiden name 
was Susan Light, was also a native of the same State. They emi- 
grated to Missouri and settled' in Platte county on a farm in 1841. A 
marked characteristic of Thomas D. Cook was his sterling integrity 
and high sense of honor. He was for years connected with the Meth- 
odist Church, of which he was an earnest and consistent member. A 
man of sti'ong conviettons and of a firm mind, when once his opinion 
was formed it required strong evidence to change it. Himself honor- 
able in all his dealings, he endeavored to look upon others as possessed 
of like qualities, and his word was as good as his bond. He died 
March 21, 1880, leaving two children : Hamilton and Wesley B., the 
latter a prominent agriculturist and stockman of this county. Mr. 
Cook's widow did not long survive her husband, her death occurring 
some five weeks after his. The public schools of this county found in 
Hamilton Cook a steady attendant and warm supporter, his time not 
given to his studies being devoted to performing duties on the home 
farm. Since commencing his farming operations he has become in 
comfortable circumstances, and is making a typical farm of his place. 
This embraces 380 acres, and he is improving it in a thorough manner 
and with an eye to taste only less than to durability, convenience and 
comfort. His purpose is to make it a homestead worthy of the county 
and equal to his own ideas of what a well managed farm ought to be. 
In its conduct is manifested the good, sound judgment and practical ex- 
perience of the successful farmer. Personally, Mr. Cook is one of the 
best men in the county. Hospitable and entertaining at his home, he 
is an excellent conversationalist and interesting speaker. He is an 
active worker in the temperance movement, and for four years has 
served the cause as State lecturer of the I. O. G. T. Few men have 
the voice, ability and personal magnetism, coupled with an intelligent 
comprehension of his subject, to hold an audience and to impress the 
importance of the cause on the minds of his hearers, that Mr. Cook 
possesses. He has spoken in nearly all the counties of the State, and 
his services are most earnestly sought for where they are best known. 
November 30, 1854, he was married to Miss Rachel Anno, a Ken- 
tuckian by birth. They have three children : Alfred T., Emma, now 
Mrs. Ferrel, and MoUie. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1095 

J. w. cox 

(Farmer aud Stock-raiser, Post-offloe, VVestou). 

Mr. C.'s father, W. G. Cox, and also his mother, who was formerly 
Miss S. A. Stone, came originally from Kentucky, where they had 
lived until 1856. At that time they became located in Platte county. 
Mo., and here Mr. C. continued the occupation which he had so suc- 
cessfully and industriously followed in Kentucky — that of farming, 
stock-raising and dealing. A wealthy and energetic citizen of this 
county, he owned 1,600 acres of land in one body at the time of his 
death, which occurred in August, 1877. He left, Itesides his wife, 
six children, of whom the sul)ject of this sketch, J. W. Cox, was the 
second son. Brought up in this county, he enjoyed excellent educa- 
tional advantages, and in addition to a course in William Jewell 
College, extending over a period of three years, he was a student for 
two years in the State University, at Columbia. Upon returning from 
school, in 1881, he at once took charge of the home farm, which he 
has since conducted in an excellent manner and with great credit. 
He devotes much time to the raising of and dealing in fine stock, and 
to more thoroughly qualify himself for the stock business he has 
become a meml)er of the Sliorthorn Breeder's Association of Platte 
county. Mr. Cox was married September 3, 1884, to Miss Lizzie, 
daughter of Wills Noble, of Weston, Mo. Mrs. Cox was first edu- 
cated at the Convent of St. Joseph, Mo., where she took a somewhat 
advanced young ladies' course. Afterwards she attended Clay 
Seminary, from which she subsequently graduated. She is a lady of 
superior culture and refinement, of singuhirly prepossessing presence, 
and always interesting and entertaining. 

MADISON DALE 

(Farmer aud Stock-raiser, Section 2G, Post-office, Westou) . 

Li inserting short liiographical sketches of the lives of the old and 
prominent residents of Platte county it would bean inexcusable omis- 
sion not to give a prominent place to an outline, at least, of the 
career of Madison Dale. A resident of this county for 42 3'ears, and 
a man whose energy, perseverance and industiy have contributed to 
make him one of the well known, highly respected and substantial 
agriculturists of the county, he well deserves the success which has 
attended his career and the good opinions of those with whom he is 
acquainted. His farm of 240 acres bears upon it indications of a 
thorough owner, and Mr. Dale gives some attention to graded stock. 
He is now nearly 70 years of age, having been born January 21, 1817, 
in Woodford county, Ky. His parents were both Virginians by 
birth — LeRoy and Jemima Dale, nee Gill, but in an early day they 
went to Kentucky, where they afterwards reared their son. Brought 
lip as a fiirmer, on coming to this county, in 1843, Madison Dale re- 
sumed that industry, which he has ever since continued, and as 

64 



1096 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

intimated above, not without substantial results. The place which 
he first occupied iu Platte county has continued to be his home. Mr. 
Dale's wife's maiden name was Miss Eliza A. Gray, also originally 
from the same county as her husband. Their marriage occured April 
20, 1843. Three children are now living of this union: Josephine, 
Milton L. and John U. Four others are deceased: Elizabeth J., 
Alvin L., Ellen M. and Newton. Mr. D. is no political aspirant 
though his preferences ai"e with the Democratic party. He and his 
wife are members of the Baptist Church. Both are upright, con- 
scientious citizens and in no family in Platte county is there more 
harmony and affection than in this one. 

JAMES DYE 

(Farmer and Breeder of Fine Stock, Section 27, Post-office, Weston) . 

Mr. Dye has an excellent farm where he resides of 240 acres of 
choice land, finely improved, and for many years he has traded in 
stock to a considerable extent. More than ordinary attention has been 
paid to the raising of fine horses, and on his farm was bred the cele- 
brated pacer, " Richball," with a record of 2.12^/2, and little " Willie," 
a half brother of "Richball," with a record of 2.23V2. On account 
of his thorough knowledge of agricultural affairs, as a whole and in 
every particular, he was made president of the agricultural associa- 
tion of this county, a position he was eminently qualified to fill. Mr. 
Dye's farm deserves special mention, for it is one of the best in this 
vicinity. His buildings are of a good class, and he has attained to 
an enviable and well merited reputation as a stock man. His tastes, 
as will be inferred from the foregoing, are characteristic of only a 
Kentuckian, and such Mr. Dye is, for he was born in jNIason county, 
of that State, February 15, 1834. His father, John Dye, a farmer by 
occupation, removed from Pennsylvania, his native State, when a 
young man, to Kentucky, and there subsequently married Miss Par- 
thenia Gow, who was born and raised in the Blue Grass State. In 
1851 the family came to Platte county, Mo., and here the father died 
in 1875. They had had a family of eight children : Margaret, wife 
of H. M. Griffith; Jane, wife of H. J. Pyle; Ann, wife of James 
Griflith ; James, Elizabeth, wife of Thomas B. Lovelady ; William, 
and Martha, wife of J. Newl)y. James was 15 years old when he 
came to Missouri, but his time since then has been spent in the 
vicinity of Platte county, occupied in his present business, except for 
a time during the war, when he served as first lieutenant iu Co. E, 
Eighty-first Missouri State Guards, in Scott's regiment. Mr. Dye 
was married October 9, 1856, to Miss Lucy J. Guthrie, who died Sep- 
tember 2, 1882, leaving four children: Florence, Fannie, Eva and 
Maggie. Mr. Dye's second marriage occurred December 18, 1884, 
when Miss Elizabeth Hamilton, of Oregon, became his wife. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1097 

WILLIAM FELLOWS 

(Farmer, Section U, Post-office, Weston). 

Mr. Fellows is a good illustration of what sterling principle, 
economy and industry, when intelligently applied, can accomplish — 
characteristics which go hand in hand with success in every depart- 
ment of life. In 1860 he came to this county with scarcely any means, 
hut investing this to good advantage he is now in possession of an 
excellent landed estate, embracing some 300 acres. The improve- 
ments upon this farm are deserving of special mention, for they are 
neat and sul)stantial, and of a superior order. Mr. Fellows, on ac- 
count of having been brought up to the practical details of farm life, 
has always followed that as his occupation. His native county was 
Putnam, in the State of Indiana, where he was born August 19, 1838. 
His father was William Fellows, originally from New York, and the 
maiden name of his wife was Charlotte Howe. Mr. Fellowscontinued 
to make his home at his birthplace until 18(30, when became to Platte 
county, Mo., and here he has since resided, one of the substantial and 
well respected residents of the community. His wife is one of the 
faii'est daughters of the Blue Grass State. Before her marriage she 
was a Miss Sarah Scott. This union has been blessed with four 
children : Lennox, John, David and Bee. Mr. and Mrs. Fellows are 
worthy members of the Christian Church. 

JAMES I. GABBERT 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section 18, Post-ofllce, Weston). 

Mr. Gabbert is descended from families originally of German and 
Irish extraction — the Gabberts and Sullivans. Eepresentatives of 
each have settled in numerous States of the Union, and wherever they 
have lived have proven themselves worthy citizens and hard working 
and generally successful persons. There are numerous substantial and 
iniluential farmers and stockmen by the name of Gabbert in Platte 
county, upon whom never a word of reproach or suspicion has ever fallen . 
The subject of this sketch was born in Bartholomew county, Ind., Jan- 
uary 30, 1833, and was there brought up and educated. In 1850hecame 
with his parents, James and Polly (Sullivan) Gabbert, to this county, 
the father settling where James now lives and improving a farm of 
380 acres, which has fallen into the son's possession. Young James 
was the ninth child and the youngest son in the family of children, 
and was born and reared at his birthplace. Since his residence here 
he has given his attention to the stock business, in addition to his 
farming interests, and now upon his excellent stock farm is occupied 
in breeding high graded Durham cattle and a superior line of sheep 
and hogs. Though aspiring to no public place and not a candidate 
for political preferment, he has nevertheless been entrusted with sev- 
eral offices within the gift of the people, in all of which he has dis- 
charged his duties with credit to himself and honor to his constituents. 



1098 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

Ill 1859 he was deputy sheriff of the county, serving uutil 1861, when 
he went upon the plains and freighted for the Government, principally 
from Leavenworth to Fort Union, Mexico, Fort Wise and other points 
iu the territory. He resumed his farming operations in 1864. June 
27, 1854, Mr. Gabbert was married, Miss Susan A., daughter of 
Henry and Kittie (Butler) Kitchen, natives of Virginia, becoming his 
wife. She was born in St. Louis, Mo. Their one daughter, Laura 
B., is the wife of \Yalter K. Stone, of Jefl'ersou county, Kan. Mr. 
G.'s grandfather, on his mother's side, was a brave soldier of the War 
of the Revolution, losing his life in that struggle in defending his 
adopted country. His paternal ancestors were early settlers in 
Virginia. 

H. P. GROVER, M. D. 

OPhysician and Surgeon, Post-office, latan). 

Dr. Grover, a successful physician of thorough qualifications, and 
now iu the enjoyment of a large and inci'easiug practice, was the sou 
of John S. and Polly (Cobli) Grover, who were natives of the State 
of New York. Young Grover was born iu Steuben county, N. Y., 
March 24, 1841, and up to the age of seven years spent his youth iu 
that vicinit}'. His parents then removed to DeKalb county. III., and 
he accompanied them to that vicinity, there growing up and becoming 
thoroughly familiarized with the duties of farm life. For a long time 
he was a student in the schools of that countjs after which, having 
made choice of the profession of medicine as the occupation to which 
he should devote himself in aft er life, he went to Ottawa, 111., and 
placed himself under the preceptorship of Dr. O. H. jNIann, now of 
Evanston, 111., and a physician of superior qualifications and long ex- 
perience. After a thorough preliminar\' preparation he attended lec- 
tures at Rush Medical College, in Chicago, from which he graduated 
iu the class of 1863. He also took a course at Hahnemann Medical 
College of the same city. Now well qualified to commence the active 
duties of his professional career. Dr. Grover located at Somouauk, 
III. In 1866 he received an appointment as surgeon in the U. S. 
Navy. After leaving the Government service he settled in Kansas, 
and closely devoted himself to the practice of medicine until 1881, 
when he came to latan. He is recognized as a safe and successful 
physician and applies himself to the practice with more than ordinary 
zeal and pride, being even more attached to it as a science than as an 
industrial calliug. In 1863 Dr. Grover was married. Miss Melinda E. 
Park, a native of Ohio, becoming his wife. This union has beeu 
blessed with four children : Alfred, Oscar, Willie and Adeline. 

J. C. HARRIS 

(Farmer, Section 24, Post-office, Westou). 

Mr. Harris is a native of Kentucky, bora in Estill county, March 
1, 1807. His father, John Harris, and mother nee Fannie Hall, were 
both originally from Virginia. Mr. Harris, after being brought up 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1099 

in Kentucky on a farm, came to Jackson county, Mo., in 1838, and 
the folio wing year removed to Platte county and settled where he now 
lives, his place embracing a good farm of 245 acres. He held the 
ofSce of justice of the peace for four years and then refused to serve 
longer. Mr. Harris was married the Hrst time, November 11, 1830, to 
Miss Sallie Floyd, a native of Madison county, Ky., who died August 
25, 1879, leaving a large family of children, as follows : Clifton (de- 
ceased), Clinton (deceased), Nannie (deceased), Jennie, now Mrs. S. 
Routh, of Kansas ; Aaron, who resides at home ; Jefferson, living in 
Platte county; John (deceased), Mahion (deceased), Ann, now Mrs. 
Mann, of Holt ccnmty ; ('ampi)eil, of this county ; Mattie (deceased). 
Belle, at home ; Benton, who marrieil Miss Nannie Nower ; Nora and 
Robert. His second mariage took place June fi, 1880, Mrs. Kate 
Bashford becoming his wife. She was born in Fayette county, Ky., 
six miles from Lexington, Mrs. Harris' maiden name was Steele. 
She has two children by her former marriage. Mr. H. and his wife 
ai'e members of the Christian Church. Mr. Harris is a good and up- 
right citizen and is highly respected by all who know him. He 
deserves special mention for the excellent manner in which he is con- 
ducting his farm, and is worthy of the success which is attending his 
eflorts. 

JOHN M. HERNDON 

(Owner aud Proprietor of Saw-mill and Thrashing Machine, Section 27, Post-oUice, 

Weston) . 

Brought u\y as a machinist, and thoroughly imi)ued with all the 
practical bearings of machinery, Mr. Herndon is well qualified to fol- 
low the occupation to which he has so long given his attention. But 
a little past 40 ye;irs of age, he has had a wide and varied career in 
life and has reached the position which might well be envied by many 
older in years and experience. During the summer months he oper- 
ates a thrashing machine, which has a capacity for thrashing 1,800 
bushels daily, and the average work reaches 700 bushels per day. 
The machine which he uses is one manufactured by Garr, Scott & Co., 
Richmond, Ind., and he also has a good saw mill, which was built by 
the same firm. The capacity of this mill is 5,000 feet per diem and 
will average 3,000. Were it necessary for us to say something of 
Mr. Herndon's ability and reputation as a business man, we could not 
do better than to mention that his time is constantly occupied in at- 
tending to these callings and in filling the numerous orders which are 
continually coming in upon him. He takes contracts for furnishing 
bills of lumber, and cuts, saws aud delivers it when required, making 
a specialty of walnut lnml)er. Mr. Herndon was born in Estill 
county, Ky., April 30, 1845, and was brought up there as a farmer, 
mill man, etc. His subsequent career it is of course unnecessary to 
repeat. In 1875, Noveml)er 3, he was married to Miss M. A. Card- 
well, who was born in Buchanan county. Mo., but came to Platte 
county in 1871. They have five children: Elijah A., David S., Ed- 
win P., Lena and James S. 



1100 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTy. 

JAMES H. HULL 

(Deceased). 

Mr. Hull was one of the best known citizens in Platte county at the 
time of his death, having reached the age of 59 j'ears. Like many of 
the early settlers of Platte county, men who became prominent and 
influential in their respective callings, he was a Kentuckian tjy birth, 
having been born June 15, 1813. Naturally he was an excellent me- 
chanic, but preferred to follow farming as his principal occupation. 
Coming to Missouri in 1844, he took uji his location in Platte county 
in 1845, purchasing the farm, which now constitutes the old family 
homestead, in 184(i. This contains 1(50 acres of farm land, well im- 
proved and in cultivation. Mr. Hull was married February 27, 1838, 
to Miss Clarinda Chandler, a native of Kentuclcy, and to them were 
born five children. Of these, however, only two are now living: 
Samuel A. and Walter S. Mrs. Hull's death occurred July 8, 1851. 
His second marriage took place November 28, 1852, when Miss 
Emily J. Wilson, daughter of Azriah Wilson, became his wife. Mr. 
Wilson was a Virginian 1)}' birth, and served in the War of 1812. He 
came to this county in 184(5, and died in DeKalb county February 17, 
1883, at the advanced age of 90 years. He was a man highly respected 
b}' all who know him. By his second marriage Mr. Hull had five 
children: Charles V., Emma A., James H., Egbert R. and Edgar 
W. The widow is still conducting the home farm, and is a woman 
of industry energy. She is a good manager and, as a good agri- 
culturist, is well respected by all who are favored with her ac- 
quaintance. In the conduct of the place she is displaying unusual 
good judgment and sagacity. Her husband's death was widely 
mourned by a large circle of friends. 

WALTER S. HULL 

(Farmer aatl Stock-raiser, Section 17, Post-office, New Market). 

In the biographical sketch which immediately precedes this, a sketch 
of the life of James H. Hull is given, the father of the subject of the 
present narrative, Walter S. Hull. In that biography is mentioned 
his standing as a man and fellow-citizen among those with whom he 
mingled and his reputation for honesty and influence in tiie com- 
munity in which he lived. W. S. Hull was brought u[) in Platte 
county, receiving his primary education here, but this lie supi)lemented 
with an attendance at Pleasant Ridge College. Having adopted the 
calling of Cincinnatus as his chosen occupation in life, he has ever 
been thorough and sincere in tilling the soil, and owing to his con- 
tinued hard labor and honest endeavors, he has reached a well-merited 
degree of success. His farm consists of 1(50 acres of choice land, 
upon which are fair improvements, and on his place he raises cattle, 
sheep, horses, hogs, etc. Lately he has given considerable attention 
to veterinary surgery. Mr. Hull's parents were James H. and Clar- 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1101 

inda (Chandler) Hull, and with them ho came to this county in 1846, 
having been born in Mason county, Ivy. His wife was formerly Miss 
Susan A. Lowe, of this county, to whom he was married, Decenil)er 
27, 1807. Their family contains eight children living: Emma D., 
James W., Clarinda J., Walter S., Jr., Mary A., AUiert C, Shelton 
J. tund Lee Cleveland. One son, Owen V., died in November, 1880. 

THADDEUS C. JONES 

(Farmer and Raiser of Norman Horses, Soctioa 13, Post-office, Westou). 

Mr. Jones now has upon his place one of the neatest, most com- 
fortable and substantial residences in this section of the country, a 
building which he planned himself and which was erected at a cost of 
$2,000. A farmer by education and early training, he has been a 
tiller of the soil all his life, and since locating on his present place of 
160 acres he has devoted all his energies to its iniproveinont. His 
endeavors in this particular have not been without their substantial 
reward. The father of Mr. Jones, James D. Jones, came to Platte 
county, Mo., in March, 1860, but died a few weeks after his arrival 
here, at the age of 51 years, leaving a family of nine children. He 
came originally from Owen count}', Ky., and during his life was occu- 
pied in farming. His wife, who was born in Owen county, Ky., was 
formerly Miss Sarah Wood. She is still living and is well preserved 
in years. Thaddeus C, the third son and fourth child in his parents' 
family, was born August 6, 1840, in Owen count}^ K3^, growing up, 
as has been intimated, upon a farm and receiving a common district 
school education. Since his settlement in this county he has given no 
little attention to the raising of fine stock, and has thirteen head of 
good mules and eighteen head of Norman horses, an industry which 
he is finding profitable and interesting. December 31, 1869, Mr. J. 
married Miss Amanda J. Scott, of this county, and a daughtei- of John 
C. Scott, formerly of Kentucky. They have four children : Robert 
E., Sarah J., James D. and John C. 

WILLIAM KYLE 

(Farmer ami Stock-raiser, Section 17, Post-ollice, latau). 

Matthew Kyle, the father of the subject of this sketch, was an early 
settler from Kentucky to Platte county, where he farmed until his 
death which occurred September 18, 1856. He had come here iu 
1831t, and during the remaining years of his life was very active in 
his affairs as a farmer, finding this a not unjjrofitable method of gain- 
ing a livelihood. His native place was in Mercer county, Ky.. but 
his wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Burris, was a Virginian 
by birth, though jjrought up in the Blue Grass State. Four children 
are now living of this union, those besides William being Andrew 
T., James and George W. The mother of these died April 16, 1880, 
at the advanced age of 77 years. Mrs. Kyle's grandfather was for 65 
years, an humljle, sincere and truly pious minister of the Methodist 



1102 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

denomination, and never would he accept or receive one cent in pay- 
ment of his services as a preacher of the Gospel, a fact in quite 
prominent contrast to the customs of the present age. He also served 
during the Revolutionary War, but for his services in this struggle 
declined to be remunerated. William Kyle spent his youth in this 
county upon a farm, having been born here. 

To his early course of instruction, which he had received in the 
schools of the county, he added some months' attendance at Pleasant 
Ridge Academy, an institution which he left well qualified to enter 
upon the duties of every day life. His habits of studiousness have 
not forsaken him in subsequent years, and he is still a constant reader 
of standard books and is well informed on all matters of public and 
local importance, as well as being acquainted with the leading authors 
of the day. Mr. Kyle was married February 13, 1873, to Miss Me- 
liuda Kluson, a native of Kentucky and a daughter of William Kluson, 
of this county. They have seven children: William H., Mary E., 
Thomas W., Charles, Nellie, Eugene and an infant. Mr. K. is a 
member of the A. F. and A. M. In connection with his brother, G. 
W. Kyle, he owns 257 acres of laud. 

George W. Kyle, brother to William Kyle, was born December 16, 
1847, and grew up as a farmer boy. In 1871 Miss Mary Hord, of 
Kentucky, became his wife, but she died August 3, 1881, leaving 
three chiklreu : Irwin, Alfred and Addie. His second marriage oc- 
curred October 8, 1883, to Sallie Dougherty, who was born in this 
State. By this union there is one child : William. 

JAMES W. LAYTON 

(Farmer, Section 15, Post-office, Weston). 

Mr. L. is a son of James H. Layton, who was born in Mason 
county, Ky., July 13, 1813. He grew to manhood in his native 
State, on a farm, and in August, 1836, married Miss Mary Smithers, 
of the same place as himself. In 1843 the family came to Platte 
county. Mo., and here he lived until his death, Fol)ruary 16, 1867, 
following the peaceful and not especially eventful life of a farmer. 
He held during his career here the office of county judge four years, 
and also justice of the peace, serving in a manner above reproach and 
with great credit and honor to himself and the people generally. He 
left eight children : Mollie, now ]Mrs. Kirkpatrick ; David, Alice, now 
Mrs. Gabbert ; Perry S., Elizabeth (deceased), Amna, now Mrs. 
Newby ; Elvira, now Mrs. Steel, and James W., who was born August 
27, 1857. The latter was reared on the family homestead, where he 
now lives, and which contains 160 acres of land. His entire time and 
attention during life has been occupied in looking after the manage- 
ment of this place, and his efficiency and the manner in which he has 
discharged his obligations are very apparent in the excellent appear- 
ance which it presents. Mr. Layton was married January 22, 1880, to 
Miss Lydia Benner, whose father was one of the oldest residents of 
this county. Mr. and Mrs. L. have three children: Estel, Clau<le 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTT. 1103 

and Elva. Mr. Laytoii's mother finds a pleasant and comfortable 
home in the family of her son. 

DAVID B. LAYTON 

(Farmer, Section 22, Post-office, Weston). 

Mr. Layton, a young man of remarkable capacity, is a native of 
Mason county, Ky., and first saw the light on the second of February, 
1841. His father, James H. Layton, and his mother, whose maiden 
name was Sarah Smither, were Kentuckians l)y birth, but came to this 
county in 1844, where the father turned his attention to the occupa- 
tion, which, (luring his lifetime, received his attention. He died in 
1866, leaving eight children: Mary McKirk, David B., Alice, now 
Mrs. Ben Gal)bert ; Perry S., in Kansas; Lizzie (deceased), Sarah, 
Annie, now Mrs. M. Newby ; Elvira, and James W. Brought to this 
county when quite young, David B. arrived at man's estate here, 
growing up on a farm and receiving a common school education. He 
now has a good farm of 218 acres, devoted to the raising of grain, 
meadow, pasture, etc. Mr. Layton was married December 31, 1863, 
to Miss Mary J. Risk, a sister of D. F. Risk, a sketch of whose life 
appears on a subsequent page of this book. They htive had borne to 
them eight children: Perry, Malinda, David, Duriuda, Minerva, 
James, Noah and Ben. Mrs. L. was born in this county and is a lady 
of most estimable qualities. 

P. H. LTNVILLE 

(Farmer and Stock- raiser. Section 1, Post-office, Weston). 

Mr. Linville, who can now he numbered among the comparatively 
younger agriculturists of Platte county, is a man of high character 
and influence in the community in which he has made his home since 
about the year 1861. Until the age of 18 he passed his childhood and 
also his boyhood in Nodaway, Holt, Buchanan and other upper counties 
of the State, but at that time took up his location in Platte. His 
parents had come here in an early day, and at that time settled near 
Camden Point, where the father, a farmer by choice and adoption, 
was engaged in tilling the soil for a long period. His death occurred 
on the 24th of August, 1876, but his wife had died in the fall of 1863, 
leaving the following children living: Jolin T., Eva, wife of William 
Allen; Nancy A., now Mrs. Bigham ; Fannie, now I\Irs. Clements; 
Perman and William. Five were deceased : Sarah, Jemima, Lycur- 
gus and two infants. Since settling permanently in this county, P. 
H. Linville has been industriously and continuously engaged in im- 
proving a place on which he has resided to this day. This contains 
124 acres. It should have been mentioned before that Mr. Linville 
was born in Buchanan county. Mo., August 6, 1843, and was the son 
of Abraham and Nancy (Tropp) Linville, both originally from Ten- 
nessee. The subject of this sketch has been twice married; first, 
February 6, 1863, to Miss Martha A. Bigham, a native of Platte 



1104 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

couu*^y. She died March 24, 1873, leaving five children to mourn her 
loss : David T. J., 'Robert, John Walter, William J. and Martha A. Mr. 
L.'s second marriage occurred in the fall of 1875, when Miss Frances 
Davis, of Leavenwortii county, Kas., became his wife. Four children 
have been born to them : Eva, Joseph, Fannie and Maggie. Mr. and 
Mrs. Linville are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. 

LEVI LOLLAR 

(Retired Farmer, Section 9, Post-office, Weston). 

One of the oldest living settlers within the present boundaries of 
this township, and, indeed, among the most advanced in age of anj^ 
residents of the count}', Mr. Lollar is now living in comparative 
retirement from the active duties of farm life, resting in the satisfac- 
tion of having passed a career of usefulness to those in whose midst he 
has made his home for so long a period, and not devoid of substantial 
results to himself. Born in North Carolina, December 29, 1806, he 
removed to Platte county, Mo., in 1839, and located on the farm 
which now constitutes his homestead. He owns 200 acres of land, but 
has it mostly rented ; and the improvements upon this place are of an 
excellent order, and neat and convenient in their appointments. Mr. 
Lollar was brought up principally in the State of Tennessee, whither 
he had accompanied his parents in an early day. They were John and 
Sukej' Lollar, originally from North Carolina. In 1828 Mr. Lollar 
was married to Miss Mahala Rhea, a daughter of Ezekiel Rhea ; her 
native State was Tennessee. The maiden name of her mother was 
Elizabeth Prior. Of the family of children who have been born of 
this union, the following are living, and all have become worthy 
and respected members of the different localities in which they have 
made their homes : Susanna, now Mrs. Henson ; Sallie, now Mrs. 
Roach ; Isaac, William, Pinckney and Moetta, now Mrs. Jacks. 
Mr. Lollar is one of the honored and well esteemed citizens of this 
county. 

A. J. LOVELADY 

(Farmer, Section 23, Post-office, Weston). 

We utter but the truth when we sa}' that one of the truly good 
men of this county, and a man who is respected by everybody, whose 
character and intiuence stand out as an exception to the general rule 
of men in this day, is the subject of this sketch. Mr. Lovelady is 
now in his seventieth year, having been born October 18, 1815, m 
White county, Temi. His father, Thomas Loveladv, who came origin- 
ally from South Carolina, married Miss Jane Ware, whose birthplace is 
now included in the State of West Virginia. The father died in Ten- 
nessee. Young Lovelady was l)rought upon the old family homestead 
in the State of his birth, until the age of 17, when he settled in Jack- 
son county. Mo. This continued to be his home until Fel)ruary 13, 
1837, when he came to this county. To the means which he had 
accumulated before locating here he has added from time to time, and 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1105 

now has become oiie of the successful furiuers aiid stock-i-ais^rs of 
the county. His hinded i)ossessions embrace 300 acres, a phice which 
is excelled by none ia this community. But more important and bet- 
ter than this he is an upright, sincere man. He is a member of no 
church, but what others talk of he does. Wiien it becomes necessary 
for him to die, it can he said with truth that he was 

"Formed on the? good old plan, 
A true and brave and dowurifjht honest man! 
He blew no trumpet in the market-place, 
Nor in the church with hypooritic face 
Supplied with cant the lack of Christian grace; 
Loathing pretense he did with cheerful will 
What others talked of, while their hands were still." 

Mr. Lovelady was married June 8, 1840, to Miss Juda Newby, aKen- 
tuckian by birth. She died February 2, 1885. There had been 13 
children born, five of whom are living: Cynthia, now Mrs. I. E. 
Graves ; Nannie, wife of P. Layton ; Maud, wife of C. Thorp; James 
and Lee. 

JAMES W. McADOW 

(Farmer and Fine Stock-raiser, Section 4, Post-office, latau). 

Mr. McAdow was born in Phitto county. Mo., September 2, 1845. 
His father, John McAdow, a native of Mason county, Ky., was reared 
in the vicinity of his l)irthplace on a farm, and in 1837 came to Platte 
county, Mo. One of the earliest settlers in this section of country, 
he at once identified himself with the agricultural affairs of the county, 
and subsequently became one of its most substantial agriculturists. 
The maiden name of his wife was Mary Bean, and she was also a 
Keutuckian by birth and a daugliter of Col. Benjamin Bean, for whom 
Bean's Lake was named. In 1849 John Bean, only too naturally 
falling a victim to the gold fever which at that time was agitating the 
whole country, went to California for the purpose of mining, but the 
same year he started to returu. While en ro.ute he was taken sick 
and died on shii) board. His widow died in October, 1868. Both 
were well esteemed and highly respected citizens of this county, and 
left a worthy family of children who have done honor to the name 
which they bore. Of their fauiily of three children, James W. and 
John are still living, Benjamin B. being deceased. James W. Mc- 
Adow, the subject of this sketch, was reared in Platte county, and 
here succeeded in acquiring a good education, always improving the 
opportunities for study with which he was favored. The calling to 
which he was brought up has very naturally been his chosen avocation 
in life, a pursuit in which he has achieved good success. He has a 
fine farm of 223 acres, and has it neatly and substantially improved, 
his surroundings being all that one could desire. For a number of 
years he has been making a specialty of handling stock, giving close 
attention to thoroughbred short horn cattle, and his herd embraces 
representatives of the leading short horn families of the country. 



1106 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTT. 

Mr. McAdow is an enlightened, progressive farmer, one to whom 
success comes as a matter of course, for having an intelligent appre- 
ciation of the requisites to success, he accordingly pushes his farming 
operations with vigor and enterprise. He was married April 2, 1871, 
to Miss Alice G. Steele, daughter of James Steele, an old resident of 
this county. Their family consists of four children : Ernest B., Mary 
E., Fannie and James W., Jr. 

JOHN McADOW 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section 5, Post-office, latan) . 

In the sketch of James W. McAdow, a brother of the man whose 
name heads this sketch, and which precedes this, an outline of the 
history of the life of his parents, Jolm and Mary B. McAdow, is given, 
so that it is unnecessary to repeat here what has already been men- 
tioned. Since 1872 Mr. McAdow has resided continuously in this 
county, where he has been devotedly occupied in tilling the soil, 
and here his farming operations have been conducted in a manner 
which very plainly stamps him a progressive agriculturist. In the 
raising of stock he has found an important source of prosperity, 
and upon his farm are to be found high graded short horn cattle and 
saddle and harness horses, some of which are second to none in 
his community. Born October 14, 1849, in Platte county, Mr. Mc- 
Adow was early deprived of a father's guidance and watchfulness, 
but his mother did her full shai-e in caring for the family and in 
leading them to become useful, honored members of society, efforts 
which were sincerely appreciated. Young John remained about the 
home and followed farming until 1868, when he took a trip to the 
mountains and remained for four years. He was occupied in giving 
his attention to different aYocations during that period, and upon 
returning in 1872 he resumed his former calling as a tiller of the soil. 
He is a thorough-going farmer and a worthy citizen of this township. 
Mr. McAdow's wife was formerly Miss Florence M. Dye, a daugh- 
ter of James Dye, Esq.', and their marriage was consummated Sep- 
tember 22, 1875. She is a native of this county. Mr. and Mrs. 
McAdow have four children : James Henry, Benjamin Bonifant, 
Samuel W. and John. 

JOHN T. MARTIN 

(Retired Farmer, Section 5, Post-office, latan). 

Mr. Martin is another of the old settlers of the Platte Purchase, 
and one who is able to trace his lineage back for nearly two centuries. 
His grandfather, Bcniah Martin, a son of John and Priscilla Martin, 
was born December 10, 1742, and died October 10, 1777. His grand- 
mother, Margaret Manning, a daughter of Nathaniel Manning, was born 
December 20, 1746. Jeptha Martin, the father of John T., was a native 
of Virginia, being born April 12, 1767, and was married September 6, 
1792, to Miss AUie Williamson, who was also born in the same State, 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1107 

March 3, 1776. Of their family of eiglit children John T. was the 
sixth, and was boi'n in Berkeley county, W. Va., February 16, 1807. 
He lived in his native State until almost grown, and afterwards, after 
residing for some time in Ohio and Indiana, he came to Platte 
county. Mo., in 1837. Since that date he has made his home 
in this and the adjoining county of Buchanan. In 1841 he built 
what was known as Martin's Mill on Sugar creek, in Buchanan 
county, which was well patronized in that early day. In 1855, 
moving to DeKalb, he erected a grist mill which is still 
standing and operated at that place. July 5, 1832, Mr. Martii> 
was married to Miss Eliza Coleman, a native of Hamilton county, 
Ohio. She died January 29, 1879, leaving the following children : 
Mary E., now Mrs. Brown; Jeptha, J. Will, James A., Nancy, M. 
Dunlap (deceased), Jasper, Winfield S. and Ollie, now Mrs. P. Lol- 
lar. December 11, 1879, Mrs. Nancy Thompson, whose maiden name 
was Coleman, became his wife. She was a sister to his first wife and 
the widow of Andrew Thompson, to whom she was married December 
26, 1833, in the State of Indiana. Mr. Thompson, originally of 
Loudoun county, Va., was born in 1806, and lived in his native State 
imtil attaining his majority. Then he removed tolndiana, and in 1837 
settled in Platte county on section 5 of this township, where he owned 
160 acres of land. He followed his chosen occupation here until his 
death, which occurred February 8, 1879. Mrs. Martin's birthplace 
was in Hamilton count}', O. ,Mr. M.'is now living in comparative 
retirement, and reaping the rewards of a life well spent in useful and 
ceaseless activity. 

JOHN W. MARTIN 

(Farmer, Section 2, Post-office, DeKalb). 

Mr. Martin, now in the prime of life, and having started out in the 
world for himself on reaching his sixteenth year, is numbered among 
the substantial agriculturists of this count}', and has just cause to be 
satisfied with his past career. George Martin, his father, was born in 
Kentucky, but moved to Alabama and thence to Tennessee, coming 
from there to Cooper county. Mo., and subsequently to Platte county 
in 1837. Therefore it can be said with truth that he was a pioneer 
settler of the county. After making one crop of corn he returned 
for his family, whom he soon brought here. The mother of John W., 
whose maiden name was Bates, but who was Mrs. Margaret Bowman 
at the time of her marriage to Mr. Martin, was a Virginian by birth. 
The father died in 1852, but the mother survived until 1874, when 
she, too, departed this life. There were eight children in their family, 
of whom John W. was the seventh, and he was also the fourth son. 
Born July 31, 1836, in Cooper county. Mo., he was very young when 
brought to this county, but from that time to this his history has been 
intimately interwoven with that of Platte. In 1853 he went to Cali- 
fornia and was absent for two years, but in 1855 he returned from 
there and has continuously and energetically given his attention to 
farming and the stock business. His place embraces 460 acres devoted 



1108 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

to stock and ojraiu purposes. Mr. Martin is a married man, Miss 
Sarah Lamar having become his wife May 29, 1856. She was born 
in Tennessee. This union has l)een blessed with six children: Charles 
A., Robert L., George D., Nellie J., Myrtle L. and Joseph Lamar. 

THOMAS C. MONSON 

(^Teacher and County School Commissioner, Post-office, Weston). 

Mr. Mouson is a native Missourian, born near Independence, Jack- 
son county, April 23, 1850. His father, Hugh T. Monson, was born 
in Nicholas county, Ky., and his mother, ?iee Emeline E. Alley, was a 
native of Indiana, though having been reared in Missouri. In the early 
days of the Santa Fe trade the father was a prominent freighter, and 
had a varied experience with the Indians on the plains. He is still 
living, and a resident of Sullivan county, Mo. Thomas C, the sub- 
ject of this sketch, was principally brought up in Harrison county, 
and his education was received in his native State and in Kansas, this 
afterwards being supplemented with a course at the Denver High 
School of Colorado. At the early age of 17 he began to teach, and 
two years later he came to Platte county, where he has since followed 
his chosen avocation, and it is not saying too much to assert that 
there is not a more popular or successful teacher in Platte county. 
In April, 1885, he was elected county school commissioner by a large 
majority, a position he will no doubt fill with credit to himself and to 
the entire satisfaction of the people of the county. May 6, 1877, 
Mr. Mouson was married to Miss Rosetta Folsom, who was born in 
Platte county and educated at Camden Point. Mrs. Mouson was a 
daughter of Frederick W. Folsom, now a resident of Oregon and a 
granddaughter of J. C. Harris, of this county, mention of whom is 
frequently made within those pages. This union was a singularly 
aifectionate and happy one, and was full of promise, but on the 12th 
of Fel)ruary, 1884, Mrs. M. was taken away by death, leaving one 
son, Hugh Freddie. A lady of unusually prepossessing presence, her 
manners were extremely winning, and she was always most cordial 
. and sincere at heart. In conversation, cultured and refined, but by no 
means affected, she was always interesting and entertaining, and all 
in all she was a person of the most amiable disposition, and i)ossesscd 
of great fortitude and resignation. Thomas C. Monson has already 
reached a station in life which no worthy sketch of his life should fail 
to mention to his credit. In fact, hardly has he more than attained 
that period when his greatest activity and usefulness may be expected 
to be exercised. 

BENJAMIN F. MOORE 

(Dealer in General Merchandise, Sugar Lake). 

Mr. Moore was born in Parke county, Ind., March 18, 1847, and is 
the son of Jesse and Mary (Storey) Moore. His father was a Pres- 
byterian clergyman, who was licensed to the ministry at Mt. Gilead, 
Ky., in 1820, aud for ten years preached in his native State. He then 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1109 

changed his residence to Indiana, where he lived for ten years. In 
November, 1847, he came to the Platte Pnrchase and settled just 
north of the Platte county line, in Buchanan county. He died sud- 
denly December 4, 1847, after a very short illness and a residence 
here of about five weeks. His life, frona his birth until his death, 
was one without a tarnish. After he had decided to devote his life 
to the ministry, no preacher was more zealous and active in the 
sacred cause, and few, if any, were more successful in bringing souls 
to Christ. He left at his death, besides his widow, nine children, of 
whom eight are now living: Samuel B., James E., Preston R., Kate, 
now Mrs. J. C. Crooii ; Harriet, now Mrs. Risk ; William E., now a 
practicing physician at Easton, Buchanan county ; Thomas M. and 
Benjamin F. Mrs. Moore was again married in 1850 to John Smith, 
a native of England. Benjamin F. spent his early life on a farm in 
Buchanan county and resided there until 16 years of age, and then 
commenced his mercantile experience, which he has since continued. 
In 1875 he was associated with his brother and after selling goods in 
ditferent places, he, in 1883, came to his present location. He car- 
ries a full stock of goods in his line and is doing a satisfactory busi- 
ness. He also buys grain and produce and holds the position of 
postmaster. He owns, with his brother-in-law, 200 acres of choice 
bottom land. He was married January 19, 1877, to Miss Augusta 
A. Dickson, a native of Platte county. They have three children : 
Lena D., Inez C. and Benjamin F. Jr. Mr. M. is a member of the 
I. O. O. F. 

GEORGE D. MULLENDORE 
(Teacher, Post-office, Weston). 

Mr. M. was born in Leavenworth county, Kan., December 26, 
1800. His father was born in Johnson county, Ind., and lived there 
until he attained his majority. In youth he learned the tanner's trade 
of his brother, Lewis MuUendore, and also worked at the harness 
making business. In 1855, moving to Kansas, he settled on a farm 
and made a contract with the Government for supplying the post at 
Leavenworth with hay. This venture proved a source of considerable 
profit. In 1867 he came to Platte county and purchased a farm, and he 
is recognized as a leader in the business of tilling the soil. He mar- 
ried Miss Kate May in 1857. She was born in Buchanan county. 
They have a family of six children. George D. ]\Iullendore is one of 
the best educated young men in tiiis county, having in addition to a 
primary course attended school at Platte City, also at the Stewarts- 
ville College, in which latter institution he thoroughly qualified himself 
for the calling of a teacher, an occupation which has been a source of 
great benefit to him, both as a satisfaction and pecuniarily. Since 
commencing to teach in this vicinity he has proved himself to be a 
capable and efficient instructor, in proof of which we would cite the 
fact of his having taught one of the best district schools in the county 
for three terms. This redounds more to his credit than any compli- 
mentary words which we might write. 



1110 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

N. P. NELSON 

(Farmer, Fruit-grower aud Stock-raiser, Post-offlce, Wallace). 

The present work bears abundant evidence of the fact that in every 
township in these two counties ma}' be named men who would honor 
any community with their citizenship. On almost every page is to be 
found the name of some citizen whose character and intelligence justly 
entitle him to prominence in the industrial affairs of the county. 
Among others in this township is N. P. Nelson, who was born in Nor- 
way, February 27, 1828. His parents were Peter and Carrie Nelson, 
who emigrated to America, and arrived at St. Joseph, Mo., in 1847, 
with a family of six children, two sons and four daughters, of whom 
N. P. was the third child and oldest son. His brother, George Nelson, 
is now a farmer in Buchanan count3\ Peter Nelson, while a resident 
of Norwaj^ was a farmer and also a ship and boat builder by occupa- 
tion (the latter of which his eldest son also learned), and owned two 
farms, one in Hombersund, a regular ship harbor, which has room for 
three to four hundred ships. The coast of Norway is particularly 
noted for having the most and best natural harbors in the world. 
The second farm was situated near two fine lakes, surrounded by fine 
timber, mostly of oak and pine. He was owner of a ship, and went 
abroad to foreign countries as owner, but not as captain. He was 
opposed to his two sons following the sea, which they were both 
verv anxious to do and become sea captains. He left Norway in 
August, 1846, and landed in New Orleans the 9th of February, 1847, 
ancffrom there to St. Joseph. Previous to the war Mr. Nelson, Sr., 
was successfully aud quite largely engaged in raising hemp, but on 
account of the depredations committed during that period, he, in com- 
mon with others, suffered severe loss of property. He lived to the 
ripe old age of nearly 90 years. Young Nelson was thoroughly 
taught all the minor details of farm life, a calling to which he has 
devoted the most of his enei-gies. 

In 1849, during the early gold excitement of California, N. P. 
Nelson, in his twentj^-first year, left St. Joseph, in May, with ox- 
team, spent five months on the plains, arrived at Shasta City, com- 
menced miniug and was successful. Ceased mining, and, in company 
with six others, went to getting out lumber and rafts to Sacramento, 
and lost the whole on the river. He made a large skiff, started from 
Salt creek, 20 miles above Redding's, and went to Sacramento, and 
was one of the first white men that went through in a boat from the 
mountains. He was partly successful afterwards in mining, but failed 
in making a fortune. In 1853 he returned to Missouri and resumed 
work upon the farm, in Buchanan county, until 1858, when he pur- 
chased his present farm, of 160 acres, in Platte county, upon which 
he settled. Sixtj' acres of this tract are devoted to the raising of 
fruit, the varieties appearing in the orchard consisting of apples, 
pears, cherries, peaches, etc. Mr. Nelson is a successful raiser of 
apples, aud annually has from 3,000 to 5,000 bushels. His farm is a 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1111 

fine one, and is carried on with that intelligence, push and enterprise 
characteristic of the people of his native country. He owns 800 
acres of land in Kansas, where he raises stock and grain, feeding 
about 200 head of cattle, which he ships to the markets ; and in 
addition to this, he is the owner of 550 acres situated within four 
miles of St. Joseph, and also SO acres lying one and a half miles south- 
west of where he now resides. Mr. N. was married in April, 1858, to 
Miss Enger Tomenia Hoverson, also originally from Norway, her 
parents having come from that country in company with the Nelsons. 
Mr. Hoverson was a man of good, moral and natural ability, and before 
coming here was a farmer, and also engaged in the lumber business. 
The family of Mr. and Mrs. Nelson consists of two sons and seven 
daughters : Katie S., wife of Harry Cox, of Kansas ; Cora Alice, and 
Paulina A. ; Leonora J., a teacher at the Young Ladies' Institute, at 
St. Joseph ; Clara May, also a teacher; George A., Laura C, Nina 
Pearle and Lee Roy Price. Mr. N. has a limited education, and 
claims that nothing but hard labor has stared him in the face since 12 
years of age, but he has been amply rewai'ded for the same. He is a 
" Stonewall " in principle, is the same to-day as before the war — 
believes in the white supremacy of the Government — down on 
monopolists — a particular friend of the poor — belongs to the 
" boomers" of Oklahoma, his number is 509 — also a member of the 
Lutheran Church of East Norway, Kan. 

MERRITT L. NEWBY 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Post-office, Weston). 

Mr. Newby is still a young man, but iu his ftirming operations and 
all other branches of business in which he has been interested, he has 
met with unusual success, a result due, doubtless, to his superior 
judgment and good management. In this connection we deem it 
projier to give a short outline of the life of his father, Nathan Newby, 
a Kontuckian by birth, who emigrated to Missouri and settled in 
Platte county in an early day of its history. He married a Miss 
Potts, who died, leaving four children : Juda, wife of A. J. Lovelady ; 
Cynthia, Eliza, wife of W. Pryer, and Mitchell. Mr. Newby subse- 
quently married Mrs. Nancy Lovelady, whose maiden name was 
Bounds, and this union was blessed with four sons: J. Henry, of De- 
Kalb ; Jeremiah, Alfred D. and Merritt L. The latter was born 
January 22, 1848, in this county, and having spent his entire life 
within its borders, he has an extensive acfjuaintance, among which he 
is recHignized as a capable, efficient and progressive young farmer and 
one deserving of his good success. He owns 200 acres of land, a 
place well improved and iu good cultivation. Deeply interested in 
educational matters, he has served as school director for a number of 
terms. Mr. Newby has given quite a good deal of attention to the 
raising of Poland-China hogs, which he finds a source of much profit. 
He is very successful in the raising of wheat, his yield per bushel 

eriging more than the ordinary yield in this viciuit}'. Mr. 

65 



1112 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

Newby's wife was formerly Miss Sarah A. Laytoii, daughter of 
James H. and Sarah (Sniither) Layton, of Kentucky nativity. The 
names of their five children are Ida G., Lulu J., Henry, Jessie 
and Sarah. 

WILLIAM KEES 

(Of the Firm of Rees & Dowuey, Farmers ami Fruit Growers, Post-office, 
Sugiir Lake), 

The ancestors of Mr. Rees were of Welsh origin, and emigrated to 
Virginia at au early day. The parents of Mr. Rees, Thomas and 
Mary (Hyatt) Rees, were natives of Virginia, and were among the 
pioneer settlers of Ohio. In this State William was born January 
15, 1837. He was reared on a farm and followed it until the outbreak 
of the war. In 1862 he enlisted in Co. F, of the Seventh Ohio 
cavalry. He enlisted as a private and was promoted to be commissary 
sergeant. He was in many haixl-fought l)attles and several skirmishes, 
among the more important ones being the battles of Knoxvillo, Blue 
Spring, Bean Station, Franklin and Nashville. He was mustered out 
at Nashville in 1865, after which he returned to his home in Ohio and 
resumed farming. In 1867 he came to Platte county, Mo., and pur- 
chased, in connection with his partner, John M. Downey, their 
present farm, which contains 880 acres of choice land, 120 acres of 
wuich are set out in apple trees. Mr. Rees owns, beside the partner- 
ship property', 320 acres, on which is an orchard of 20 acres. Mr. 
Rees is recognized as one of the leading agriculturists, and one of the 
most pi'ominent and intiueutial citizens in tiie northwestern part of the 
county, and has made himself one of the substantial farmers, occupy- 
ing as he does a positior. in life to which not ever}' one attains who 
starts out in the world with advantages to make a successful career. 
He was married March 12, 1868, to Miss Amanda Page, a native of this 
couuty, and a daughter of Jesse and Emily (Plumer) Page, early 
settlers of this county, from Kentucky. They have six children : 
Mary Alice, Ida ^lay, Thomas Alfred, Emma, Jesse L. and Bertha 
Rees. 

SIDNEY RISK 
(Farmer, Stock-raiser, Breetler, ami Shipper, Post-office, Westou). 

Should it be necessary for us to determine upon the best farm to 
be found in Marshall township, it would indeed be a laborious task, 
taking it all in all, to find one l)etter adapted for all farm i)ur|)(jses 
than the one containing 720 acres owned by Mr. Sidney Risk. The 
improvements upon it are of a good class, and his time and attention 
are given personally to his stock interests. His stock of horses, the 
Pharaohs, are among the finest saddle and road horses in the county, 
and he also keeps a superior drove of mules. His Polan"-China 
hogs are surpassed by none in this vicinity, they having tak''" ' e pre- 
miums at the State Fair, in St. Louis, in the fall of 188^' -r 150 
competitors. Besides this Mr. Risk has about 80 head of H..''jrough- 
bred, hiixh graded short horn cattle. He is a native born citizen 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1113 

of this county, his birth occurring September 18, 1838. His 
parents were Abram ami Mehndii (Davenport) Risk, both Ken- 
tuckians by nativity, and who emigrated here in 1837. Sidney was 
amongst the first, if not tlie first white child born within the present 
limits of Platte county. lie was brought up and educated here, hav- 
ing from early youth been taught the rudiments of a farmer's life. 
Mr. Risk has been twice married ; first, October 10, 1862, to Miss 
Valaria Thorp, of this county, who died in 1871, leaving five cbildren : 
Adella, David, Dora, James S. and William M. His second mar- 
riage occurred July 25, 1872, when Mrs. Harriet Gaunt, originally 
of Kentucky, became his wife. 

D. F. RISK 

(Farmer and Breeder of Thoroughbred Stock, Section 27, Post-office, Weston). 

Mr. Risk, one of the leading and progressive farmers and breeders 
of Poland-China hogs and thoroughbred and high grade short horn 
cattle, is one of the representative men of the county. His father, 
Abraham Risk, and his mother, Malinda, came from Kentucky to 
Platte county in 1837. The former was a farmer by occupation. TTo 
died of cholera in 18.^4 ; the mother died in 1883. The name- )t 
their children are as follows : Sidne}', Jessie, Paul, D. F., ^Miitrva, 
now iurs. Moore, and Mollie J., wife of D. Layton. D. F. wts born 
in this county February 14, 1848. He married Miss Calii'j J. Smith, 
December 25, 18()(). She is a daughter of A. G. Smith of this county. 
Five children have been the fruit of this marriage: Etta M., Ida G., 
Benjamin Bonifant Jesse and Leta Myrtle. Mr. Risk bought the first 
thoroughbred male short horn into this section of the county, and for 
years he has also maile a specialty of raising Poland-China hogs. At 
the fairs at St. Joseph, Kansas City and the State fair of Kansas, in 
1884, he took twenty-six premiums, ten at the first named place, eleven 
at Kansas City and five at the Kiuisas State Fair. In 1883 he sold 
130 head of stock for breeding purposes at prices ranging from $20 to 
$50 i)er ca])ita. At the head of his Poland-China stock is the "Choice 
of Butler County," an animal that attracts universal attention where- 
ever shown, the sire of which is valued at $400 ; however, so confident 
is Mr. Risk of his animal's superiority, that he would not exchange 
this for the sire. The farm which he occupies embraces 240 acres, a 
most excellent stock farm, and his barns and outbuildings are well 
adapted to the care of his stock. A fine barn on the place is 60x60 
feet in dimensions, and beside the basement and main floor it has a 
capacity for 100 tons of hay. He is a leading and influential member 
of the Platte County Short Horn Breeders' Association and has done 
much for this association in an individual capacity. Mr. R. is a sub- 
scriber to the leading stock periodicals of the day and keeps thor- 
oughly posted on all matters i)ertaining to his adopted calling. It is 
worthy of mention in this connection that some who severely criticised 
Mr. Risk's experiment of paying high prices for fine stock, have subse- 
quently been numbered among his larg>3st customers. 



1114 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 



SAMUEL RISK 

(Farmer and Stockman, Section 27, Post-office, Weston). 

The family of this country of which the subject of the present 
sketch is an honored representative was native originally to Kentucky, 
and from that State branches of the family have settled in various 
other portions of the country. But wherever they are found they 
almost invariably occupy enviable positions in their respective locali- 
ties. It is therefore oulv as should be expected, that 'Sir. Samuel 
Risk is prominent among the agriculturists of this vicinity. Born on 
the old family homestead in Platte county. Mo., January 12, 1841, 
he was the son of Elkannah and Delilah Risk, nee Sewell, both Keu- 
tuckians by birth. They are both still living and are numbered 
among the very first settlers of this countj'. A native born citizen of 
Platte county Samuel Risk has passed his entire life within its • 
borders, and his career as a farmer in later years is too well 
known by those among whom he makes his home to necessitate any 
words of praise or commendation from us. Suffice it to say he has 
attained to a well merited success in his chosen avocation. The stock 
business has received a prominent share of his attention. A worthy* 
feature of the improvements upon his farm, and one that should be 
mentioned, is his excellent barn, (30x56 feet in dimensions with a self- 
supporting roof. For one year during the war Mr. R. served in the 
militia under Jackson's call. October 24, 1865, Miss Mary Benner 
became his wife. She had been born in this county in 1844. They 
have had a family of three children : William E., B. F., and Emma 
May. 

WILLIAM P. AND T. D. ROSE 
(Farmers, Post-office, Sugar Lake) . 

The men whose names head this sketch are sons of James E. Rose, a 
Virginian by birth, who was principally reared in Kentucky. He mar- 
ried Miss ivitty Robinson, ahso a native of the Old Dominion. In 
1855 they came to Platte county. Mo., and here the mother died in 
18(58, and the father in 1871. William P. was born in Fleming 
county, Ky., May 26, 1830, and for 25 years was a resident of the 
Blue Grass State. He was reared on a farm and jointly with his 
brother owns 240 acres of land. He was married in 1854 to Miss 
Mary F. Horton, a native of Kentuckj'. They have a family of eight 
children living: Robert, who married Miss Hattie Kidwell, residing 
in the county ; Sterling, Martha and Mary, twins ; Lula, Kittie, 
Thomas and William. T. D. was born in Fleming county, Ky., in 
1832, and has been closely associated with his brother in his farming 
operations and in whose family he finds a pleasant and comfortable 
home. Both brothers are members of the Order of the I. O. O. F., 
and they enjoy in a high degree the confidence and esteem of all who 
know them — the highest reward that can come of a useful and up- 
riirht life. 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. ^^ 



j GEORGE RUSSELL 

(Farmer, Section 10, Post-office, latan). 
fr R -i worthy son, by nativity and life-long residence, of Mis- 

• • ?a son ot John iuLu, who was born in Germany. He was 
;^- by occupation, and came to this county m an early day 

S he^-e whi^ie Geor,e was cjui.e young. H. wt|e -s fcn.neHy 

• Althea Tilton, a native of Mason county, Ky. At his Uearn, ae 
^Te des hi^ widow, three children. Georges youth was, of 
;.se s ent a hard wod. upon the farm, and he has smce followed 

bt'isi e s His industry and the result of his toil is seen in the 
da™ of lt?0 acres which he owns. Born in Platte county on 
y 10 1853, he is now recognized as an industrious, ^traightfo - 
.^lm;tn, and is succeeding bcTyond his most --S-- .^^^P- ^ ^. ; 
was married to Miss Martha Scott, November 16, 1882. bhe was 
m' n Ka . , and is a daughter of John J. Scott, who was a uative 
Be vvei county. Pa. He" came to Kansas at an e=u-ly day, and . 
w a :;iSi Atchison county, tl.at State Mi.^R^ell ^ nix^h- 
maiden ..ame was Margaret Jordan, .v'^o t^^'" ^Thrfam on 
•nul l\trs Russell have one son: Earl LeRoy. ihe laim ou 
-.- ;'"at, R resides is one of the first settled in this com- 
Sy'amlte'^S Se'highest points, as regards location, in the 

unty. 

G. W. SEEVER 

(Farmer, Section 3, Post-office, DeKalb). 

Durincr his lifetime Mr. Seever has been interested in various occu- 

r ;i. .11 of which, owing .; ^^^^ ^^rCh^mm t^^S 
i Ivm been not unsuccesstul. in loot ui. «ciiu \i\„,. 

i '1 carDentcr tor tne ^ame icii^i-n "' _ ^ „_., , 

vus a native ot Kent.akj - J'> "^ p,^^,^^ ,„,„t ,„, i.ere the 

Mary Davis .1" If/ %™J,, .^.vived until 1883, and died on 

S„-.r. M«di»' Mom-oe »n.l Kra„ci, Mnrio,,. One »„, Ambrose, d.e.l 



1116 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

iu 1876. August 16, 1849, Mr. Soever was nuuried to Miss Frances 
J. Gray, who was born in Fleming county, Ky., as her husband alf 
was. Of the children born of this union four are now living: Ma, 
E., wife of Allen Merritt, of Kansas ; Martha E., wife of George M 
Adow ; George, who married Miss Dyer; Dora, wife of A. B. Folq 
Three are deceased : Lotta J., John W. M. and James B. M. 

ALBERT P. SHOUSE 

(Farmer uml Stock-raiser, Seclioa 24, Post-oflice, Weston). 

Lewis Shouse, the father of Albert, and who is now deceased, w:k 
well known in this section of the county as one of its most worth/ 
citizens. Prominent and influential in its agricultural affairs, his lid 
was one of more than ordinary activity, and without reproach. 
Originally from AYoodford county, Ky., he was married l)ere to Miss 
Eliza Dawson, also a native of that State, and in the fall oF 184.'> 
they removed to Missouri, settling in Platte county on the place now 
occupied by tiie subject of this sketch. The senior Shouse followed 
farming actively and industriously until his death, December loth, 
1875. There were eight chiklreu born of that marriage, as follows : 
James, William, George, Maggie, now Mrs. L. Graves ; Albert, Alice, 
now Mrs. Chas. Evans; Lucy and Fannie, the latter two at 
home. The widow of Mr. Shouse is still living, and, although a lady 
well advanced in years, she is remarkably well preserved and unusually 
active and of remarkable vigor. Albert Shouse, ho whose name 
heads this biograi)hy, was born in Platte county, October 1, 1854, 
and was brought up on a farm here, obtaining such an education as 
could 1)6 acquired in the common schools. Ma}' 14, 1884, he was 
united in marriage to Miss Ellen B. Moore, a native of Buchanan 
county. They have one child, named J. T. Mr. Shouse is now re- 
siding on the old famil}' homestead of 240 acres, whore he is meeting 
with good success in the conduct of the )ilace. 

CHARLES M. SILER 

(Farmer and Stock-raiser, Section 8, Post-office, latan) . 

Philii) Siler, the father of the subject of this sketch, came to Platte 
county. Mo., in 1846. He was a farmer by occupation, and followed 
that calling after his settlement here up to the time of his death. He 
was a native of Berkeley county, W. Va., as was also his wife, who, 
before her marriage, was Elizabeth Robinson. They were both brought 
up in the State of their birth. Philip Siler died March 2, 1879, his 
wife's death having occurred February 5, of the same year. They 
left a family of four children : Jane R., now Mrs. L W. Carson ; John 
W., Nannie E., now Mrs. C. C. Graves, and Charles M. Mr. Siler, 
Sr., during his lifetime was an earnest and consistent member of the 
Cumberland Presbyterian Church, of which he wa.s also a stanch 
supporter; liberal in his contributions to it, ho was ever ready at all 
tia;.''s to aid by his money and personal efforts in the advancement of 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1117 

every cause which would tend to the moral elevation and benefit of 
the community. A man of correct and precise business habits, he was 
honest and faithful in every particular. Charles M. Siler was l)orn 
on his father's homestead January 12, 18.58, and though now in his 
twenty-eighth year, he is already recognized as one of the progressive 
young citizens of this township. He was reared to a farm life, and 
has made this occupation his adopted calling. His place contains 160 
acres of well improved land, and in addition to farming in a general 
way he is giving considerable; attention to the raising of graded stock. 
Mr. Siler is a married man, his wife having formei-jy licen Miss Jennie 
Carson, daughter of John and Mary Carson. Their marriage took 
place in 1878, and to them one daughter has been born, Alma May, 
and also one son, LamontC, who died in April, 188.0. 

A. G. SMITH 

I i;ir:ii(;r in General Mercliandi-ie, latun;. 

Mr. Smith is one of the live, energetic business men of the county, 
and one who has been closely identified with its growth and prosperity 
from an early day. He is a native of Nelson county, Va., and was 
born June 17, 1820. His father, James E. Smith, was born in the 
.same State, as was also his mother, formerly Mary E. Burke. They 
emigrated to this State in 1841, and settled in " Fancy Bottom," 
Platte county, near latan. The senior Smith was a millwright by 
trade, and A. G. learned that business under the careful training and 
guidance of his father, and he lias continued at the milling business 
more or less since that time. In 1843 or 1844 he built what was knoMm 
as Smith's Mill, in Fancy Bottom, which was afterwards burned. He 
then erected a mill at latan, and operated it for some time, but this 
finally went down, and then he constructed the present mill, known as 
Smith's Mill. Mr. S. commenced selling goods in June, 18f)l, and it 
is saying no more than is well known that no merchant in Platte 
county enjoys more fully the confidence of the entire community. He 
has sei-ved the Kansas City, St. Joseph and Council Bluffs Railroad as 
their agent for 14 years, and has been an exftress agent for a still 
longer time. In 1861 he was appointed postmaster, and has held the 
office since that date. He owns some .'>00 acres of farming land in 
the county, all well adapted for agricultural purposes, ilr. Smith 
was married March 10, 1861, to Miss Sarah Hill, of Virginia. She 
died April 1.5,1864, leaving two children: Caroline J., now Mrs. 
D. F. Risk, and James A., with his father in business. Mr. Smith's 
second marriage occurred October 20, 1864, when Mrs. Malissa Dixon 
became his wife. Her maiden name was Ellis, and she was a native 
of Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. S. have one daughter, Sarah L. Mrs. 
Smith's first husband was Henry C. Dixon, a Kentuckian by birth. 
At his death he left, besides his widow, two children : Augusta, wife 
of B. F. Moore, and Henry C, now of Omaha, Neb. Mr. Smith is 
a member of tht I. O. O. F. 



1118 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

ALFRED SOWARD 

(Farmer, Section 28, Post-office, Weston). 

Mr. Soward, who for over 45 years has been a resident of Phitte 
county, was born in Mason county, Ky., April 22, 1810. His youth 
was passed in his native State occupied in the duties of farm labor, 
and in 1839 he came to where he now resides, entering the land at 
that time. With his son-in-law, James H^ard, he now owns 410 
acres, property well adapted to the purposes for which it is used — 
grain and stock-growing, etc. Mr. S. married Rachel Brewer, who 
came originally from Mason county, Ky., and by their marriage one 
daughter has been born, Addie, who l)ecame the wife of James Hoard. 
She died April 12, 1881, leaving four children, three sons and one 
daughter, Alfred FI., Anderson, Harry B. and Hortense. 

James Hoard, who married Miss Addie Soward, is a Kentuck- 
ian by birth, and a son of Anderson Hoard who emigrated from that 
State to Platte county, and settled at latan. He was a blacksmith 
by trade and conducted a large business for many years. His mother's 
maiden name was Ann Dougherty. She died in 1882 ; her husband's 
death occurred in 1844. There are five children living of this union : 
James, Charles, Nannie, now Mrs. Davis ; Hattie, now Mrs. Dunbar ; 
and Maggie, now Mrs. Smith. 

Mr. Soward possesses the characteristics of industry, frugality and 
perseverance and has succeeded in life only hy upright methods ; this, 
however, has enabled him to become thrifty and substantial. 

ELDER O. C. STEELE 

(Deceased). 

Elder O. C. Steele was born near Lexington, Ky., on the fifth day 
of February, 1801 ; was the oldest son of Elder Brice and Elizabeth 
Steele. At the age of 15 O. C. Steele left the farm upon which lie 
was born and M-ent to Lexington to learn the trade ot silversmitb. 
After serving out his time he married Miss Sarah Hill, of Lexington, 
Ky., and moved to Richmond, Madison county, Ky., and opened up a 
jewelry store, at which business he continued till the fall of 1835, 
when he commenced selling dry goods and groceries, at which busi- 
ness he remained till the year 1840. In 1841 he moved to Platte 
county and settled upon a farm of 553 acres, now owned by J. C. 
Alderson, Esq. This farm is thought to be one of the best in the 
county. Mr. Steele was a good farmer and kept abreast of the times. 
At the age of 30 years he joined the Baptist Church, of which his 
father, Brice Steele, was a minister, after which he commenced preaeli- 
ing, and continued with that denomination till the great split, as it is 
called, took place in the Bai)tist Church — Steele taking sides with 
Barton VV. Stone and Thomas and Alexander Campbell, in which faith 
he earnestly worked all through Kentucky, and when he moved to 
Platte county h"e cast his lot, with a little congregation of Christians 



HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 1119 

at Salem, and in 1840 became pastor of that congregation, for whom 
he preached till the day of iiis death, which tooii place April 25, 1873. 
Thus passed away, in good old age, one of tiie truest and purest men 
of the Kefonruition — one of the hol(]est and most self-denying 
pioneers of tiie Christian Church. He had given his best days to his 
Master's work, and regretted it not in life nor in death. To the 
Church at Salem he had delivered more than 800 discourses. In 
Platte county he had immersed more than 1,200 persons, and he had 
married at various tiines and places more than 700 cou[)les. 

LEWIS N. STEPHENS 

(Farmer, Section 23, I'o.st-ollice, Weston). 

Lewis N, Stephens, the; subject of this sketch, was born in Platte 
county, Mo., July 24, 1849, and was a son of W. L. Stephens, a man 
who was known by most of the early settlers of Platte county, and 
who came here in the year 1839. His mother was formerly Miss 
Lucinda Hawkins. It is but natural to sap[)ose that a person Whose 
early training was that of a farmer boy should follow agricultural 
pursuits as his chosen calling in life in subsequent years, and so it has 
been with Mr. Stephens, and he now has a place of 98 acres, which, 
by industry, good management and economy, he was enabled to i)ur- 
chase some years ago. Here he is meeting with good success. July 
5, 1871, he was married to Miss .Mary Kirkpatrick. A family of six 
children has blessed this union: William Alfred, Cora Elgie, D. 
Emmett, James Harvey, Lucy May, and an infant unnamed. 

THOMAS F. STONE 

(Farmer and Fine Stock-dealer, Post-office, Weston). 

In endeavoring to trace the genealogy of the Stone family we find 
that the family came originally from Wales, and the first mention of 
them in this country was when a representative of the family settled 
in Maryland. This was in a very early period of the history of that 
colony, and since tliat date otlier members have become scattered 
throughout every State in the Union. Seldom do we hear the name 
of Stone spoken without something is said in a complimentary man- 
ner of him who bears it. The grandfather of Thomas F. Stone was 
born in Virginia, though his jiarents were from Maryland. There his 
son, Elijah Stone, who afterwards became the father of the subject of 
this sketch, was born, being the oldest in a family of 12 children. 
He accompanied the father to Kentucky while yet a lad and u])on 
arrivijig at maturity he was married. Miss Eliza W. Foster becoming 
his wife. She was of English extraction, members of the family hav- 
ing early become identified with the material development and history 
of Maryland . 

Thomas F. Stone was born January, 1, 1821, in Kentucky, and in 
less than one year thereafter was deprived of his father by death. 
Kindly adopted by his grandfather, with whom he found a most pleas- 



1120 HISTORY OF PLATTE COUNTY. 

aiit home, he remained with him until the latter's death, in 1844 
During this time he had grown up on a farm and from the time he 
was old enough to liandle a plow, has been occupied in tilling the soil 
In 1847 he came to Phitte county, Mo., soon purchasing the pllice whicli 
he still owns, land well and naturallly adapted to the raisin- of stock 
Ihe improvements upon the farm are especially deserving of men- 
tion for besides his comfortable residence he has necessaiy and com- 
modious structures for the care and preservation of his stock This 
industry he has devoted many years to, and is now meeting with o-ood 
success in the raising of fine short horns. His herd of 60 head comprise 
some of the best families known, there being representatives of the iLni- 
hes ot Youn- Mary, Beauties, White Rose, Fashion, Rubies and Guinn 
His thorough acquaintance with short horns, as well as his peculiar fit- 
ness for the position, caused him to be made vice president of the Short 
Horn Breeders Association of Platte County. Mr. Stone was mar- 
ried May 31, 1847, to Mary Ann Flanagan, who was born in Eno-hind 
She IS of Iris^i and English descent, I)ut was taken to Kentucky'wheu 
an infant. They have seven children living, Elijah F., an attorney 
of St. Louis; Walter K., of Jefl^erson county, Kan.; AVillie H of 
Denver, Col ; David Terrence, of Colorado ; Thomas F., Robert Lee 
at home, and Kate, now attending the Convent of the Sacred Heart 
at bt. Louis. 

HARVEY WELDIN 

(Farmer, Section 23, Post-onice, latan). 

8 ^oQ-^^^^'l^-" '•' *'' "''^''''' ^^ Pennsylvania, and he was born August 
«,^l»db. His parents were of English-Scotch descent, and his fath- 
er s name was Levi A Weldin. The maiden name of his mother was 
Llizabeth Butler. The family moved to Illinois in 1840 and here 
Harvey was reared on a farm. In 1852 he came to Platte county, 
and from 1856 until 1862 he was principally engaged in fvei^rhfm^ 
across the plains. He then resumed farming anil owns 200 acres of 
choice bottom land of remarkable fertility. His dwelling is located 
on the shore of Bean's Lake. His attention in farming operations is 
devoted between grain, stock and fruit. He is one of the respected 
and substantia farmers of this section of the county, and commands 
the respect and confidence of his neighbors and acquaintances He 
Avas married OctoI,er 15, 1865, to Miss Deborah Dougherty, a native 
of this county. They have a family of four children : Harriet Cath- 
erine, George F., Sammic M., and William. 

ALFRED B. WOOLSTON 

(Farmer, Post-offlce, Sugar Lake) . 
Mr. Woolston is a prominent farmer in the western portion of Mar- 
shall township, and one of its highly respected citizens, and he is one 
of that class ot clear-headed, thorough-going men who succeed in life 
in whatever department of its activities they exert themselves. Mr 
Woolston has in years past had difficulties to contend with, and 



^T-VTV 1121 

HISTORY OF PLATTE COLNTY. 



encouuteved his shave of f^^^^-;^:^^,^^1:^''S^X'^ 
succeeded in establ shmg 1^7^f,.^;j;*^,';:''^ith those around him, 
upright character and kuid "ei|W 'jj^^al.n^ ^ ^^1, ^.j^^ kno^Y him. 
i^lrawingtohimselt theeonfide.Y^eande^^^^ ^,^^. ^^^^^.^^^ ^^ 

November 28, 1858, he came *" Pl'^"^" ."^^^^^^^^^ ,,,,ees.. In 1870 he 
he followed the fishing l'"«>"««^^^ 'o^' fo^six years, since which 
opened a mercanti e 1^«"^^.^"^, ^^rmin He owns 71 acres of very 
time he has given h.s «ttent o to fa ™ ^,^ ^^hjeh there 

productive hmd with good '^""f^^e imp ^^.^^ g^^^.^^l^ j_ 

s a choice orchard. He was maiued June 14, lo , ^^^^^ ^j^.^_ 

Yocum, a native of Ohio, born Ap"l 3, 1837^ ihey^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^_ 
dren: Annette M., who was born Ju^^^^^^^ ^ A., 

uary 8, 1863; John E., born Sep cmbe 24, ^J ' j^.^^ ^y. and 

born March 7, 1867. They have 1" ^^^^^^^^'^i^/church, and Mr. W. 
fVunily are members ot the M.ss^omuy B.;pt..t^^Cl. ^^ ,^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^ 

is connected with the A. t . and A. m- . . ^^^^^ ^rs a 

was Robert Woolston, a native of New Jersey, ^ ^y_^ ,j.^^ 

prominent merchant of V!"centown Bm m^^^ ^^. ^^^^-^^ 

Laiden name of his '""^her wasj^n^ette^^ ^^^.^.^^^ 

ancestry. Both were reared -%^;l\2eX IS^O . He was reared 
was born in Vineentown N J-f ^,f ^^J^^'i^^ ^ame to Iowa, where he 
with a mercantde expenence, ^^d » 18. ^.^^^^^^^ ^^^ Nebraska, and 

lived for one year, and th^^ ™=^^ ^.^ his attention to making and 
clerked for two yeai-s. ^^^^'^^ veiy successful. He accompanied 
selling claims, in ^;1^'<^.\, ^^^.^^ Jt^f and was gone for one year. 
Government troops to bait L,ake v^ity, o 




'^.■..^(-(.^■♦vP*'"^ 



^Jlff^- INDEX 
History 

Of 

Clay County, 
Missouri 

1885 



Acliim.'-, Araminta - 433 

Adams, J.H. - 200 

Adams, James and Sarah A. - i:i3 

Adams, Jomes F. - 428 

Adams, Jas. H. - 273 

Adams, Joshua - 377 

Adams, Mattic - 423 

Adams, Pleasant - 104, 377 

Adams, Thos. - 509 

Adams, Wm. - 383 

Adkins, "Calhoun" - 291 

Adkins, D.J. - 173, 177, 330 

Adkins, Darwin - 289 

Adler, Djivie - 306 

Adkins, Downing O. - 291 

Adkins, r<:dward - 291 

Adking, Klizaheth - 512 

Adkins, Emma - 226 

Adkins, Leonidas - 291 

Adkins, Lueinda - 300 

Adkins, Robert - 289 

Adkins, Wyatt - 113, 122, 282 

Adkinson, James - 342 

Adler, Rettie - 306 

Agrieultural Society, Clay County - 

182 
Aimmerman, Jos. - 450 
Ainsworth, R. - 277 
Aker, Rettie - 399 
Aker, Preston - 399, 426, 427, 509 
Akers, Preston - 383, 426, 452 
Akers, Rev. - 379 
Albright, M.M. - 454 
Albright, Daniel - 464 
Albright, Eliza - 464 
Albright, Wm. - 4 54 
Alexander, W. L. - 217 
Alleorn, Andrew - 389 
AUcorn, J.M. - 383 
Alleorn, James -389. 393 
Alleorn, Sarah - 393 
Allen, R. - 215 

Allen, D.C. -92, 97, 187, 222, 288 
Allen, Dewitt C. - 292 
Allen, Dinah A. - 157 
Allen, James - 377 
Allen, Dr. John -295, 510 
Allen's Landing - 118 
Allen, Mary - 511 
Allen, Nimrod D. - 511 
Allen, O.D. - .509 
Allen, Shuball - 94, 103, 107, 118, 

125, 129, 292, 295, 377 
Allen, Wm. - 106 
Allison, Jane - 501 
Allnut, Ryron - 454 
Almy, Helen - 455 
Almy, Hiram and Rebecca - 455 
American Fu.- Co. - 118 
Ammons, Henry - 152 
Anderson - 224 
Anderson, Amos - 427 
Anderson, Rill, - 252, 254, 267 
Anderson, Henry - 427, 456, 468 
Anderson, John - 427. 483 
Anderson, Jo;-, and Mary - 456, 462, 
483 



Anderson, Kitty - 499 

Anderson, Margaret - ■162 

Anderson, Mary - 468, 499 

Anderson, Presley - 455 

Anderson, Robert S. - 456 

Anderson, Spencer - 455, 499 

Anderson, Spencer and Catherine - 468 

Anderson, T.L. - 275 

Arbokl, Arabella - 450 

Archer, Martha - 405 

Archer, Samuel -412 

Arnold, Alfred - 452' 

Arnold, Alvira - 450 

Arnold, Franklin O. -458 

Arnold, H.W. - 158 

Arnold, Harriet - 450 

Arnold, J.R. - 463 

Arnold, Lewis and Arabella -458 

Arnold, Mollie E. - 512 

Arnold, Nettie - 163 

Arnold, Thos. - 512 

Arnold, Wm. - 458 

Arhold, W.H. - 157 

Arthur, Michael - 177, 285 

Arthur, Turnham & Stephens - 119 

Ashby, Dtiniel - 107 

Askew, Daniel - 269 

Atchison, Renj. A. - 459 

Atehi.'on, D.R. - 136, 209, 213, 215, 

380 
Atchison, David R. -115, 126, 129, 

156, 1.54, 169, 187 
Atchison, Wm. - 459 
Atkins, John - 150 
Atkins, Jonathan - 404 
Atkins, Robt - 141 
Atkins, Wyatt - 98 
Auhaha - 94 
Aull, J. & R. - 119 
Aull, Jas. - 100 
Austin, Robt - 215 
Austin, Wm. - 173 

Averatt, Howard- 103, 106, 112, 377 
Averett, Matthew - 106, 377 
Averott, Wm. - 111, 377 
Averett, Zachariah - 94, 106, 377 

Babcock, Rev. - 383 
Bacon, Thos. - 287, 288 
Bailey, Bishop - 248, 422 
Bailey, Geo. - 104 
Bailey, O. George - 377 
Raily, Christopher - 426 
Bairibridge, D. - 281 
Bainbridge, Darius - 423 
B:iker, Catherine - 459 
Baker, Josiah - 527 
Baldwin, Andrew - 298, 379 
Raldwin, Caleb - 135 
Baldwin, George - 298 
Baldwin, Lucy A. -501 
Baldwin, Mary - 379 
Rallard, J.R. - 390 



Rallard, Thomas - 390 
Barbour, .jphn T. - .511 
Rarbout, Wrn. H. - 5li 
Rarger, Annie - 388 



Barnard, Landa - 434 

Barnard, Mary - 434 

Barnes, Richards. -512 

Barnhart, Robert - 439 

Barnhart, Minerva - 439 

Barrett, Louisa - 499 

Barrett, Nancy K. - 499 

Barrett, Olivia - 4 99 

Barrett, T.W. - 499 

Barrett,/ Wm. - 499 

Barrett, Wm. M. - 160 

Barlett, Angus - 256 

Barthelette, Louis - 113 

Barry, Patrick - 287 

Bartleson, Andrew - 94 

Bartleson, John - 94, 106, 114, 377 

Barton, A. - 426 

Baslev, Charissa - 426 

Bass, Eli - 273 

Basset, S.T. - 386 

Bassett, ST. - 388 

Baster, John - 283 

Baster, Stephen - 498, 499 

Bates, Barton - 244 

Bauer, C. - 450 

Bauman, Maria - 473 

Baxter, Jas. D. - 230 

Baxter, John - 100 

Bay, W.V.N. - 244 

Beal, Wm. - 509 

Beall, Wm. N.R. - 175 

Beauchamp, John - 298 

Beauchamp, Robbison - 298 

Beaumont, Thomas - 288 

Becker, Mary - 489 

Becket, Margaret - 312 

Beecher, Henry Ward - 181 

Beierlein, Andreas - 450 

Beierlein, An. H. - 450 

Beil, Jsseph - 287 

Begole, John - 298 

Bell, Catherine - 392 

Bell, E.D. - 383 

Bell, Fielding - 397 

Bell, George - 383 

Bell, Geo. A. - 215 

Bell, John M. - 107 

Bell, Sanford - 153 

Bell, Sarah - 397 

Bellow, John - 511 

Bellow, Wm. M. - 511 

Belt, George - 288 

Bennett, Lewis - 168 

Benson, E.A. - 386 

Benson, W.C. - 388 

Benton, Mourning - 502 

Benton, Thos. H. - 149 

Bernard, John - 428 

Bernard, Sarach - 428 

Bernard, Sarah - 433 

Berry, John - 328 

Berry, John A. - 201 

Berry, Katharine - 328 

gerthold Mansion - 199 
est Humphrey - 95 
Bethel, Bluford - 500 
Bethel, Chester - 500 



Bevins, David - 107, 460 

Bevins, James - 322 

Bevins, R.E. - 482 

Bevins, T.T. - 470 

Bevins, Truman and Annie - 460 

Bickery - 375 

Big Shoal - 94 

Bigelow Brothers - 267 

Bigelow, John - 248 

Bigelow, Simeon G. - 248 

Bigelow, Solomon G. - 230 

Biggers, Major - 231 

Binswanger, Solomon - 164 

Birch, Jas. H. - 137, 146 

Birch, Thos. C. - 130 

Bird, A.N. - 281 

Bird, Asa - 389, 499 

Bird, Benton - 427 

Bird, Greenup - 260 

Bird, William - 259 

Bishop, Edw. and Eliza - 461 

Bishop, George - 461 

Bishop, John - 465 

Bishop, Kezia - 465 

Bissett, James - 247 

Bivens, John - 382 

Bivens. Missouri - 360 

Black, G.L. - 281, 499 

Black, Grandison - 278 

Black Hawk War - 123 

Blackstone, Lavena - 423 

Blackwood, Gideon - 4 88 

Blackwood, William - 429 

Blake - 428 

Bland, H.A. - 358 

Bland, James - 333 

Bland, Rebecca - 333 

Blank, Wm. H. - 286 

Blevins. Barbara - 522 

Blink, Catherine - 489 

Blue Lodge - 170 

Blue Mills - 208 

Blue Mills Landing - 205 

Blue Mills Wounded - 218 

Bluffton - 95 

Bogan, James - 219 

Bogard, Captain - 134 

Boggess, Dennis - 429 

Boggess, French - 328 

Boggesss, James - 429 

Bogess, Price - 328 

Boggs, Jos - 101, 113 

Bogie, D.K. - 342 

Bohart, James - 324. 379 

Bond, Mr. - 451 

Bond, Bradley Y. - 247 

Bone, E.F. - 383 

Boone, Austin - 388 

Boone, Melissa - 430 

Boregard, Alpheus - 430 

Boregard, John - 430 

Boren, Malinda - 495 

Bourgmont, M. de - 90, 91 

Bouton, S.W. - 184 

Bower, G.M. - 273 

Bowl in, Delaney - 93 

Bowls, S.D. - 308 



Bowman, Thos. J. - 230 

Boyd, Colonel - 209 

Bovles, John - 377 

Bradford,, Larkin 201, 288 

Bradhurst, Jacob - 511 

Bradhurst, Mary D. -511 

Bradley, J.W. - 379 

Bradley, James - 281 

Bradley, John - 278 

Bradley, Samuel - 446 

Bradley, T.K. - 288 

Bradley, Terry - 277 

Bradshaw, Mary - 370 

Bradley, John 278 

Brand, Jas. and Catherine - 489 

Brand, Rachel - 488 

Brasfield, Amanda - 3 93 

Brasfield, Annie - 314 

Brasfield, Eliza - 414 

Brasfield, J.C. - 426 

Brasfield, Jas. - 424 

Brasfield, John - 288, 431, 432 

Brasfield, Laura - 409 

Brasfield, Leonard - 301, 324, 414 

Brasfield, Thos. and Elizabeth - 431 

Brasfield, Wiley - 432 

Brasfield, Wm. -300, 314 

Brashear, Cyrus - 347 

Brashear, Roxanna - 347 

Bratten - 383 

Bratton, Isabella - 3 73 

Bratton, James - 373 

Brawner, David and Sarah - 457 

Brawner, Mary J. - 457 

Breckinridge, Lynn and Eleanor - 

431 
Breckenridge, W.A. - 129, 371 
Breckinridge, Mary J. - 371 
Breckinridge, Eleanor - 426 
Breden, Alice - 330 
Bridge, First - 1 19 
Bright, Jos. - 123 
Brining, Wm. - 259 
Brinkmeier, Elder - 378 
Brinkmeier, H. - 450 
Broadhurst, John - 257, 513 
Brock, John - 153 
Brock, Rebecca - 396 
Brock, Wirfield - 306 
Bromson, Samuel - 511 
Bronaugh, David T. - 514 
Bronaugh, John - 514 
Brooks, A.D. - 182 
Brooks, Abijah - 423 
Brooks, Abijah and Harriet - 436 
Brooks, J.E. - 201 
Brooks, .James - 438 
Brooks, Louisa - 409 
Brooks, M.B. - 343 
Brooks, Mary - 436 
Brost, John J. - 509 
Brost, Mary - 509 
Brown, A.S". - 336 
Brown, David - 182 
Brown, Elizabeth - 520 
Brown, H.D, - 412 



Brown, Hugh - 95, 509 

Brown, J.M. - 453 

Brown, John - 180, 184, 202 

Brown, Jos. - 95 

Brown, Shelton - 452 

Brown, Wm. - 378 

Browner, David - 458 

Browner, Mary J. - 458 

Browning, Lucy - 435 

Bruene, Henry - 450 

Brummett - 96 

Brunly, Elder - 378 

Buchanan, Rachel - 426 

Buchholtz, J.W. - 450 

Buckingham, Elizabeth - 440 

Buckgraye, James - 377 

BurlMnk, John - 277 

Burden, Robt - 123 

Burdenk, R.H. - 4.52 

Burgess, Anna - 466 

Burgess, Charlton B. - 461 

Burgess, Jos. - 462 

Burkhead, S. - 333 

Burnam, Joel - 129 

Burnet, George - 123 

Burnett, Geo. - 112 

Burnett, Peter H. - 126 

Burnette, Amanda - 525 

Burnham, C.N. - 388 

Burnham, Jas. A. - 215 

Burns, James - 233, 287 

Bums, Jane - 509 

Burns, Jeremiah - 509 

Burns, Lewis - 149 

Burris - 280 

Burris, David - 302 

Burris, L.W. - 177, 186, 225, 233, 

289, 381 
Burris, Luke W. - 191, 255, 301 
Buster, Chas. W. - 514 
Buster, Jas. J. - 514 
Buxton, Wm. - 390 
Byrd, Greenup - 233 
Byrd, M - 432 
Byrd, Wm. and Mary - 432 

Cain, Robert - 115 
Caffrey, John J. - 287 
Caldwell Home Guards - 530 
Caldwell, Mrs. Robert - 385 
Calhoun, A.J. - 168, 204, 206, 222, 

229, 237, 257. 
Calhoun, Alexander - 303 
Calhoun, Samuel -305 
Calhoun, Thos. - 395 
Call, James - 209 
Callaway, John W. - 164 
Callaway, Peter - 428 
Callerman, Bass - 509 
Callerman, John - 509 
Calvert, Captain - 2.54 
Cameron - 183 
Campbell, Albert - 388 
Campbell, Alexander - 286 
Campbell, Elizabeth - 520 
Camron, Elisha - 377 



Campbell, James - 133, 134 

Campbell, Louisa - 330 

Campbell, Nancy - 466 

Campbell, Samuel W. - 520 

Campbell, Thos. - 94 

Campbell, Wm. - 94, 116, 383, 515 

Camron, Elisha - 95, 103, 115, 123, 

352, 376, 377, 
Camron, Jonathan - 106, 377 
Capitol Mills - 520 
Capp, Captain - 219 
Capps, John - 182 
Caples, W.G. - 287 
Carey, Anna - 218 
Carey, Daniel - 318 
Carpenter, Amos - 515 
Carpenter, Benj. 153 
Carpenter, Dan - 509, 515 
Carpenter, Paley - 152 
Carpenter, Wm. - 516 
Carr, Dabney - 106 
Carrell, John - 106 
Carroll, James - 377 
Carroll, John - 377 
Carroll, Nancy - 403 
Carter, Mr. - 457 
Carter, Rev. - 383 
Carter, Richard - 391 
Carter, S.H. - 389 
Carthage, Battle of - 205 
Carthrae, Chas. - 119 
Carson, Wm. - 273, 274 
Casey, Eli - 283, 380 
Case, Thos. - 288 
Catherwood, Colonel - 224 
Catheroood, E.C. -223, 253 
Cates, Richard - 205 
Cave, Elizabeth - 494 
Cave, Urial and Susan - 494 
Cave, Uriel - 451 
Celvinger - 388 
Cerry, Jas. & Catherine - 509 
Cever, J.C. - 453 
Chancellor, Elizabeth - 413 
Chancellor, James - 413 
Chancellor, John - 323 
Chandler, Mary - 530 
Chancy, Nathan - 107 
Chancy, Richard - 106 
Chaney, Sallie - 472 
Chanslor, Anderson - 152 
Chapman, A.L. - 383 
Chapman, John - 377 
Chauncey, John - 282 
Chevis, Thos. - 222, 286 
Childs, Colonel - 208 
Charlston, S. - 383 
Chisis, Annie - 509 
Chisis, Thos. - 509 
Chorn, James - 144 
Chouteau, F. P. - 100, 114 
Chouteau, Pierre - 93 
Christy, J.C. - 141 
Chrisman, John - 259 306 
Chrisman, Joseph - 306 
Christa, Ellen - 423 
Christa, Wm. - 423 
Churchill, Samuel - 187 



Childs, Kit - 224 
Clack, S.S. - 255 
Clardy, G.C. - 423 
Clardy, G.W. - 426 
Clardy, Giles - 433 
Clardy, J.B. - 433 
Clardy, Wm. - 426 
Clark, Benj. - 153 
Clark, Uncle Dick - 496 
Clark, Edw. - 449 
Clark, Finis - 376 
Clark, Giles - 423 
Clark, Hannah - 516 
Clark, James G. - 307 
Clark, James H. - 307 
Clark, Jesse - 271 
Clark, John - 208, 454 
Clark, Philip - 287 
Clark, Richard - 499 
Clark, Samuel - 516 
Clark & Wilson - 141 
Clark, Wm. - 92, 308, 324, 450 
Clary, Norman - 433 
Clause, Emma - 456 
Clause, Geo. and Elizabeth - 456 
Clay, H.B. - 423 
Clay, Henry - 98 
Clay, S.G. -509 
Clay Co. Savings Assn. - 259 
Clements, Arch - 247, 269 
Clemson, James - 93 
Clevenger, B.B. - 386 
Clevinger, Jasper - 416 
Clipper Newspaper - 452 
Cloud, Martin - 142 
Clover, H.H.A. - 244 
Cobb, Jesse - 357 
Cobb, Mary - 357 
Cockrell, Francis M. - 309 
Cockrell, Judson - 309 
Cockerel!, Yard - 228 
Coffee, John T. - 228 
Coffman, David - 248 
Cole, Zerelda - 266 
Coleman, Henry - 287, 288 
CoUett, Jos. - 115 
Collier, John - 230, 377 
Collins, Amelia - 226 
Collins, Elizabeth - 458 
Coolier, James -328, 377 
Collins, Jesse - 336 
Coolins, Jno. W. - 152, 383 
Collins, S.N. and Jane - 458 
Collins, Wm. - 377 
Colly, Patton - 253 
Colly, Colston, Jas. - 250 
Com'bs, J. - 388 
Combes, Mary - 523 
Compton, Gershom - 100 
Confederates - 221 
Conger, Lou M. - 529 
Conington, Thos. - 152 
Conlcy, Di-. - 376 
Conn, John and Elizabeth 
Conn, Mary - 470 
Conway, Dr. - 283 
Conrow, Aaron H. - 200 
Cook, E.C. - 460 



Cook, Georgia - 493 
Cook, James and Lucy - 193 
Cooley, Frank - 380 
Cooley, Jennie - 523 
Cooper, Ben - 256, 257, 512 
Cooper, Mary - 512 
Copelin, Andrew - 106 
Corbin, B.B. - 289 
Corbin, Benjamin - 310 
Corbin, Dr. - 356 
Corbin, Lucy - 356 
Corbin, Ovid - 310 
Corbin, W.H. - 289 
Corneulius, Absalom - 377 
Cornelius, Benj. - 377 
Cornelius, John - 377 
Corum, Alfred - 257 
Corum, Bersheba - 422 
Corum, Eleanor - 423 
Corum, James - 257 
Corum, Nancy - 429 
Corum, W.C. - 386 

Corum, Wm. - 422 

Costello, James - 462 

"Cottage Home"- 385 

Cotton, Caltha - 362 

Cotts, Abram - 377 

Couch, J.C. - 261 

Courtney, ArchilbaUi - 311 

Courtney, A.C. - 173 

Courtney, John - 31 1 

Courtney, Jos. - 141 

Courtney, Joscphus - 403 

Co.x, Angeline - 252 

Coryell, Lucy - 452 

Crabster, Edward - 152 

Cracker's Neck - 197 

Crafton, Eli - 312 

Craig, Benj. - 509 

Craig, H.K. - 198 

Craig, R.R. - 275, 276 

Crasford - 383 

Craven, Emily - 4 52 

Cravens, C.L. - 386 

Cravens, Dr. - 451 

Crawford, A.B. - 427 

Crawford, Alex B. - 434 

Crawford, Captain - 129 

Crawford, Mary - 96, 280, 476 

Crawford, Nathan - 463 

Crawford, Smith - 125, 463 

Crawford, Vincent S. - 160 

Creek, Abraham - 106, 107, 114, 

Critchfield, Elliott - 218 

Croach, W.A. - 388 

Crockett, David - 377 

Crockett, Jos. - 377 

Cronin, Lucinda - 488 

Grouse, CM. - 510 

Crow, Mattie - 423 

Crow, Sarah - 423 

Crowley, Captain - 204 

Crowley, G.W. - 201 

Crowley, Lide - 388 

Crowley, Sam - 271 

Croysdale, Abraham - 119 

Crump & Thompsom - 183 



Cruzat, Francisco - 91 
Cullen, Peter - 287 
Culver, H.C. - 267 
Culver, Dr. Henry - 303 
Cummons, Wm. - 296 
Cunningham, - 284 
Cunningham, Hannah O. - 144 
Cunningham, Oliver H. - 144, 183 
Curd, Mundy - 467 
Curd, W.A. - 281 
Curtis, Cyrus - 287 
Cusick, Pat - 164 
Cutler, A. P. - 453, 454 
Cutler, S.L. - 4 53 

Dagley - 271 
Dagley, Bettie - 504 
Dagley, Ellen - 413 
Daelev. James - 377 
Dailev, Alvis - 247 
Dale,' Mary - 146 
Dale, R f.R. - 163, 255 
Dale, Timothy - 449, 453 
Dale, Weekley - 126, 449, 450 
Dallis, George - 449 
Damon, George - 313 
Darby, Lon - 510 
Darby, Mary A. - 529 
Daugherty, S.P. - 528 
Davenport, Mary E. - 435 
Davenport, Wm. - 152, 201 
Davidson, Martha - 404 
Davis, Albert - 152, 408 
Davis, Easter - 509 
Davis, Edther - 509 
Davis, Harmon - 114 
Davis, Henry - 383 
Davis, Herman - 458, 509 
Davis, Hermon -' 114 
Davis, John - 93 
Davis, Jos. - 452 

Davis, Lucy - 408 

Davis, Maggie - 356 

Davis, Samuel and Eliz-a - 313 

Davis, Sarah - 230 

Davis, W.H.H. - 408 

Davis, Wm. Sr. -S77 

Davis, William H.H. - 313 

Davis, Wm. T. - 230 

DeBerrv, Alwilda - 432 
De Berry, J.D. - 426 

De Berry, J.D. and Mary - 426 
421 DeBerry, John - 432 

DeCourcey, Thos. W. - 139 

Dean, Henry Clay -187 

Dean, John - 94 

Dearborn, J. A. - 286 

Decier, Moses and Malinda - 495 

Decker, Martha - 4 95 

Denham, Silas - 479 

Denny, George - 314 

Denny, John - 314, 365 

Denny, Ualtic - 365 

Denton, ''onathan - 377 

Dever, Alexander - 257 

Dever, Arthur - 257 

Devlin, Joseph - 383 



Dibble, M. - 177 

Dickerson, Elizabeth - 423 

Dickey, J.C. - 386 

Dicky, Sarah - 469 

Diester, Christopher - 527 

Dill, David H. - 212 

Dillingham, Henry - 342 

Dillingham, Elizabeth - 342 

Dillon, Matthew - 287 

Dillon, Wm. - 388 

Diner, H. - 450 

Ditto, Abraham - 464 

Ditton, Eliza - 461 

Ditto, Eliz. - 476 

Ditto, J. P. - 476 

Ditto, Jos. - 464 

Ditto, Wm. - 464 

Divine, Matthew - 437 

Divine, E.A. - 437 

Dobbins, Johanna - 4 94 

Dockery, W.E. -287, 383 

Dodge, Wm. O. - 219 

Doniphan, A.W. - 126, 129, 134, 136, 
160. 177. 182. 191. 192. 194, 195, 
200, 20 , 225, 274, 275, 276 

Doniphan, Alex. - 140, 293, 296, 345 

Doniphan, Alex. W, - 142 

Doniphan, John - 233 

Donovan, Elza - 392 

Doniphan, Gen. - 285 

Donnelly, Bernard - 287 

Donovan, E.P. - 383 

Donovan, J.M. - 383 

Donovan. James - 392 

Donovan, Park - 240, 247 

Dolley, Samuel - 509, 517 

Dougherty, Hannah - 316 

Dougherty, John - 136, 172, 173, 317, 
319 

Douffhertv. L.B. -207. 220 
Dougherty, Lewis B. - 397 

Dougherty, Major - 93 
Dougherty, O'Fallon - 219 
Dougherty, Robert - 316 
Dougherty, Taylor - 152 
Dougherty, W.W. -286, 288 
Dougherty, Wm. and Ellen - 316 
Dougherty, Wm. W. -315 
Dluglas, Geo. and Jane - 427 
Douglass, John W. - 164 
Downing, Chas. - 323 
Downing, Eliza - 371 
Downing, Joseph -454 
Downing, Sarah - 323 
Drnoer, Benj. - 177 
Drew, Washington W. - 518 
Drohan, Wm . F. - 287 
Drum, R.C. - 102 
Drumhiller, Captain - 224 
Dr7den, John D.S. - 244 
Dryden, Milton - 257 
Dryer, H. - 450 
Duane, D.J. - 218 
DuBois - 90 
Ducker's Ferry - 133 
Dudley, James W. - 412 
Dudley, Katie - 412 
Duggen Nancy - 477 



Dulin, E.S. - 276, 277 

Dunbar, James - 130 

Dunbar, James - 128 

Duncah, Alex - 116, 426, 482 

Duncah, Annie - 438 

Duncan, D.T. - 452, 494 

Duncan, David - 451 

Duncan, Helen - 426 

Duncan, J. W. - 201 

Duncan, Jas. - 120, 421 

Duncan, Jennie - 482 

Duncan, Mary - 325 

Duncan, Stephen and Amelia - 438 

Duncan, Stephen C. - 434 

Duncan, Theo. - 201, 202, 203 

Duncan, Wm. - 146, 421 

Dundee Company - 519 

Dunkerson, Cincinnati - 511 

Dunkin, D.T. - 452 

Dunn, Geo. W. - 222, 245 

Dunn. J.C. - 204 

Dunn. John - 168, 201 

Dunn, John C. - 188 

Dunn, John H. - 386 

Dunn, Judge - 199 

Dunsworth, Mrs. Jackson - 530 

Dupuy, Bartholomew - 505 

Duval, James - 281 

Duvall, James - 378 

Dyke, John - 123 

Dj'kes, John - 450, 489 

E^kes, John and Susan - 489 

Earickson, Peregrine - 107 
Early, Whitfield - 219 
Easham, Elizabeth - 341 
Eastin, James - 464 
Eastin, John - 479 
Eastin, R.J. and Nancy -466 
Easton, Bushwakker - 235 
Eaton, James R. -278, 319 
Eaton, Madison - 494 
Eby, Adam - 453 
Ecton. Elizabeth - 426 
Ecton, John - 256, 328, 422 
Edwards, John - 4 50 
Edwards, P.N. - 281 
Edwards, Pres. N. -380 
Eichenberger, J.J. - 450 
Elby, Adam - 454 
Elgin, G.S. - 382 
Elgin, S. - 383 
Ellet, Jas. - 153 
Ellington, "Pelig" - 116 
Elliott, A. IS.. - rA'l 
Elliott, Arthur - 519 
Elliott, Edward - 519 
Elliott, Geo. - 378 
Elliott, Hattie G. - 519 
Elliott, James - 341, 519 
Elliott, Lewis - 518 
Elliott, Margaret - 519 
Elliott, Peter - 378 
Elliott, R.B. - 452 
Elliott, Zachary - 519 
Ellis, A.C. - 187 

Ellis (Died in California Gold Rush) 
-153 



Ellis, Sidney L- - 525 

Ellison, Elizabeth - 442 

Elmore, Rush - 175 

Elston, B.F. - 501 

Ely & Curtis - 100, 111 

Ellis, John - 275 

Ely, Lewis B. - 27S 

El'zea, G.W. - 510 

Emerson, A.J. - 281, 454 

Endicot, Margaret - 519 

Endicott, Catherine - 509 

Endieott, W.M. - 427 

England, J.C. - 466 

England, J.W. - 4S9 

England, James and Nancv - 4(;r) 

English, Chas. - 108 

English, John - 509 

English, Jonathan - 509 

English, Polly - 509 

Enlow, Rebeeca - 438 

Enlow, Thomas and Sarah - 438 

Enterprise-Richtield - 173 

Eorphage, H. - 450 

Erastus, Wm. - 3 77 

Essex & Hough - 100, 105 

Esles, America - 313 

Estes, Anderson - 153 

E=tcs, Dinita - 4 88 

Estes, Eliz. - 312 

Estes, F.O. - 427 

Estes, Geo. - 153 

Estes, Henry - 94, 9.S, 115, 122, 

173, 282, 312 
Estes, Henry and Lueinda - 150, 
Estes, Joel and Rachel - 450 
Estes, Mill - 111 

Estes, Peter - 94 

Estes, Sarah - 201 

Estes, Thos. -94, 105, 106, 11: 
152, 322 

Estes, W.W. - 152, 313 

Estes, Wm. & Joel Mill - 101 

Estes, Wm. and Lainda - 301 

Estes, Wm. W. - 322 

E\ans, Amanda - 515 

Evans, James C. - 519, 520 

Evans, John - 104, 106, 114, 115, 

Evanf, R.P. - 204 

Evans, Richard - 329 

Evans, Wm. - 515 

Evans, Wm. B. - 519 

Everett - 286 

Everett, T. - 383 

Everts, Ben R. - 230 

Ewing, Finis - 323 

Ewing, J.B. - 323 

Ewing, John D. - 140 

Ewing, Robert C. - 323 

Ewing, Thos. J. - 240 

Falconer, Eliza U. - 342 
Falconer, Nelson - 342 
Far West Newspaper - 284 
Farbis, J. F. - 191 
Farr and Woolbridge - 164 
Farrar, Benj. - 198 
Faubion, Melinda D. - 513 
Faubion, Jacob - 513 



Faucett, Martha - 419 
Feigat, Louis - 450 
Ferguson, Lueinda - 441 
Ferguson, Wm. - 389 
Ferries - 101 
Ferrill, Daniel - 119 
Dcrrill, David - 449 
Fetts, J.J. - 499 
Field, J.T. - 237 
Field, Jas. T. - 259 
Field, Joseph - 308, 393 
Field, Joseph Thoi-nburg - 323 
Field, Mary - 309 
Field, Thos. - 393 
Fields, Lina - 428 
Fields, ^ewton - 383 
Fields. Susan - 446 
Fillery, E. - 4 50 
Finley, John M. - 146 
Finley, Travis - 98, 114, 498 
Fish," B.C. -386, 393 

Fish, Hamilton - 394 

Fish, Samuel - 394 

Fisher, Merritt - 383 

Fisher, R. - 168 

Fitch, John and Sarah - 469 

Fitch, Maggie - 469 

Fitzgerald, Richard - 453 

Fitzgerald, Theodoric - 426 

Flack, J.V.B. - 384, 385, 386, 
395 

Flack, M.S. - 388 

Fleet; A.F. -278 

Fleming, R.W. - 182 

Fleming, Samuel - 428 

Fleming, Dolly - 528 

Flemming, Lt. -232 

Fleming, P. - 120, 507 

Flemming, R.W. - 229 

Flemming, Robt. - 243 

Flemming, Robt. W. - 240 

Fletchei\ Jeffrey -377 
Foley. Elijah - 396 

Foley, Henry C. - 396 

Foley, James - 287 

Follett, King - 135 

Ford, Austin - 501 

Ford, J.H. - 221, 251 

Ford, Mrs. J.H. - 256 

Ford, Jailer - 206 

Ford, James D. - 324 

Ford, Jnmes H. - 325 

Ford, Robert A. - 500 

Force, A.T. - 173 

Forre, Asa T. - 172 

Foree, Jos. - 464 

Force, Martha - 464 

Foreighner, Adam - 4 70 

Fort Leavenworth - 102 

Foster, Eleanor - 509 

Foster, John - 509 

Foster, John A. - 523 

Foster. Missouri A. - 523 

Foster, Susan - 509 

Fowler, Chas. - 4 50. 
Fowler; John - 397 
Fowler, Joseph and Mary - 397 
Fowler, Robt. Y. - 106 



Fowler, William - 396 

Frafenstein, Lieut. -381 

Fraher, James - 287, 325, 355 

Fraher, Michael - 287 

Fraher, Philip - 287, 325 

Fraher, Thomas - 325, 326 

Frame, Thos. - 452 

Frampton, James and Elizabeth - 4( 

Frampton, Martha - 461 

Francis, Pearle - 327 

Francis, Sarah - 372 

Francis, Wm. J. - 327 

Franker, G.W. - 385 

Frazer, J. F. - 383 

Frazer, Mary Ann - 325 

Frazer, Thos. - 325 

Frazier, J.S. - 287 

Frazier, John - 316 

Frazier, Mary - 316 

Free, Elizabeth - 378 

Free Soil - 171 

Frey, Margaret - 379 

Frick, John H. - 471 

Frick, Nicholas - 450 

Fritzlen, Cynthia - 365 

Froman, M.G. - 385 

Frost, Elijah - 111 

Frost's Ferry - 101 

Frost, Thos. - III 

Fry, Abram - 380 

Fry, Margaret - 416 

Fry, Solomon - 95, 119, 123 

Fugate, Hiram - 115 

Funk, Chas. - 397 

Funk, J.R. - 510 

Funk, John and Nancy - 436 

Funk, Jonathan - 435 

Funk, Mary - 396 

Funk, Richard -379, 397 

Futsle, Mary - 290 

Gamble, Hamilton R. -106, 220, 228 

Gano, Daniel - 381 

Gardner, Eenl. - 521 

Gardner, Frank - 520 

Gardner, John - 520 

Gardner, Vernon - 521 

Garlichs & Hale - 141 

Garlichs, F. - 155 

Garner, J.C. - 186 

Garnett, W. C. - 278 

Garret, Wm. P. and Angeline -467 

Garrett, A.S. - 454 

Garrett, Ambrose - 467 

Garrett, Berryman - 388 

Garrett, Jackson- 499 

Garrett, L.B. - 499 

Garrett, L.P. -386, 388, 454 

Garrett, L.W. - 386 

Garrett, Laban - 100, 111, 252 

Garrett, W. P. - 454 

Garrison, Flavel - 305 

Garth's Militia - 250 

Garth, Captain - 234, 235, 524 

Garth, W.G. - 229 

Garth, W.W. - 237 

Garth, Wm. G. - 201, 230, 328 

Garvey, W.S. - 229 



Gash, O.P. - 383 
Gash, Dellie C. - 521 
Gash, Henry Hill - 521 
Gash, Jos. D. - 516, 521 
Gash, M. Lee - 521 
Gash, Pauline - 516 
Gash, T.K. - 205 
1 Gashwiler, Susan - 366 
Gasney, Thos. -331, 455 
Gates, John P. - 106 
Gatewood, Julia - 299 
Gaur, Margaret - 378 
Gaw, Frances - 486 
Geib, Christopher - 329 
Geib, John - 329 
Gentry, David and Lousa - 44' 
Gentry, Druggist - 440 
Gentry, Jane - 4 96 
Gentry, Martha - 442 
Gentry, Richard - 124 
George, Alwilda - 390 
George, Bailey - 104 

*^T9T' ^''''"•^' ""'' "Jemima Withers- 
George, George Washington - 397 
George, Wm. - 390 
Germans, St. Louis - 204 
Gibbons. Dinah - 509 
Gibbons, Thos. - 509 
Gibbs, Luman - 135 
Gilberth, Jane - 497 
Gilberth, Jos. and Mar>' - 497 
Gill, David P. - 509 
Gill, E.G. - 400 
Gill, Henry - 153 
Gill, Julia"- 378 
Gill, T.Y. - 383 
Gill, Thos. Y. - 380 
Gillam. Robert 377 
Gillespie, A. - 188 
Gillespie, George - 330 
Gillespie, J. W. - 201 
Gillespie, James - 329 
Gillespie, Jas. A. - 207 
Gillespie, Jas. W. -212, 215 
Gilliam, Cornelius - 94, 121 280 376 
Gilliam, Jesse - 103. 104, 105, 111 
Gilliam, Letitia - 367 
Gilmer, R.G. - 380, 381 
Gilmer, Robert - 381 
Gilmore, James - 103, 111 
Gilmore, - 376 
Gilmore, James- 95, 280 
Gilmore, Robert - 95, 280, 289 
Gilpin, Wm. - 143 
Gittings, Darius - 255. 259 
Giros, Armorer - 196 
Givinner, F. - 257 
Gladdin, Jas. - 106 
Glasscock, Sampson - 388 
Glover, Samuel - 275 
Golmer, R.J. - 413 
Goodson, John - 423 
Goodwin, Joseph -331 
Goodwin, Wm. - 331 
Gordon, B.T. - 423 
Gordon, C.H. - 251 
Gordon, John - 288 



-9- 
Gordon, Judge - 358 
Gordon, T.C. - 177, 225, 240 
Gordon, Thos. - 332 
Gordon, Thomas C. - 255 
Gordon, Wm. F. - 331 
Gorlich, Frederick - 288 
Gosney, Bettie - 4 57 
Gosney, Fielding - 468 
Gosney, John - 427 
Gosney, Richard - 467 
Gosney, Sutan - 468 
Gofney, T.M. - 450 
Gosney, Thos. - 457, 467 
Gosney, Thos. M. - 173 
Gosneyville - 427, 
Gow, Elizabeth - 4 97 
Grafenstein, U. - 266 
Gragg, Samuel - 119 
Gragg (Killed in California Gold Rush) 

- 153 
Graham, F.IW. - 427 
Graham, J.D. - 386 
Grant, John - 205 
Grant, Nathaniel - 196, 198 
Grant, P.B. - 286 
Grant, Peter - 288 
Grant, Samuel M. - 153 
Gravenstein, U. - 235, 236 
Graves, Franklin - 281 
Graves, T.H. - 389 
Gray, James - 107 
Greason, Gideon - 469 
Greason, W.O. - 4 54 
Greason, Wm. O. - 468 
Green, Duff - 109 
Green, James S. - 187, 
Green, John R. - ■>?.<:., 237 
Green, Major - 236 
Green, Martin E. - 208 
Greene, Henry - 377 
Greene, Lewis - 377 
Greenfield, Samuel G.T. - 436, 479 
Gregg, David - 106 
Gregg, Hannon - 336 
Gregg, Josiah - 336 
Greggy, Margaret - 336 
Gregory, Jane - 307 
Griffith", Annie - 393 
Griffith, James - 393 
Grigssby, Catherine - 359 
Grigsby, Charlotte - 332 
Grimes, Joel - 423 
Grimes, John - 426 
Grimes, Lizzie - 423 
Grimes, Louis - 423 
Grimes, Lucinda - 426 
Grimes, Ruth - 423 
Grimes, Sallie - 423 
Grimshaw, Owen - 224 
Grisby, Wm. - 286 
Groom, A. - 281 
Groom, Amos and Sallie - 472 
Groom, Jacob - 93 
Groom, Jane - 281 
Groom, John - 452 
Groom, John S. - 142, 207, 334 
Groom, Joseph - 334, 336, 397 



Groom, Mary J. - 472 

Groom, Michael - 226 

Groomer, Elizabeth - 450 

Grooms, Captain - 231 

Grooms, Isham - 377 

Grooms, James - 306, 353 

Grooms, John - 353 

Grooms, Jos. - 95 

Gromes, Pheoba - 402 

Grooms, Wm. - 428 

Groesbeck, John - 219 

Grubbs, E.M. - 383 

Grubbs, Hardin and Elizabeth - 399 

Grubbs, Judson - 3 99 

Guernsey, Otis - 426 

Guitar, O. - 240 

Gumm, John - 1 15 

Gwinn, Berryman - 377 

Hadley, Catherine - 334 

Hadley, Samuel - 141, 146, 334 

Haggerty, Thos. - 140 

Hagner Bribe - 196 

Hale, Jas. E. - 114 

Halfacre, Geo. - 104 

Halferty, J.D. - 386 

Hall, Ailsey - 281 

Hall, Anna - 338 

Hall, Bill - 252 

Hall, Edw. V. - 377 

Hall, Elisha - 105, 106, 281 

Hall, Eliza - 290, 430 

Hall, G.D. - 4 52 

Hall, James E. - 377 

Hall, John - 105, 338 

Hall, Sarah - 405 

Hall, W.A. - 288 

Hall, Willard P. - 137, 144, 222 

Hall, Wm. - 103, 104, 452, 485 

Halloway, Colonel - 203 

Ham, Ann - 509 

Hamilton, David - 107 

Hamilton, Henry - 454 

Hamilton, Robert - 428 

Hamlin, Alive - 438 

Hamoton, Wade - 358 

Hancock, Benj. - 101 

Hancock, James - 177 

Hand, G.R. - 509 

Hand, S.R. - 423 

Hanley, Thos. - 276 

Hannibal & St. Louis - 183, 262 

Hardin, Chas. - 221 

Hardin, Chas. H. - 191 

Harding, Chester - 267 

Hardwick, Mrs. - 381 

Hardwick, S.H. - 257, 

Hardwick, Samuel - 187 

Hardwicke, Ale.N - 377 

Hardwicke, Eliz. - 380 

Hardwicke, John - 107, 377 

Hardwicke, Lewis - 377 

Hardwicke, Philip - 336 

Hardwicke. Sam - 288, 336, 355 

Harlem - 508 

Harmon, Jacob - 470 

Harmon, .John - 389, 470, 488 



Harmon, John T. - 469 

Harmon, Margaret - 488 

Harmon, Reese and Nancy - 470 

Harpe, Big & Little - 127 

Harper, John D. - 343 

Harper, Thos. - 342 

Harrel, Mr. - 284 

Harrington, Susan - 407 

Harrington, Thos. - 407 

Harris, Alida - 452 

Harris, George - 452 

Harris, John - 95, 103, 106 

Harris, O. - 388 

Harris, Josephine - 485 

Harris, Lura - 478 

Harris, Marion - 378 

Harris, Mary - 490 

Harris, O.G. - 450 

Harris, O.H. - 202 

Harris, Solomon - 485 

Harris, Susan - 378 

Harris, Thos. A. - 208 

Harris, Tyree - 274 

Harris, Wm. - 478 

Harrison, Henry - 206 

Harrison, Lennie - 350 

Harrison, Jason - 273 

Harrison, M.C. - 350 

Harsell, A. - 186 

Harsell, Anthony - 116, 125, 202, 

229, 280, 299, 448 
Harsel, Captain - 231 
Hart, Joe - 234, 235 
Hartet, Abraham and Anna - 471 
Hartel, Frederick - 450, 470 
Hartel, Peter - 450 
HaskiU. Mrf . S.J. - 325 
Hassel, John G. - 495 
Hatcher, T.E. - 274 
Hawkins, Alfred - 128, 130 
Hawkins, B. F. - 182 
Hawkins, John C. - 471 
Hawkins, Nancy - 441 
Hawkins, Wm."- 452, 471 
Haves, Benj. - 139 
Hayes, Fannie - 437 
Havnes, Milliner - 225, 259 
Hays, G.H. - 427 
Healy, Daniel - 287 
Hedges, James - 286 
Hedges, P. - 388 
Hedges, James and Nancy - 450 
Hehner, Peter - 450 
Heinz, Christina - 474 
Heisinger, Mr. - 267 
Heisinger, Unionist - 267 
Henderson, Geo. - 472 
Henderson, Samuel - 202 
Hendley, Judge - 283 
Hendlv, John - 120 
Henry, James - 377 
Henscly, Sam - 377 
Henslcy, Benjamin - 94 
Herald of Freedom - 424 
Herbert, Johannah - 325 
Herndon, Eliza - 426 
Herndon, Emeline - 426 
Herndon, S.P. - 426 



Herndon, Wiley - 380, 382 

Hessel, Conrad - 450, 473 

Heseel, Jacob - 473 

Hessel, Jacob - 450 

Hetherly, Ann - 127 

Hetherly, George - 127 

Hetherly, Jenny - 127 

Hetherly, Thomas - 127, 128 

Hetherly War - 127 

Hezner, Alma - 433 

Hezner, Dr. J.L. - 433 

Hiatt, James - 280 

Hickman & Lamme - 100, 111 

Higgason, A.E. - 509 

Hicks, Catherine - 455, 468 

Higbee, Elias - 135 

Hightower, James - 452 

Hill, Elizabeth - 496 

Hill, Henry -281, 378, 418, 450 

Hill, James - 378 

Hill, Richard - 94, 106, 280 

Hinkle, G.W. - 134, 135 

Hinkston, Harlow - 499 

Hinton, I.T. - 273 

Hixon's Mill - 101 

Hixon, Mr. - 283 

Hixon, Thos. - 95 

Hixson, Henry B. - 152 

Hixson, J. H._- 152 

Hixson, Jasper - 153 

Hixson, Jasper M. - 152 

Hobbs, Albert - 218 

Hodge, Annie - 363 

Hodge, Di-. John - 363 

Hoff, Barbara - 471 

Hogen, Louisana - 278 

Hodges, Judge - 474 

Hodges, W.V. - 406 

Hoges, Wm. - 378 

Hodges, John - 474 

Hodges, Mary - 406 

Hogrefe, H. - 450 

Hogrefe, Henry - 378 

Hogrefe, Heinrich - 450 

Holdes, Thos. - 378 

Hollenbeck, Miss - 476 

Hollingsworth, Elias - 486 

HoUingswoth, Eliza - 486 

Hollingsworth, Geo. - 205 

Hollingsworth, Samuel - 499 

HoUoway, Mary Ann - 506 

HoUowav. Silencer - 506 

Holmes, David - 377 

Holmes, S.H. - 2G0 

Holt, Jerry - 454 

Holt, John - 381 

Holt, Captain - 204 

Holt, Jerry - 453 

Holt, John B. - 475 

Holt, Mrs. - 388 

Holt, P.G. - 385, 386, 388 

Holt, Phil - 386 

Holt, Rolla - 385 

Holt, Wm. - 454 

Holton, J.B. - 385 

Holzbeirlein, Elder - 378 

Holtzclaw, Archibald - 115, 427 

Holtzclaw, Franklin - 427 



Holtz.claw, Peter - i:!4, 427 

Homer, Wm. - 153 

Hood, Robert - 100, 105, 111 

Hope, Thos. - 386 

Horner, David - 522 

Horner, Joseph - 522 

Hough, Harrison - 193 

Houser, Christian - 107 

Houston, John - 380 

HowdesheU, Margaret - 90, 97, 280, 

375 
llubliMch, Mary - 348 
lluhh.ird, James - 325 
Huhhard, Moses - 493 
Huhhard, R.G. - 224 
lluliheli, W.D. - 274 
Hublile, Wm. D. - 151 
Huddleston, Susan - 30(; 
Hudson, Belle - 341 
Hudson, J.M. - 341 
Hudtison, Nancy - ■i34 
Huey, James - 388 
Huff, Mary - 353 
Huffal<er, Catherine - 501 
Huffaker, Geo. - 377 
llulfal<er, George - 112, 377 
Huffaker, Geo. W. - 1.53 
Huffaker, Jos. - 383, 475 
Huffaker, Samuel - 383 
Huffaker, Walter - 286 
llullaker, Washington - 153, 286, 475 
lluflnian, Ezekiel - 105, 106, 421 
Hughes, A.S. - 120 
Hughes, AHen - 364 
Hughes, Andrews. - 115, 116, 126 
Hughes, Daniel - 115, 339, 340 
Hughes, F. C. - 151 
Hughes, G.L. - 2K7 
Hughes, George - 272, 339 
Hughes, Graham - 380 
Hughes, Graham L. - 139 
Hughes, J.M. - 288 
Hughes, James - 522 
Hughes, Jas. M. - 100, 141 
Hughes, John - 486 

Hughes, John T. - 200, 220, 228, 231 
Hughes, Louisa - 364 
Hughes, Patrick - 287, 522 
Hughes, Roland - 273, 274, 276 
Hugley, Jacob - 383 
Hulin, Taylor - 230 
Hull, Milton - 383 
Hulott, Wm. - 509 
Hulse, Mary and Polly - 427 
Hume, Jennie - 208 
Hume, Mary - 329 
Hum? , Thomas - 208 
Humes, Henry - 446 
Hunsaker, William - 277 
Hunt, Ellen - 423 
Hunt, M.O. - 388 
Hunt, M. P. - 454 
Hunt, Sallie - 423 
Hunt, Samuel - 423 
Hunter, John - 476 
Hunter, R.M. - 476 
Hurt, Cleopatra - 458 
Hurl, Ellen - 491 



Hurt, Joel and Sallie - 458, 491 

Huston, J.S. - 186, 

Hutchings, John - 103, 105, HI, 253 

Hutchings, Moses - 399 

Hutchings, Nancy - 378 

Hutchings, Simon - 378 

Hutchings, Smith - 253 

Hutchins, John - 98, 282 

Hutchins, Jos. - 377 

Hutchins, Moses - 377 

Hutchins, Robert - 377 

Hutchins, Smith - 377 

Hutchins, Wm. - 377 

Hutchinson, Squire - 95, 

Hutsell, Malinda - 435 

Hyatt, Jas. - 94 

Hyatt, Samuel - 94, 377 

Hyder, Benj. - 428 

Hymer, Wm. - 205 

Imhoff, M. - 165 

Indians - 87, 88, 89, 95, 106, 107, 

116 
Industrial Luminary - 172, 
Irminger, Anna - 379 
Irminger, Eliz. - 379 
Irminger, Heinrich - 379 
Irminger, John - 379 
Irminger, Lizzie - 471 
Irminger, Rudolph - 379 
Irminffer. Susanna - 379 
Isley, Austin - 477 
Isley, G.M. - 454 
Isley, George - 4 76 
Jack, Thos. - 107 

Jackson, Claiborne F. -106, 185,190 
Jackson, Congreve - 143 
Jackson, Hancock - 186 
Jackson, Jas. A. -.522, 523 
Jackson, Samuel N. - 522 
Jackson, W.M. - 274 
Jackson, Wade - 273, 274, 276 
Jacobs, Chas. - 400 
Jacobs, Clayton - 400 
Jacobs, Fannie - 370 
Jacobs, Henry - 370 
Jaggers, Benj. - 229 
James, Alexander Franklin - 265, 266 
James Bovs - 265 
James, Bushwacker - 235 
James, Frank and Jesse - 153 
James, Frank - 153, 226, 235. 236, 

265, 266, 267, 268, 277, 381, 
James, James - 377 
•James, Jesse - 250, 265, 267, 270, 

276 
James, Joel - 438 
James, L.M. - 530 
James, M. L. - 209, 230 
James, Mary - 502 
James, Moses L. - 209 
James, Rev. Robert - 1.53, 265, 266, 

267, 274, 276, 281 
James, Susie - 266, 268 
James, Widow - 266 
Jartin, Andrew and Jane - 436 
Jartin, Sallie - 436 
Jenkins, Tilford - 402 



-12- 
Jennett, James L. - 401 
Jennison's Red Legs - 526 
Jesi-c, Francis - 422 
Jesse, Juliet - 422 
Jesse, Richard - 422 
Jesse, Woodford - 422 
Jewell, William - 182, 273, 275, 276 
Jewell, Wm., College - 212, 506 
Job, Ibe - 134 
Johnsey, J.W. - 287 
Johnson, Alexander - 305 
Johnson, Annie - 390 
Johnson, Chas. C. - 523 
Johnson, E.D. -209, 219, 224 
Johnson, Greenup - 329 
Johnson, H.B. - 232 
Johnson, Harrj' - 523 
JohBson, J. - 383 
Johnson, Jacob B. - 523 
Johnson, James - 237 
Johnson, Jas. H. - 523 
Johnson, Jasper - 362 
Johnson, Losa L. - 523 
Johnson, Maria - 329 
Johnson, Mary B. - 523 
Johnson, Mary Robertson - 305 
Johnson, Philip - 523 
Johnson, Robert - 115 
Johnson, Rachel - 433 
Johnson, S.S. - 427 
Johnson, Thos. - 523 
Johnson, W.B. - 383 
Jones, A.B. - 286, 423, 450 
Jones, George - 340 
Jones, H.M. - 139 
Jones, J.M. - 255 
Jones, Jas. - 206 
Jones, Jas. M. - 259 
Jones, Keziah - 525 
Jones, Lewis - 93 
Jones, M.R. - 383 
Jones, R.H. - 426 
Jones, Samuel - 237 

Jones, Sheriff - 174 

Jones, Wm. - 341 

Judson, Docia - 446 

Julius, John - 451 

Jung, J.J. - 4 50 

Justus, J.F. - 426 

Justus. James - 251 

Kaiestner, Maria - 493 

Kollenboch, F. - 450 

Kaltenbach, Rev. - 378 

Kcas, L.B. - 489 

Keatlev, Catharine - 4«8 462 

Keith, 'Perry - 152 

Keller, J.M. - 151 

Keller, Jacob - 341, 342 

Keller, James - 342 

Keller, James M. - 341 

Kennedy, Jane - 315 

Keller, John - 291, 341, 380 

Keller, John R. - 141, 342 

Keller, Martha - 291 

Kelly, E.V. - 208 

Kemper, B.W. - 250 

Kemper, Captain - 249, 253 

Kennedy, Dennis - 287 



Kerr, Wm. H. - 172 

Kevser, Benj. - 153 

Kil'ey, Dennis J. - 287 

Killer, John R. - 191 

Killgrove - 388 

Kimball, T.T. - 224 

Kincald, Wm. M. - 138 

King, Abel - 153 

King, Austin A. - 130, 135, 222, 255 

King, Daniel - 524 

King, Hubert U. - 524 

King, Joel - 107 

King, Martin A. - 523 

King, Moses - 426 

King, N.H. - 389 

King, Randolph - 153 

King, Richard - 389 

Kipper, Jane - 413 

Kirby, J.W. - 250 

Klaunn, Mary K. - 524 

Klauun, Peter - 524 

Koehler, Maggie - 400 

Koenig, Elder - 378 

Koenig, Geo. - 4 50 

Kolar, Catharine - 373 

Knighton, E.F. - 510 

Knights of Palermo - 245 

Knous, Nathan - 132 

Kraus, Jacob - 426 

Kraus, John P. - 524 

Kraus, Philip - 524 

Krauss, James - 426 

Krauss, Margaret - 426 

Krekel, Arnold - 244 

LaRue, Jesse and Jancy - 477 

LaRue, Wm. - 477 

Lackey, <Jane - 467 

Lafore, Sarah - 489 

Lafore, Wm. - 489 

Laffoon, Richard - 201 

Lakin, Jas. F. - 217 

Lamb, Joab - 4 53 

Lambert, W. - 287 

Lamborn, Wm. - 288 

Lampkin, L.D. - 426 

Lampson, J. F. - 453 

Lampton, Louisa - 445 

Lane, Flora - 368 

Lane, Jim - 181 

Lane, William H. - 368 

Laney, Jane - 96 

Laney, Patrick - 95, 96, 375, 377 

Lankford, Elias - 223 

Lard, Moses - 286, 426 

Lard, Moses E. - 158, 167 

Lawrence, A.J. -427 

Lawrence, John - 451, 452 

Lawson, L.M. - 182 

L«wright, Mattie - 321 

Lawson, Leonidas - 277 

Leach, Alworthy F. - 437 

Leach, Daniel and Eliz. - 472 

Leach, Dr. Wm. - 438 

Leach, Nannie - 472 

Leach, Wm. B. - 478 

Leakey, Evaline - 404 

Leard, John D. - 146 



-13- 
Leath, Cotton - 437 
Leavell, L.W. - 478 
Lecompt, S.D. - 175 
Ledgwood, John - 377 
Ledwith, Z. - 287 
Lee, Eliza - 352 
Lee, John - 3 52 
Lenhart, Wm. - 95, 377 
Leonard, Abiel - lOfi 
Leonard, Luther - 174 
Leonard, Reeves, - 240 
Lerty, John - 425 
Leonard, T. - 288 
Letton, "Ling" - 257 
Letton, Neneon - 253 
Levi, S. - 173 
Lewis and Clark - 92 
Lewis, J. - 237 
Lewis, L.M. -201, 287, 383 
Lewis, Merriwether - 92 
Lewif , Nancy - 378 
Lewright, Wm. P. -321 
Leyba, Ferdinando - 91 
Liberty - 100 
Liberty, Bank Of - 220 
Liberty Arsenal - 174, 195 
Liberty Blues - 129 
Liberty Home Guards - 201 
Liberty Landing - 118, 280 
Liberty Tribune - 173, 188, 202, 220, 

225.' 350 
Lightburn, Alvin - 141, 343 
Lightburnf A ir.n 22,3. 287. 288 
Lightburne, Richard - 344 
Lightburne, Stafford - 344 
Ligon, S.S. - 425 
Ligon, W. C. - 274, 276 
Ligon, Wm. C. - 275, 270 
Liles, David - 96 
Liles, Wm. - 96 
Lincoln, Abraham - 114, 299 
Lincoln, Ann - 299 

Lincoln, C.J. - 229 

Lincoln, Catherine - 322 

Lincoln, Albert - 479, 450 

Lincoln, Archibald - 230 

Lincoln, David - 115, 322 

Lincoln, Geo. - 114, 299 

Lincoln, Julia - 299 

Lincoln, Arch - 229 

Lincoln, James E. - 481 

Lincoln, John - 377 

Lincoln, Thomas - 141, 299 

Lindeman, Elizabeth - 509 

Lindsey, Geo. B. - 525 

Lindsey, J.N. - 525 

Lindsey, John P. - 525 

Lindsey, Sarah - 503 

Lindsey, Thomas - 525 

Ling, John R. - 4 54 

Lingfelter, Louisana - 474 

Linn, John - 383 

Linn. L. F. - 383 

Linville, Abraham - 94 

Linville, John - 377 

Linville, Richard- 101, 103, lOt;, 

111, I]?, 



Lionberger, L'^aac - 274 

Lisles, David and Wm. - 375 

Litchfield, A.T. - 360 

Litchworth, J.M. - 151 

Litton, N.W. - 427 

Litton, Nin. - 251 

Lively, Elizabeth - 399 

Livingston, John - 377 

Livingston, Rev. - 426 

Livingston, Wm. - 377, 558 

Lloyd, John - 4 2.3 

Lloyd, Nancy - 423 

Lockett, Thds. - 277 

Lockett, Thos. F. - 27G 

Logan, Larz - 482 

Logan, Philip - 113 

Lomax - 380 

Long, F.R. - 233, 236, 255 

Long, Garrard - 141 

Long, Jas. - 142 

Long, Peyton - 247, 251, 269 

Long, Reuben - 119 

Longs, The - 152 

Lord, J. A. - 509 

Love, Jas. - 182, 259, 261, 272 

Loyd, Abner - 427 

Loyd, John - 421 

Lucas, W.P. - 306 

Lut:e, J.W. - 499 

Luminary - 173 

Lynd, S.'W. - 274 

Lynn, Flora - 504 

Lyon, Nathaniel - 201, 203 

McAlester, B. - 277 
McAlpine, Agnes - 298 
McAlpine, Wm. R. - 298 
McAfee. Belle - 438 
McCafferty, Jas. P. - 218 
McCall, Moses - 427 
McCarty, Annie - 340 
McCarty, Captan - 205 
McCarty, Frank - 286 
McCarty, Thomas - 142, 144, 163, 
204, 205, 340 
McCarty, W.A. - 229 
McCarty, Wm. - 340 
McCarty, Wm. A. - 229 
McClelland, Jas. - 104, 
McClelland, Walker - 106 
McClintock - 158 
McClintock, A.K. - 142 
McCord, J.S. - 230 
McCorkle, Montgomery - 305 
McCown, James - 448 
McCown, John - 44 9 
McCoy, Fielding - 119 
McCoy, Jacob - 377 
McCoy, Moses - 235, 306 
McCoy, Robert - 377 
McCracken, Francis - 427 
McCracken, John - 389 
McCray, D.O. -385, 386 
McCray, D-avid - 402 
McCray, Wm. and Nancy Carroll - 
403 



-14- 
McCrorey, Thomas - 438 
McCrory, John - 153 
McCroskey, Isaac - 377 
McDaniel, John - 140 
McDaniel, R. E. -273, 274, 275, 
McDuff, Peter - 183 
McElwee, David - 95, 280, 375, 376 
McElwee, James - 96 
McElwee, Sarah - 96 
McElwee, Wra. - 96 
McEwen, H.G. - 287 
McEwing, Rev. - 383 
McGarth, Sarah - 522 
McGaugherty, Simpson - 163 
McGaughey, S. - 141 
McGee, Amelia - 519 
McGee, B.L. - 454 
McGee, Boston - 453, 454 
McGee, Chas. - 94, 281, 282 
McGee, James and Julia - 427, 
McGee, James H. - 519 
McGee, Mahala - 427 
McGee, Samuel - 94, 427 
McGee, Jane - 427 
McGee, Thos. - 427 
McGee, W.P. - 214 
McGinnis, Cassie - 478 
McGiniiis, James - 478 
McGowan, Hugh - 287 
McGree, Zachariah - 106 
McGregory, Matt - 426 
McGrew Bros. - 281 
McGuire, Isabella - 512 
Mcllvaine, Archibald - 498, 499 
M;Intvre, Wm. H. - - 453 
McKee, David and Elizabeth - 402 
McKee, Melvin - 402 
McKissick, John - 104 
McKneiss - 153 
McKnight, Almyra - 491 
McKoy, Jacob - 105 
KcLain, Andrew - 288 
McLain, John - 287 
McMahan, Peter - 287 
McMahon, Sarah - 529 
McMurray, Blythe - 395 
McMurray, Captain - 196 
McNair, Alexander - 103 
McNealy, Eliz. - 378 
McNealy, Geo. - 378 
McPherson, W.M. -275 
McQulddy, Elizabeth - 418 

Mackabell, A.E. - 428 
Madden, Wm. L. - 196 
Maddox, Marj- - 395 
Magee, Chas. - 111 
Magill, Samuel - 106 
Magill, David - 106, 421 
Mahoney, Leonard - 287 
Mailes, Henry - 95 
Malott, South - 105 
Manchester Mill, David 101, 507 
Major, Dr. Herman - 4 82 
Major, J.A.S. - 174 
Major, John - 281 



Major, John S. - 482 

Major, Reuben - 483 

Major, Sarah - 483 

Major, Slaughter G. - 483 

Majors, John - 452 

.Majors, John - 452, 501 

Majors, Rufus M. - 501 

Mallott, John S. - 115 

Manchester, David - 105 

Manchester's Mill - 101 

Marcellus, Adeline - 484 

Maret, Alvah - 222, 233, 259 

Marquette, Father - 87 

Marr, John - 427 

Marsh, Benj. W. - 146 

Mar? h, Harriet - 315 

Marsh, James - 315, 448 

Marsh, James T. - 346 

Marshall, A. VV. - 205 

Martin, Gill E. - 116 

Martin, Isaac - 94 

Martin, John - 437, 460 

Martin, Lucinda - 311 

Martin, Weslev - 256, 439 

Martin, Wm. - 377 

Martin, Zadock - 103, 114, 116 

Martz, Rev. - 4 52 

Marvin, E.M. - 287, 427 

Mathews, Hiram - 388 

Maughas, Dr. - 200 

Maughas, G.M.B. - 184, 

Maupin, N.C. - 390 

Maxfield, A.H. - 277 

Mav, Dr. - 376 

Maye, Wm. - 378 

Mayer, P. - 450 

Mayhew, Rev. - 383 

Means, Abijah - 106 

Means, Andrew - 377, 404 

Means, Sarah - 404 

Means, Benj. - 124 

Means, Foster - 403 

Meek's Ferry - 121 

Meffert, Frederick - 348 

Meffert, Joseph - 347 

Melon, B.F. - 383 

Melone, H.C. - 288 

Melone, Henry - 287, 288 

Menger, H.M'. - 450 

Mereness, Martha - 309 

Merritt, John - 312 

Messick, John - 348, 350 

Messick, Margaret - 350 

Nessick, Thos. - 34 9 

Methodists, Northern - 180 

Mexican War Volunteers-142 

Mezner, Dr. J.L. - 428 

Milay, Michael - 287 

Milbourn, Zenas - 484 

Miller, Belle - 366 

Miller, Clara - 354 

Miller, D.S. - 197 

Miller, David - 354 

Miller, Edward - 488 

Miller, Editor - 173, 188 

Miller, James - 205 



Her, John - 115, 124, 350 

ller, Linus - 219 

Her, Madison - 147, 275, 288 

Her, R.D. - 509 

Her, R.H. - 366 

ller, Robt. H. - 221, 225 

ller, Robert Hugh - 350 

ller, William - 114 

lis, Mahala P. - 511 

He, MjSS - 289 

mms Hotel - 502 

mms, John W. - 502 

mms, Robt. W. - 502 

ndwiller, Fintan - 287 

nter, Georgia A. -515 

nter, Jane - 505 

nter, John - 152, 515 



nter, Robert - 220, 

rick, John L. - 231 

ssouri City - 205 

ssouri Depot - 195 

tchell, Benj. - 485 

tchell. Miss C.E. - 303 

tchell, David - 236 

tchell, Eliz,- 309 

tchell, Fannie - 389 

tchcH, G.W. - 454 

tchell, George - 309, 484 

tchell, J. A. - 438 

tchell, Mabry - 404 

tchell, Mayberry - 107 

tchell, Thos. - 303 

tchell, W.B. - 389 
Moad, G.L. - 288 
Moberly, B.M. - 298 
Moberly, Harriet - 298 
Moberly, Jas. - 504 
Moeller, Maria - 473 
Monroe, A. - 281 
Monroe, Elizabeth - 281 
Monroe, Susan - 302 
Monroe, Wm. - 281, 302 
Montargee, Calisse - 101 
Montgomery, Kate - 521 
Montgomery, Raymond - 521 
Montgomery, Thos. - 499 
Moore, Abram - 379 
Mooney, Alex - 450 
Moore; David D. - 101 
Moore, Edw. - 423 
Moore, Elisah A. 352 
Moore, J, J. - 221 
Moore, James - 323, 351 
Moore, Joel - 271 
Moore, John - 523 
Moore, John J. - 3 51 
Moore, Jonah - 379 
Moore, Jos. - 379 
Moore, L.P. - 427 
Moore, Lucy - 379 
Moore, R.H. - 383 
Moore, Richard - 164 
Moore, Robert H. - 40 1 
Moore, Ruth - 323 
Moore, Samuel - 4 27 
Moore, Samuels & Croysdale - 100 
Moore, Wm. and Lucinda - 352 



Morehead, Chas. R. - 293 

Morfit, Henry - 208 

Morfit, Kate'- 308 

Morgan, J.K. - 453 

Morris, Charity - 462 

Morris, Darius - 529 

Morris, David - 173, 205 

Morris, G.W. - 188 

Morris, George - 288 

Morris, Geo. W. - 173, 201 

Morris, John - 146 

Morris, Major - 206 

Morris, Martha A. - 529 

Morris, Robert - 452 

Morrison, Arthur - 135 

Morrison, Thos. - 287 

Morrow, R.D. - 509 

Morton, Hannah - 514 

Morton, Joseph - 287 

Morton, R.C. - 182, 240, 286 

Morton, Richard - 237, 383, 509 

Morton, W.A. - 151, 163, 191, 200, 

212, 229 
Morton, Wm. - 153 
Mosbv, A.G. - 475 
Mosb'v, Albert - 406 
Mosby, Amanda - 278, 379 
Mosby, Charles - 353 
Mobby, Dewilton - 405 
Mosby, James - 352 
Mosby, John - 405 
Mosby, Mary - 418 
Mosby, Wade - 318, 352 
Mosbv, Wade and Rebecca - 405 
Moseby, Daniel - 153 
Moseby, John H. - 153 
Moseby, Nicholas - 405 
Moseby, Wade - 158 
Mosley, D,,niel - 152 
Mosely, De Wilton - 230 
Moss, J.H. - 187, 229, 240 
Moss, Jas. H. - 142, 163, 191, 192, 
200, 201, 206, 229 
Moss, O.P. - 129, 134, 137, 142, 
146, 173, 201, 202, 
204, 206,229, 231 
Moss, Woodson J. - 121 
Motherhead, Nancy - 436 
Motherhead, Nathaniel and Lucina436 
Mothershead, Captain - 204 
Mothershead, G.W. - 201, 207 
Mounted Rangers - 201, 202, 204 
Mour, Caroline - 527 
Mour, Wilhelminc - 527 
Mudd, Henry - 4 06 
Mudd, Wm.'and Eliza - 407 
Muehlenbrock, Elder - 378 
Muehlenbrock, Henry - 4 50 
Mueller, Conrad and Anna - 40'.' 
Mueller, Elizabeth - 493 
Mueller, George - 494 
Mulligan, Colonel - 207 
Munday, Edmund - 95, 107 
Munger, Wm. H. - 218 
Munker, Jas. - 104, 106, 114 
Munker, John - 114 
Munkers, Agnes - 378 



Munkers, Berryman - 377 

Munkers, James - 377, 378 

Munkers, Jemima - 403 

Munkers, Lafayette - 378 

Munkers, Red - 449 

Munkers, Richard - 377 

Munkers, Wm. - 94, 377 

Munson, Patsy - 511 

Murphy, Jas."- 287 

Murray, E.D. - 141, 259 

Murray, Ephralm D. - 222, 237 

Murray, M. - 173 

Murray, Robt. - 94 

Murray, Thos. D. - 237 

Murray, VVm. - 113 

Musser, Martha Donaldson - 522 

Muster, Mary - 443 

Myall, Richard - 336 

Myles, Elizabeth A. - 525 

Nail, Fannie - 512 

Nail, Henry - 512 

Nancy, Polly - 423 

Napton, VV.B. - 149 

Neal, Edward - 525 

Neal, John - 201, 288, 525 

Neal, Thos. N. - 525 

Neally, R. - 141 

Neeley, Clement - 407 

Neeley, Elizabeth - 399 

Neeley, Richard - 407 

Neely, Nancy - 395 

Neely, Richard - 399 

Neeley, William - 399 

Neely, R.A. - 186 

Neidermeeimer, Elder - 378 

Neidermeier, Rev. - lo 6 

Neill, Annie - 356 

Neill, Polly - 360 

Neill, Rodman - 356 

Nelkerson, Ernest - 428 

Nelson, Nancy - 470 

Netherton, A. -485 

Netherton, Abraham - 452 

Netherton. Eliza- 452 

Netherton, John and Betsey - 485 

Neulson, Henrich - 450 

Newlee, C.A. - 353 

Newlee, VVm. - 353 

Newlcr, E.M. - 514 

Newler, Marj' - 514 

Newlin, Jesse - 130 

New .Madrid Claim - 102 

Newman, Alex - 377 

Newman, L.W. - 288 

Newman, Lance W. - 354 

Newman, Payton, - 354 

Newton, Elder - 379 

Nichols, Amelia - 404 

Nichols, Lvdia - 407 

Nolan, J. P'. - 287 

Noland, Patsy - 368 

Norfleet, A.L. - 486 

Norfleet, Lakkin and Frances - 486 

Norman, J. H. - 509 

Norris, John - 449 

Norton, E.H. - 186, 255, 294 



Norton, 
Norton, 
Norton, 
Norton, 
Norton, 
Norton, 
Norvell, 
Norvell, 
Nowlin, 

3 80 
Nowlin, 
Nowlin, 
Nowlin, 
Nuelsen 
Nutter, 
Nutter, 
Nutter, 



Elijah H. - 191, 192 
John - 352 
Judge - 352 
Mary - 308 
S.J. - 388, 389 
W.A. - 225 

Dorotha - 392 

Robert - 392 
B.W. - 226, 235, 246, 

Bryan - 408 
S.b. - 226 
Samuel - 408 
, Heinrich - 379, 450 
Darwin J. - 355 
James and Eliza - 319 
Sarah - 319 



O'Brien, Jordan - 273, 2 74 

O'Bryan, T.N. - 378 

O'Bryant, T.N. - 229 

O'Neal, O.H. - 182 

O'Neil, D.J. - 218 

Odell - 388 

Odell, George - 253 

Odell, J.M. - 386 

Oder, Geo. and Louisa - 469 

Odgen, Thomas - 142 

Odle, Nehemiah - 377 

Officer, James - 96, 377 

Officer, Robt. - 95, 449, 450 

Officer, Thos. - 95, 96, 104, 111, 

114, 375, 377 
Old Franklin - 95 
Older, Sarah - 469 
Oldham, James - 356 
Oliver, Louisa - 334 
Oliver, Mordecai - 147, 178, 222 
Oliver, S.A. - 334 
Oliver, Samuel - 376 
Orleans, Fort - 90 
Orr, Samuel - 185 
Osage, Fort - 93, 
Osborn, R.S.- 237 
Osburn, Wm. - 135 
Otev, John W. - 187 
Overman, C. - 388 
Overton, Aaron - 101, 118 
Owen, E.G. - 288 
Owen, Ed. - 288 
Owen, Mary - 428 
Owen, Nicholas - 428 
Owens, B.C. - 454 
Owens, Henry - 426, 435 
Owens, John - 94, 103, 104, 105, 116, 

122, 281, 282 
Owens, Jonathan - 426 
Owens, Missouri - 426 
Owens, Sam - 133, 299 
Owens, Margaret - 299 
Owens, Sidney - 299 
Owens, Wm. - 381 

Page, James - 377 
Page, Robert - 377 
Paflen, Joshua - 100, 114 
Palmer, Annie - 450 



Palmer, F. 1?. - 2Hr,, ;iH:i , 

Palmer, Isaae - i:i!) 

Palmer, Martin - 'X,, lor,, 109, 

:i77 
Paradise - 127, 
Park, Cyrus - Mf;? 
Park, Geo. S. - 171 
Park, J.W. - 279 
Park, Marcus T. - 357 
Parker, B. F. - 223 
Parker, Captain - 224 
Parker, G.E.T. - 428 
Parker, Josiah - 287, 288 
Parker, Josiah C. - 288 
Parker, Mary J. - 420 
Parmer, Martin - 9G, 109 
Parson.s, Monroe M. - 18G 
Pateher, Rulus - 427 
Pate, Robert - 177 
Patrick, Chas. - 288 
Patridgc, Chas. - 491 
PatridRc, Fannie - 491 
Patter, Eldridge - 9.5 
Patterson, W.H. and Minerva - 
Patterson, W.J. - 171 
Patterson, Wm. H. - 438 
Patton, Dr. - 221 
Patlon, Ilattie - 402 
I'atton, Jeff. - 208, 210, 213 
Patton, Nathaniel - 112 
Paw -Paw Militia - 230, 240 
Payne, A.H.F. - 139, 286, 422 

450 
Payne, Augusts H. F. - 450 
Payne, Mayor - 174 
Pee b ley, fhos. - 377 
Peery, Sarah - 408 
Peery, Thos. - 408 
Pence, Adam and Annie - 487 
Pence, Adam - 4 51 
Pence, Capt. - 488 
Pence, Edw. - 290 
Pence, Elizabeth - 290 
Pence, Emma - 292 
Pence, Samuel - 455 
Pence, Thos. - 153 
Pence, W.H. - 292 
Pence, Wm. II. - 487 
Penick, W.R. - 224 
Penick's Men - 231 
Peper, Mary - 484 
Pcper, Wm. - 4 84 
Perez, Manuel - 91 
Perkins, C.N. - 388 
Perkins, David - 273, 274, 276 
Perkins, J.W. - 450, 452 
Perkins, John - 379 
Perkins, Rev. - 383 
Perrin, Jasper - 428 
Perry, Joab - 261 
Perry, W.C.H. - .509 
Peters, Anna F. - 351 
Peters, John - 283, 351 
Pctterfield, Eliz. - 452 
Pcttigrew, W.J. - 286 
Petty, Jesse - 310 
Petty, Maria - 307 
Petty, Sarah - 310 



Petty, Wm. - 307 
Pettz, I,.T. - 389 
376, P(!vcly, Thomas - 377 
Phelps, A.J. - 450 
Phelps, Captain - 224 
Phelps, Maurice - 135 
Piburn, Edward - 409 
Piburn, John - 409 
Pickerall, Bro. - 509 
Pickrell, A.J. - 428 
Piernas, Pedro - 91 
Pierson, James - 385 
Pile, Nancy, - 4 52 
Piper, Margaret - 362 
Pipes, A.W. - 488 
Pipes, John - 488 
Pipes, Nathaniel - 488 
Pitt, J.E. - 200 
Pitts, Fannie - 364 
Pitts, Y.R. - 364 
Pixlee, P.C. - 207, 220 
Pixler, Wm. - 152 
Pixley, Lillian - 414 

439 Platte, IHirchase - 125 
Plitt, Geo. - 451, 452 
Poage, John - 282 
Poage, Mitchell - 105 
Poage, Robert - 106 
Poindexter, J. A. - 228 
Pollock, Hannah - 422 
Poole, Da\e - 234 

, 426, Poor, .John - 98 

Pope, Wm. - 212, 215 

Porter, A.J. - 450 

Porter, Abner J. - 489 

Porter, Jo. - 228 

Porter, Roly - 529 

Porter, Samuel and Mary - 489 

Porterficld, W.L. - 494' 

Posey, James - 410 

Posey, Jane- 379 

Posey, John - 410 

Postlethwaite, Sarah - 430 

Poteet, Mary - 280, 376 

Powe, Wm. - 122, 282 

Powell, Nathaniel - 377 

Prathcr, J. A. - 388 

Prather, J.S. - 386 

Prather, John A. -383 

Prather, John S. - 411 

Prathcr, Jos. - 378 

Pratt, Ida M. - 372 

Pratt, M.E. - 372 

Pratt, Parley P. - 135 . 

Prege, Elder - 378 

Prentiss, Ben M. - 221 

Prentiss, N.S. - 168 

Preston, Sarah - 310 

Price, America - 378 

Price, Eben and Sarah - 412 

Price, Ebenezer - 174, 3 75 

Price, General - 208 

Price, John - 378, 382 

Price, John G. - 380 

Price, M.F. - 275 

Price, MR. - 276 

Price, Martin - 389 



Price, Napoleon - 375 
Price, R.M.G. - 177 
Price, Mrs. Richard - 237 
Price, Sterling - 137, 192 
Price, Tom - 255 
Price, W.E. - 173, 182 
Price, Walter - 412 
Price, Wm. - 1 378, 379 
Price, W.I. - 504 
Price, Wm. R. - 411 
Price, Winfrey - 271 
Price, Mrs. Winfrey E. - 256 
Price, Winfrey E. - 155 
Prlegal, Rev. - 450 
Prince, W.E. - 204 
Pritt, Humphrey - 377 
Prof fit, John - 94 
Provine, John - 305 
Pryor, Jeff. - 248 
Pyburne, Edward - 94, 377 
Pyle, Alfred - 451 

Quantrell, - 224, 234, 240 
Quealey, J. A. - 184 
Quick, Jane - 378 

Rains, J.S. - 204 

Rains, Jas.S. - 196 

Ralbott, J.B. - 286 

Rambaut, Thompson - 276 

Ramey, W.S. - .509 

Raney, Margaret - 416 

Raney, Wm. ^16 

Ransom, R. - 176 

Rarey, T.S. - 183 

Raus, John - 450 

Ray, John - 95 

Ray, Ben B. - 107 

Raymond, John - 358 

Raymond, Richard - 358 

Reagen, Elias - 530 

Records, Dr. - 347 

Redd, John F. - 193 

Reddish, Anna B. - 526 

Reddish, Franl<ie T. - 526 

Reddish, Joseph C. - 526 

Reddish, Jos. E. - 526 

Reddish, Robert - 525 

Reed, A.G. - 173 

Reedd, Albert - 412 

Reed, Allen G. - 358, 360 

Reed, Catherine - 506 

Reed, James - 160, 235, 413, 452 

Reed, Emerine - 413 

Reed, James F. - 360 

Reed, Jane - 463 

Reed, Jonathan - 111, 286, 377 

Reed, Joseph - 286, 358 

Reed, Missouri - 360 

Reed, Nancy - 383 

Reed, Robert and Sarah - 428 

Reed, T.C. - 383 

Reed, Thos. C. - 160 

Rees, Amos - 130 

Rees, L.N. - 223 

Rees, Lewis N. - 130 

Rees, Richard - 293 



Reeves, Susan - 443 
Reid, John - 422 
Reed, Jonathan - 286 
Reid, Johnny and Sally - 286 
Reid, John W. - 143, 196 
Reynolds, David - 454 
Reynolds, W.T. - 229 
Reynolds, Wm. T. -229, 256 
Rhea, Lt. - 254 
Rhea, W.E. - 243 
Rhea, Wm. E. - 232 
Rhinehart, Peter - 452 
Rhoads, W.H. - 426 



ce, Claiborne - 111 

ce, Cordies - 309 

ce, John J. - 441 

ce, N.L. - 386 

ce, Nancy - 546 

ce, Richard and Lucinda - 441 

ce, Wm. and Laura - 409 

ch, G.W. - 287 

ch. Rev. - 383 

ch, Hiram - 100 

chards, Lewis - 94 

chards, Noah - 100 

chardson, Mary - 397 

chardson, Samuel - 397 

chfield - 380 

chfield Monitor - 173 

chmond, R.F.- 275 

ckets, Margaret - 529 

ckets, Wm. -331 

cketts, Benj. - 155 

cketts, John T. - 520 

gdon, Sidney - 134, 135 

ggins, B.L. - 326 

ggins, Rosa - 327 

ggs, Charlotte - 434 

ggs, Jonathan - 124 

ggs, Wm. - 386 

ley, A.M. - 225 

ley, Alfred - 449 

ley, Bennett - 120 

ley, Alfred - 353, 489 

lev, D.W. - 423 

ley, H.M. - 362 

ley, Ilezckiah - 123, 448, 449, 450 

ley, Hulda - 460 

ley, J.G. - 440 

ley, J.T. - 490 

ley, James - 449, 460 

ley, James T. - 361 

ley, Lewis O. - 489 

ley, Locke - 4 50 

lev. Dr. S.A. - 440 

lev, Sarah - 4 75 

lev. Sue - 353 

ley, Wm. M. - 504 

ng, H.H. - 389 

ngo - 100 

ngo, J.W. - 139 

ngo, L.W. - 288 

ngo, S. & A.S. - 119 

ngo, Samuel - 283 

Ichie, John - 106 

ves. Col. - 296 



Roane, Hugh - 30:1 



Robb, David and Joshua - 362 

Robb, James S. - 362 

Robb, Robert - 362 

Robb, Wm. - 362 

Roberts, A.J. - 379 

Roberts, Aaron - 105, 386 

Roberts, Boaz -206, 231, 232 

Roberts, David - 177 

Roberts, Dennis, -411 

Roberts, Edw. - 377 

Roberts, Jas. - 118 

Foberts, John - 377 

Roberts, Jonathan - 377 

Roberts, Jonas - 377 

Roberts, Lina - 207 

Roberts, Luella - 411 

Roberts, Nicholas - 377 

Roberts, P. Smith - 214 

Roberts, R. - 177 

Robers, W.C. - 423 

Roberts, Z. - 287 

Robertson, A.W. - 414 

Robertson, Andrew -94, 106, 290, 

413 
Robertson, Hugh - 413 
Robertson, L.A. - 207 
Robertson, Nellie - 305 
Robertson, Ruth - 413 
Robertson, Sarah - 459 

RobidouA, John - 115 

Robinson, Alex - 425 

Robinson, Chas. - 178 

Robinson, John - 275 

Robinson, Minnie - 495 

Robinson, Robett G. - 290 

Robinson, Wm. H. - 426 

Rock Island R.R. - 263 

Rock Spring Skirmish - 203, 204 

Rodgers, Mrs. A. - 452 

Rodgers, Eliz. - 452 

Rodgers, Wm. C. - 509 

Roe, Robt. S. - 252 

Rogers, G.W. - 479 

Rogers, 0. Mary - 350 

Rogers, Thos. B. - 385 

Rollins, E.G. - 427 

Rollins, Ella - 441 

Rollins, Emma - 441 

Rollins, Jas. S. - 135 

Rollins, John K. - 427 

Roper, Benjamin and Nancy - 450 

Rose, Jeremiah - 114 

Ross, Andrew - 441 

Ross, John - 212, 215 

Ross, S.J. - 164 
Ross, T.K. - 428 

Ross, Wm. - 441 

Rothwell, China - 363 

Rothwell, Dr. - 3 89 

Rothwell, John H. - 364 

Rothwell, W.R. - 278 

Rothwell, Wm. R. - 363 

Rouse, Elder - 378 
Rouse, Jas. - 509 
Routt, H.L. - 151, 173, 188, 189, 
191, 201, 204, 207 



Routt, H.M. - 227 

Routt, Henry - 365 

Routt, Henry L. - 139, 172, 173, 196 

Routt, Ice House - 197 

Rubcrson, John R. - 250 

Ruff, C. F. - 143, 219 

Ruffin, Edmond - 200 

Runk, Richard - 383 

Rupe, Mrs. - 256 

Rush, Wilburn - 383 

Russell, Andrew - 95, 105, 526, 528 

Russell, Bettie - 528 

Russell, Christopher M. - 526 

Russell, Lelia - 528 

Russell, Mary Ann - 328 

Russell, Mrs. Wm. - 293 

Russell, Wm. O. - 166 

Rust, Wra. - 479 

Ryder, R.P. - 278 

Ryland, John F. - 130 

St. Bernard bluff - 380 
St. Cyr, Stephen A. - 122 
St. Louis Republican - 173 
Saeger, Wm. - 360 
Sales, Annie - 394 
Sales, Joel - 394 

Sampson, Benj. - 101, 103, 106, 114 
Samuel, Archie Peyton - 269 
Samuel, Dr. - 266," 267, 268 
Samuel, E.M. - 139, 155, 183, 184, 
206, 226, 275, 285, 
345 
Samuel, Edw. - 276, 286 
Samuel, Edward M. - 126 
Samuel, Reuben - 266 
Samuel, Wm. - 510 
Samuelf, M.M. - 141 
Samuels, Reuben - 256 
Samuels, Wm. - & Co. - 111 
Samuels, Wm. - 100 
Sanders, Major - 246 
Sans, Daniel - 378 

Saunders, J.D. - 490 
Sounders, J. P. - 208, 215 

Saunders, John and Nancy - 490 

Savery, P.M. - 201 

Sawyer, J.O. - 277 

Scaggs, Carroll - 142 

Schackelford, James and Mary - 4 97 

Schenk, W. - 509 

Schooe, Rebecca - 518 

Schrader, Christopher - 526 

Schrage, John - 218 

Sconce, Captain - 119 

Scott, Alex - 428 

Scott, Fernando - 234, 266, 381 

Scott, John - 186, 209, 217, 240 

Scott, Lewis - 100, 115, 283, 287 

Scott, R. - 220 

Scruggs, M.D. - 201 

Search, Leonard - 282 

Searcy, Leonard - 116, 120, 283 

Sebree, Uriah - 273 

Seddons, J.S. - 224 

Sell, Agnes - 471 



-20- 
Semple, R.B. - 278 
Session?, Captain - 266, 381 
Sessions, Darius - 177, 230, 235, 236 
Settle, Emily - 293 
Settle, Hirman - 293 
Seymour, Calvin - 491 
Seymour, Nancy - 500 
Seymou"", Wm. - 491 

Shackelfora, Agnes - 497 

Shackelford, Bettie - 388 

Shackelford, Hattie - 463 

Shackelford, Ryland - 173 

Shackelford, Ryland - 498 

Shackelford, Samuel - 164 

Shackleford, Sarah - 475 

Shackelford, Wm. - 164 

Shafer, J.R. - 427 

Shafer, Joseph - 426 

Shafer, Marv - 432 

Shambaugh, Mr. - 221 

Shannon, Lewis - 442 

Shannon, Wm. H. - 427, 442 

Shannon, Wilson - 174 

Share, John D. - 317 

Sharp, Conrad - 214 

Shaver, Henry - 458 

Shearin, Owen - 287 

Sheets, J.L. - 386 

Sheetz, James L. - 355 

Shelby, Joe - 228, 254 

Shelton, Lewis - 107 

Shelton, Wm. - 377 

Shepherd, Geo. - 248 

Shepherd, Oil - 257 

Sherlev, Elijah - 349 

Sherley, Margaret - 349 

Sherman, John - 177 

Shields, John - 103 

Shipp, L. - 388 

Shoffner, Daniel and Barbara - 477 

Shoo-Fly - 388 

Shores, F. - 383 

Shouldis, E.J. - 495 

Shouse, John - 309, 380, 504 

Shouse, John W. - 503 

Shouse, Mary - 405 

Shouse, Matilda - 409 

Shouse, Rebecca - 353 

Shreck, Wm. - 450 

Sibley, Geo. C. - 93 

Sibley's Landing - 234 

Sigel', Philip - 253 

Silvey, James and Lucy - 433 

Si Key, Phoebe - 433 

Simmons, Wm. and Mourning - 415 

Simmons, Willis - 414 

Simms, Benj. -112 

Simms, Zerelda James - 266 

Simrall, H. F. - 315 

Simrall, Horatio F. - 365 

Simrall, James - 365 

Simrall, Matilda - 509 

Singleton. Julia - 410 

Sirpan, J.S. = 452 

Skillman, Harriet - 371 

Skinner, Martha - 409 



Skinner, Phineas - 446 

Skinner, Robert - 409 

Slack, General - 207 

Slater, Wm. - 165 

Slaughter, Catherine - 379 

Slaughter, Eliz. - 379 

Slaughter, Francis T. - 106 

Slaughter, Mary S. - 523 

Slaughter, Sarah - 504 

Slaughter, Thos. - 375 

Slaughter, Wm. - 375, 379, 427 

Smith, A. - 377 

Smith, Albetr - 511 

Smith, Amanda - 46*7 

Smith, America -488 

Smith, Annie - 373 

Smith, Bennett - 423 

Smith, Calvin - 166, 421, 424, 425 

Smith, Chas. - 451 

Smith, Christian - 373 

Smith, David - 256, 258 

Smith, E. - 386 

Smith, Elijah - 105, 276, 280 

Smith, Erastus - 427, 426 

Smith, George - 450, 490 

Smith, Mary - 490 

Smith, Henrv - 312 

Smith, Hiram - 135 

Smith, Humphrey - 420, 423, 425 

Smith, Isabel! - 490 

Smith, J.M. - 488 

Smith, Jacob - 467 

Smith, "Raccoon" John - 219, 418 

Smith, John P. - 499 

Smith, Joe - 132, 135 

Smith, Lt. - 254 

Smith, Marrieta - 395 

Smith, Mary F. - 511 

Smith's Mill - 101 

Smith, Nancy - 423 

Smith, P.G. - 389 

Smith, R.F. - 209 

Smith, Samuel - 395, 415, 450 

Smith, Terah - 377 

Smith, Thos. - 107 

Smith, W.B. - 386 

Smith, Wm. B. - 415 

Smtih, W.W. - 202 

Smith, Wm. L. - 95, 103, 106, 115, 

125, 282, 380 
Smith, Wm. W. - 233 
Smith, "Yankee" - 424 
Smithey, James - 286 
Snaile, J.B. - 425 
Snapp, J.W. - 385, 386 
Sneed, Sebron G. - 101, 112. 113 
Snell, Annie - 487 
Snell, Mary - 289 
Snethen, Mr. - 93 
Snoddy, Elizabeth - 515 
Snoddy, Miss M.E. - 496 
Snow, Henrv - 428 
Sons of Malta - 24 5 
Sons of Temperance - 139 
Soper, Armilda - 481 
Soper, Benj. - 236, 450, 481, 492 



Soper, Benjamin - 450 

Soper, Eleanor - 306 

Soper, Nancy - 492 

Soper, P.T. - 450 

Soper, P. Tapp - 492 

Soper, Tapp - 202 

South, S.D. - 274 

South, Wheeler - 214 

Sharks, Henry - 521 

Sparks, Mary A. - 521 

Sparks, Thos. D. - 427 

Speares, Lee - 349 

Speares, Nannie - 34 9 

Spence, E.M. - 287, 288 

Spencer, Barney - 451 

Spencer, Thos. - 215 

Spencer, Wilson - 377 

Spicer - 375 

Sprinkle, Laura - 312 

Sprinkle, S.H. -312 

Srenck, Wm. - 378 

Srite, Elizabeth - 429 

Srite, John and America - 429 

Stallings - 382 

Stanley, D.S. - 203 

Stanley, Page - 377 

Stanton, Lizzie - 313 

Stanton, Samuel - 313 

Stapp, Abijah - 429 

Stapp, Mary - 429 

Stark, C.S. - 205 

Starks, Roland - 114 

State Guards- 203, 204, 205 

Steamboating - 182 

Steamer Majors - 212 

Steamboat Missouri ; Mail - 144 

Steamer New Sam Aaty - 234 

Steamboat Tobacco Plant - 139 

Steamboat Wakenda - 139 

Steamer White Clloud - 205 

Stein, A.E. - 203, 213 

Stein, General - 20(i, (A.E.) 

Stein,, Gideon - 388 
Stein, Wm. - 474 

Steinmeier, Carl - 450 

Stephens, B.C. - 452 

Stephens, Richards C. 

Stephens, Sally - 281 

Stephens, Wm. - 116 

Steohenfon, Wm. - 116 

Stevens, Betsy - 509 

Stevens, Carrie - 403 

Stevens, Dr. E.W. - 403 

Stevens, James - 509 

Stevens, Lucinda - 509 

Stevens, Thos. - 509 

Stewart, Mary - 417 

Stewart, O.C. - 288 

Stewart, Bob- 188 

Stewart, Robt M. - 190 

Stifel, Captain - 204 

Still, J.B. - 214 

Stoffel, James - 449 

Stogdale, J.J. - 324 

Stogdale, John - 305 

Stogdale, Wm. - 366 

Stone, Ambrose - 249 



123 



Stone, Angeline - 467 

Stone, Eleanor - 495 

Stone, George - 362 

Stone, Millie - 362 

Stone, NR. - 182 

Stone, R.J. - 362 

Stone, Rock\vell - 367 

Stone, Wm. M. - 218 

Story, Captain - 251 

Story, Geo. S. - 225, 246 

Story, J.S. - 381 

Stoi-v, Joseph - 381 

Story, Joseph - 437 

Story, Mary E. - 501 

Story, Smith - 114 

Story, Thos. - 501 

Storz, Mary - 379 

Stothard - 380 

Stout, Amos - 201, 205 

Stout, Chas. D. - 119 

Stout, Daniel - 281 

Stout, Patsev - 281 

Stout, Mrs. R.A. - 329 

Stout, R.H. - 201 

Stringfellow, B. F. - 173 

Strode, Juda - 426 

Stroeter, Emaneul and M.qria - 4 93 

Stroeter, John V. - 493 

Strope, Daniel - 219 

Strother, Thornton - 112 

Sturgis, S.D. - 219 

Sublette, L.B. - 142 

Sublette, Linneus - 380 
Sublette, Littleberry - 115, 119 

SuUenger, John - 330 

Sullivan, J.M. - 177 

Sullivan, M.W. - 452 

Summers, Adam H. - 428 

Summers, David - 427 

Summers, Mrs. (Farm) - 253 

Summers, Lelia - 528 

Summers, Mason - 286, 449 

Summers, Sarah - 378 

Summers, Sidney - 528 

Sumner, E.V. - 175 

Suter, John - 450 

Sutton, Ellen - 346 

Sutton, James - 524 

Sutton, Margaret R. - 524 

Sutton, Margaret R. - 524 

Sutton, Temperance - 344 

Sutton, Wm. - 346 

Swartz, Casper - 443 

Swartz, John - 426, 427, 443 

Swearingen, Mary - 482 

Swearingen, T.H. -454 

Swetnam, Caroline - 286 

Swetnam, Chas. - 415 

Swetnam, Thos. - 416 

Swetnam, Thos. F. - 146 

Swetnam, Thos. T. - 286 

Talbott, Captain - 204 
Talbott, J.B. - 163 
Talbott, L.L. - 188 
Talbott, L.S. - 201 
Talbott, Lysander - 451 



-21- 
Talbott, Richard - 205 
Tapp, Lucy - 490 
Tapp, Nancy - 492 
Tapp, Z.M. - 484 
Tarwater. W.A. - 287. 383 
Tate, J.T. - 450 
Tate, John - 426 
Taylor, Chas. F. - 247, 249 
Taylor, Fletch, - 235, 248, 267 
Taylor, Daniel - 199 
Taylor, Geo. - 94 
Teamer, Mary - 513 
Teaney, Samuel and Johanna - 494 
Teaney, T.G. - 494 
Thatcher, Daniel and Sarah - 431 
Thatcher, E.B. - 433 
Thatcher, Eleven L. - 444 
Thatcher, John - 422 
Thatcher, Minerva - 431 
Thatcher, VVm. P. ^45 
Thomas, Robert - 274, 277 
Thomason, Grafton - 369 
Thomason, J.S. - 229 
Thomason, John S. - 230, 250, 268 
Thomason, Katie - 369 
Thomason, Lt. - 232 
Thomason, Martha A. -503 
Thomason, Oscar - 268 
Thomason, Wm. - 155 
Thompson, B.M. - 129 
Thompson, G.W. - 510 
Thompson, Gideon - 207, 220, 231 
Thompson, J.T.V. - 122, 138, 141, 

177, 188, 225, 275, 276, 345 
Thompson, Jas. T.V. - 173 
Thompson, Jeff T. - 423 
Thompson, John - 286, 377 
Thompson, Keziah - 446 

Thompson, L.B. - 205 

Thompson, M. Jeff - 196, 202 

Thompson, M.V. - 345 

Thompson, Mary - 436, 443 

Thompson, Mai^' A. - 323 

Thompson, Robt - 140, 450 

Thompson, Sally - 286 

Thompson, Sarah - 450 

Thompson, T.N. - 274 

Thompson, Wash. - 231 

Thornton, C.C. - 205 

Thornton, Colonel -121 

Thornton's Ferry - 113 

Thornton, J. C.C. "Coon" - 200, 253 

Thornton, J.T. - 215 

Thornton, John - 94, 95, 101, 103, 
104, HI, 122, 136 

Thornton, Major - 206 

Thorp, Chas. - 215 

Thorp, James- 426 

Thorp, Josiah - 107 

Thorp, VVm. - 281, 423, 509 

Thrail, John - 2.53 

Thurney, Sarah - 378 

Tiffin, Clayton - 2.54 

Tigue, Nat. - 268 

Tifford, Jane - 458 

Tilford, Samuel - 94, 100, 103, 106, 
114 



Tillery, Annie E. - 526 

Tillery, B.F. - 233 

Tillery, Clayton - 526, 528 

Tillery, Clinton - 367 

Tillery, Eppa - 95, 105, 106, 423 

Tillery, Joel - 367 

Tillery, Llewellyn - 528 

Tillery, M.A. - 341 

Tillery, Reuben - 114 

Tillery, Samuel - 115 

Tillman, Edw. - 445 

Tillman, John - 445 

Tilman, Edmund - 173 

Timberlake, James R. - 368 

Timberlake, John - 368 

Tipton, John - 509 

Tipton, Lucinda - 509 

Titus, John - 3 82 

Titus, Noah - 382 

Todd, David - 105, 106 

Todd, Elisha - 529 

Todd, Geo. - 235, 253 

Todd, T.W. - 423 

Todd, Wm. - 114 

Todd, Zattu - 529 

Toolev, Victor - 383 

Toplenure, John - 377 

Torchlight newspaper - 326 

Tose, Jere - 377 

Town, of Atchison - 380 

Town of Richfield - 380 

Town of St. Bernard - 380 

Towne, D.W.C. - 453, 454, 

Towne, Hiram - 453 

Townscnd, Peyton - 281 

Trabue, Samuel R. - 164 

Traeey, A.W. - 229 

Tracy, Captain - 234 

Trader, J. - 379 

Trader, J.W. - 450 

Trader, Wm.S. - 45 2 

Trail, Rachel - 390 

Trent, Alexander - 107 

Tribune - 283 

Trigg, Dinah Ayres - 292 

Trigg, Stephen - 292 

Trimble, John - 416 

Trimble, Wm. and Margaret Fry-416 

Tj-otter, John - 377 

Troxler, Wm. - 454 

Trudeau, Zenon - 91 

Ti-umbo, Adam and Hannah - 27 

Trumbo, Ella - 4 59 

Trumbo, Jacob - 369 

Trumbo, John and Ora - 459 

Tuley, Geo. C. - 164 

Tunnel, Eliza J. - 500 

Turner, Jefferson - 378 

Turner, John - 94 

Turner, Joseph - 378 

Turner, Nancy - 296 

Turner, Thos. - 423 

Turner, W. - 120 

Turner, Walker - 372 
Turney, J.W. - 267 
Turnliam. Joel - 115, 118, 123, 172, 
173 



Turnum, Mary - 472, 
Tutt, Amos - 427 
Tutt, B.C. - 287 

Unger, Wm. - 378 
Uriel's Cave - 119 
Uttinger, Sarah - 457 

Vaghan, Eunis - 95 
Vance, Barbara - 422 
Vance, Wm. - 422 
Vanderpools - 94 
Vandiverc, Bushwacker - 235 
Van Horn R.T. - 255 
Van Lear, G.W. - 215 
Vaughan, Enos - 122, 282 
Vaughan, Thos. - 116 
Vaughn, Mrs. Annie M. - 582 
Vaughn, Enos - 98, 106, 281 
Vaughn, James L. - 427 
Vaughn, John - 413 
Vaughn, Joshua - 383 
Vaughn, Josiah J. - 417 
Vaughn, Patsy - 281 
Vave, W.R. - 451 
Venrick, Samuel - 427 
Vertrees, J.C. - 204 
Vertrees, Judge - 221 
Vesser Family - 95 
\'esser, John - 377 
Veteto, John - 177 
Vincent, Nathaniel - 163 
Violett, Dent - 160 
Volley, J.B. - 426 

Wabash Railroad - 183, 262 

Waddell, James - 273 

Wade, John - 4 51 

Wagner, D-avid - 244 

Wagy, Henry - 495 

Wagy, Thos'. - 494 

Wakarusa War - 174 

Welden, Benedict - 377 

Walden, Mourning - 415 

Walker, H.D. - 224 

Walker, Jas. A. - 1.53 

Walker, Katie - 263 

Walker, Rol^t - 141 

Walker, Sam - 263 

Wall, Lydia - 306 

Wallen, America - 518 

Wallen, Isaac - 518 

Wallen, Mary F. - 517 

Waller, B;?yard - 379, 383, 423, 

4 28. 509 
Waller, Charles - 450 
Waller, Fountain - 172, 173 
Waller, G.B. - ^26 
Waller, J.G. - 327 
Waller, J.W. - 383 
Waller, James - 452 
Waller, John - 152 
Waller, Josiah - 286, 379, 427, 509 
Waller, Margaret - 450 
Waller. Martha - 327 
Walli.'-, Captain - 129 
Wallis, G.H. -173 



Wallis, Geo. - 119, 125. 135 

Wallis, Geo. H. - 142, 164, 417 
Wallis, Geo. W. - 153 
Wallis, Wm. - 142 
Welton, Jane - 379 
Ward, P. A. - 287 
Warren, Wm. - 423, 458 
Warren, Wolverton - 450 
Washburn, Larian T. - 212 
Washington Guards - 201 
Watkins, A. Judson - 505 
Watkins, Benj. - 505 
Watkins, James - 336 
Watkins, Joe B. - 505 
Watkins. John & Co. - 505 
Watkins, Kate - 499 
Watkins, Mary - 499 
Watkins Mills - 505 
Watkins, Rebecca - 4 97 
Watkins, Walter S. - 139 
Watkins, Waltus - 499 
Watkins, Waltus L. - 504 
Watson, R.C. - 428 
Watson, Rev. - 378, 423 
Weaver, Elizabeth - 492 
Weber, Henry - 379 
Weber, Jacob - 378, ii9 379 
Weber, John - 378, 379 
Weber, Katie - 474 
Weber, Maria - 379 
Weber, Samuel - 378, 379 
Webster, Nancy - 490 
Weeden, Henry J. - 509 
Wells, Betsy - 485 
Wells, Mary - 331 
Weldon, Benedict - 107 
Welton, Michael - 271 
Welton, Sol. - 379 
Wert, Joe - 

West, Mrs. (Cole) - 267 
West, Mary - 393 
Wetzel , J.W. - 288 

Whicher, J.W. - 269 
Whitaker, Emery - 530 
Whitaker, John F. - 529 
Whitaker, John W. - 530 
White, Amanda - 443 
White, C.J. - 229, 230 
White, Castle - 421 
White Cloud - 120 
White Cloud, Sally - 120 
White, Mrs. J.C. - 290 
Wliite, James - 214 
White, Jeremiah - 418 
Whitlock, Columbus - 252, 422 
Wliitlock.Tarlton - 421 
Whitmer, D.P. -222, 245 
Whitsell, Mrs. Emsley - 454 
Whitsell, Hirman - 415 
Whitsell, Marv A. - 415 
Whorton, Martha - 504 
Wierna, Michael - 212 
Wight. Lyman - 134 
Wiglesworth, Lillie - 447 
Wiglesworth, Wm.T. and Mary - 447 
Wild Bill - 256 



-23- 
Wilfley, Colonel - 208 
WiJhoit, Andrew - 496 
Wilhoit, David - 454, 496 
Wilhoit, Ella - 467 
Wilhoit, James - 496 
Wilhoit, Pleasant - 495 
Wilhoit, S.B. - 458 
Wilhoit, Sarah M. - 502 
Wilhoit, Thos. - 467, 502, 
Wilhoite, Fielding - 273 
Wilkerson, Margaret 4 46 
Wilkerson, W.\V. - 426 
Williams A. P. - 287 
Williams, Adeline A. - 519 
Williams, Edward - 519 
Williams, I.N. - 388 
Williams, I.T. - 281 
Williams, J.G. - 426 
Williams, James - 377, 446 
Williams, Eliz. - 446 
Williams, John F. - 240, 292, 379 
Williams, Laura - 388 
Williams, Marv - 352, 394 
Williams, Shrewsbury - 119, 379, 38( 
Williams, Susie - 292 
Williams, Thos. - 380 
Williams, Wm. - 377 
Williamson, Rev. - 450 
Williamson, T.J. - 452 
Williamson, Thos. - 428 
Wills, James - 146, 173, 421 
Wilmot, Canby - 288 
Wilmot, J.D. - 452 
Willmott, Wm. - 370 

Wilson's Creek - 205 

Wilson, Isaac - 94, 423 

Wilson, Isabella - 423 

Wilson, J.R. - 423 

Wilson, John - 94, 351 

Wilson, Lulu - 351 

Wilson, Mattie - 358, 423 

Wilson, Nancy - 390 

Wilson, Rev. - 383 

Wilson, Thomas -358, 419 

Wilson, Thos. W. - 389 

Wilson, William - 419 

Wilton, John - 377 

Winn, Dolly - 299 

Winn, George - 4 79 

Winn, Harriet - 479 

Winn, J.B. - 205 

Winn, James and Malinda - 435 

Winn, jlesse - 200 

Winn, Maria - 435 

Winn, Willis - 173 

Winstead, J.T. - 454 

Winstln, James - 160 

Winston, Rev. - 427 

Wirthman, J.H. - 527 

Witcher, Wm. A. - 147 

Withers, A. - 256 

Withers, Abijah - 248, 367 

Withers, Albert - 205 

Withers, G.W. - 186, 200, 380 

Withers, George - 271, 277 

Withers, Geo. W. - 164, 172, 173 



Withers, Jas. - 152, 378, 379 
Withers, Julia - 367 
Withers, Martha - 378 
Withers, Sarah - 378 
Withers, Minnie - 202 
Withers, Susan - 378 
Withers, Mrs. T.P. -379 
Withers, W.T. - 182 
Witt, Emma - 500 
Witt, Pryor - 500 
WoUery, Jos. - 509 
Wood, Gidson - 146 
Woods, Isaac - 222, 259 
Wood, Jesse T. - 124 
Wood, Dr. Joseph - 295 
Wood, Kemp M. - 256 
Wood, L.F. - 173, 426, 427 
Wood, Lewis -134 
Wood, Lewis J. - 444 
Wood, R.P. - 427 
Wood, Wm. T. - 115, 126, 136 
Woodruff, John C. - 218 
Woods, Archibald - 509 
Woods, B.F. - 182 
Woods, Elizabeth - 339 
Woods, J.C. - 510 
Woods, John W. - 205 
Woods, Kemp - 446 
Woods, Kemp M. - 192. 438 
Woods, Virginia L. - 525 
Woodson, S.H. - 171, 196, 200 
Woodward, Chesley - 111 
Woodward, Lance - 354 
Woodward, Susan - 354 
Woolard, Alex. - 96, 375 

Woolard, Jas. - 96, 315 
Wooster, John - 177 
Worthington, L. - 388 
Worthington, L.H. - 388 
Worthington, Mary S 88 
Wright, Elizabeth - 446, 496 
Wright, John - 499 
Wright, Lucius - 281 
Wright, Wm. - 496 
Wright, Wm. D. - 455 
Writsman, Elizabeth - 504 
Writesman, Peter - 114, 377, 504 
Wyatt, Mary - 378 
Wyman, A.W. - 385 
Wymer, W.H. - 141 
Wymore, Fannie - 361 
Wymore, Geo. - 259, 371 
Wymore, John - 372 
Wymore, Margaret - 324 
Wymore, Martin - 372 
Wymore, Samuel - 324, 371 
Wymore, Eliza - 371 
Wymore, Wm. - 361 
Wymore, Wm. H. - 260 
Wysong, Amanda - 410 
Wysong, L.G. - 410 

Yarbrough, D. E. - 383 
Yates, Arthur - 497 
Yates, Eliza - 496 
Yates, Elizabeth - 497 



Yates, Nancy - 450 
Yates, Wm. - 118, 450, 49' 
Yocum, Jesse - 421 
York, James - 152, 214 
Young, Caroline - 416 
Young, John - 331, 373 
Young, Martitia - 286 
Young, Mary - 
Yound, Mattie - 412 
Young, Peter - 373 
Young, Rev. R.A. - 287 
Young, Rosana - 331 
Young, Thos. - 114 
Young, Thos. J. - 173 
Younger, Coleman - 234 
Youngcr's Company - 250 
Younger, J.W. -267 
Younger, John - 413 
Younger, John W. - 229, 2! 
Younger, Lucy D. - 514 
Youtsey, James C. - 427 
Youtsey, John W. - 427 
Youtsey, Mary - 443 
Youtsey, Peter - 427 

Zimmerman, Joseph - 450 



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